Young people in Croydon have the opportunity to make their voices heard as the borough’s summer programme of youth voice events gets under way tonight (14 May).
From crime to careers, social care to summer fun, Croydon’s youth forums cover a huge range of local issues, enabling young people to find out what’s going on in their community and have their say.
Open to all Croydon residents aged 11-18, the forums are divided into local areas – south, east and north – with each meeting monthly. The forums all come together for a borough-wide meeting every eight weeks – which is being held between 5-7pm tonight at the council offices in Bernard Weatherill House, Mint Walk, Croydon.
South forum will be meeting 5-7pm on 4 June at the council offices, east area 5-7pm on 11 June at Goldcrest Youth Centre, and north 5-7pm on 18 June at Samuel Coleridge Centre.
All are welcome to attend – to register for tonight’s event or your local area forum, or to find out more information email porsha.robinson@croydon.gov.uk or call her on 07825725586.
The meetings are an opportunity to meet with senior council officers and decision-makers, benefit from training and find out about the local policies and schemes and their impact on the community.
Croydon also has a youth cabinet, which is led by the Croydon Young Mayor and made up of elected representatives from across the area forums.
“Croydon is privileged to have the largest youth population in London so our youth forums are truly a voice to be reckoned with.
“We are hugely proud of our strong and active young community, particularly the way Croydon’s young people are getting increasingly involved with local democracy. The calibre of candidates and voter turnout for our recent Young Mayor election was fantastic, as is the ongoing support from so many young residents for our Choose Your Future campaign, which encourages young people to make the right choices and creates positive opportunities for them within the community.
“This is another such opportunity and I would urge any young person who wants to make their voice heard, who cares about local issues and who wants to help build their local community, to get involved and come along to their local youth forum. It could be the start of something big.”
Councillor Tony Newman, leader of the council
