Today saw the 1st Children’s, Young People & Family Health engagement event at Horsforth’s Trinity University.

Organised by the CYP & FH sub committee of the Outer North West Community Committee it brought together over 80 young people, councillors and officers from the ‘Voice and Influence’ team, Cluster Leads and schools to discuss democracy and the Leeds Youth Offer.

The morning was spent understanding and discussing democracy in the city, how young people can have a ‘voice’ and culminated in a Q & A with the 8 councillors present.

Questions included ‘why did you become a councillor’, ‘how much money does it cost to run Leeds’ and ‘how do you compromise on ideas’. Councillors were also asked to ‘tell a joke’ and ‘could they dance’.

Following a shared lunch it was back into the Auditorium to ask young people how they would choose and decide on which projects they would spend ‘their’ £56,000 Youth Activity Fund; a significant part of Leeds’s Youth Offer.

It was pleasing to see young people recognise fairness, opportunity, choice and location in their deliberations. Councillors and officers will take away their ideas, views and priority’s and plan to use them throughout 2015-2016.

I personally would like to thank the young people, their teachers and schools for coming. Tessa, Simon and Katherine from Horsforth, Aireborough and Otley Clusters, Rachel Marshall from Area Office and Richard Cracknell from the Voice and Influence team organising the day, the kids and perhaps the most difficult the councillors. Finally, a quick word of thanks to Cllr Pat Latty as Chair of the Children’s, Young People and Family Health for making the day happen.