Evie Represents Carmarthenshire at House of Commons

Posted on 14th February 202518th March 2025 by Sarah

Last summer our Secretary Evie was elected as the Member of UK Youth Parliament (MYP) for Carmarthenshire and will be representing the County at the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) Annual Sitting being held at the House of Commons, London on Friday 28^th February 2025.

Evie said “Being given the opportunity to represent your peers, your peers’ experiences and their voices is one of the greatest honours. When I have conversations and interactions with my constituents, I feel so lucky and appreciative to be in my position”

MYP’s are 11 to 18 years old and represent the views of their peers on a UK wide level and Evie will have this position for a two-year term. Evie and over 300 other MYP’s from all parts of the UK will travel to Westminster to debate and vote on issues that matters to young people.

The UKYP provides opportunities for young people to bring about social change through meaningful representation. It is overseen by the National Youth Agency and Evie’s involvement is supported locally by Carmarthenshire County Councils Youth Support Service.

Presided over by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, Members of the Youth Parliament will take part in five debates, the subjects for which were voted for by young people across the UK. MYP’s will prioritise two out of five debated subjects for the UK Youth Parliament national campaigns.

The 5 issues to be debated in the Annual Sitting are:

★ VOTING (UK issue)
16 and 17 year olds should be allowed to vote in all elections and referendums, accompanied with more political education throughout school.

★ MINIMUM WAGE (UK issue)
The National Minimum Wage for every worker under 22 be raised in order to match the National Living Wage for those over 22.

★ TRANSPORT (Devolved issue)
All public transport should be free for young people.

★ POLITICAL EDUCATION (Devolved issue)
All young people in the UK must have access to a standardised level of political literacy and democratic education to improve engagement in politics on a local, national and international level to develop critical thinking skills.

★ PERIOD DIGNITY (Devolved issue)
To establish period dignity, there should be free, accessible, good quality period products available in public spaces for everyone.

Evie said that “since being elected, the past five months have been both exciting, in the case of meeting with and getting to know regional MYPs from Wales, and to an extent, overwhelming. For example, attending the Annual Conference in October 2024 was my first time meeting MYPs from across the UK, and in two days we made our entire manifesto. Situations like those tend to remind me of my elected duties and my accountability to the young people of Carmarthenshire.”

Evie is looking forward to the Annual Sitting, she feels it is her elected duty to protect young people’s voices no matter what, and believes young people offer what can often be a very valuable perspective on issues adults cannot; all young people in Carmarthenshire will be at the forefront of her mind during this prestigious event.

Here’s how to stay up to date or follow the action as it happens;

Here’s how to stay up to date or follow the action as it happens;
★ WATCH : The UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting in the House of Commons on Friday, the 28th of February will be shown live on Par l iament TV and Parliament TV Social Media. You can watch live by clicking here!

★ CONVERSATION: You can keep up to date with Evie’s Day by following #CarmsHoC25 on social media.

★ VISIT: For more information on the UKYP you can visit their website by clicking here www.nya.org.uk/ukyp

Never Silence The Violence… A Resource For Young People

Posted on 19th November 202418th March 2025 by Sarah

Our Never Silence the Violence project presents a drama-documentary that highlights the critical stages and sheds light on the experience of a young person following the reporting of a domestic abuse incident.

We are very proud of our members as they took the lead on every aspect of the Never Silence the Violence project, including having starring roles, script writing, filming, and interviewing professionals such as Dyfed Powys Police, Children’s Services, and CarmDas. Click here to read our Project Leads experience of developing the Docudrama – Win The Fight Against Domestic Abuse

The 15-minute DocuDrama, Never Silence The Violence was officially launched by the County Council’s Director for Education and Children, Owain Lloyd at an event in the Carmarthenshire Business Hub at St Catherine’s Walk on Monday, November 25 following a short walk-through the town for men and boys to show their support organised by Carmarthen Domestic Abuse Services Ltd.

We are very grateful to Carmarthenshire Youth Support Service for funding the docudrama and to everyone involved in the making our idea come alive and all the hard work that was put in to raise awareness for such a pressing issue. We hope that this resource will be shared amongst various organisations to give young people an insight into the support available and what happens when they disclose or report domestic abuse.

Find out how to get help if you or someone you know is a victim of domestic abuse:
★ Remember that you can talk to your Teacher, Youth Worker, Coach or an Adult you trust
★ Liv e Fear Free – National Website
★ Carmarthenshire Domestic Abuse Service
★ Live Fear Free Helpline – 0808 80 10 800
★ In an emergency, CALL THE POLICE on 999

For more information contact us using our online page Get In Touch or get involved in the conversation by using #NeverSilenceTheViolence on social media.

Our Voice, Our Vote, Our Future

Posted on 16th September 202418th March 2025 by Sarah

OUR BIGGEST CONSULTATION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN CARMARTHENSHIRE

OUR PROJECT…

Our Voice, Our Vote, Our Future’ is Carmarthenshire’s annual youth consultation which finds out what issues matter the most to young people in our county. The consultation promotes democracy and enables Children’s Rights by encouraging young people to have a say in what matters to them. We launched Our Voice Our Vote, Our Future Ballot, during the Autumn term of 2023. We reached out and worked with secondary schools in Carmarthenshire, asking them to share the two most important issues for their students, we called these motions.

In November, we held a consultation event where two representatives from each of our secondary schools presented their motions. Everyone present took a vote, shortlisting the 10 TOP MOTIONS, forming our first Our Voice, Our Vote, Our Future ballot paper! The ballot paper went live in early 2024 and young people, aged 11-18 from across Carmarthenshire were encouraged to cast their vote on the one issue that matters most to their lives.

THE VOTE…

After the voting period, we counted the number of ballots we received and were amazed by how many of you used your voice for positive change. A total of 5221 votes were received from across Carmarthenshire. The results of the ballot were announced during the Carmarthenshire Youth Council Annual General Meeting held in April 2024 with the top issue voted for by young people was Teach Real Life Lessons In School with a total of 1051 votes.

The vote will shape the conversation around issues that directly impact young people’s lives and matter to them the most. Teach Real Life Lesson In School is now our priority issue and over the next 12 months we will give young people an opportunity to work on a campaign to make sure that their vote counts and makes a difference across Carmarthenshire.

WHAT WE’VE DONE SO FAR:

Contacted Schools and Projects letting them know what the top issues is.
Met with Carmarthenshire County Council’s Education Department Management Team to discuss the result, share our ideas and gain feedback.
Held and taken part in a workshop (for CYC Members) to discuss and research the issue further, created a draft timeline and appointed a sub-group to keep move the campaign on.
Created a campaign proposal that we will share with the Education Department Managers, Head Teachers and other relevant bodies to gain support and work together.
Four members of CYC are represented on the National Education and Training Advisory Boards for 11-16 and 16-25 year old rung by Young Wales

We can’t wait for you to see what we have planned!
To keep in touch with the campaign or to get involved please follow #LearnRealLife social media or leave us a comment below with your opinions.

Article by
Evie

WE HOST OUR 20TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Posted on 12th April 20246th September 2024 by Sarah

Our Annual General Meeting or AGM for short is a way that we as Young People are able to show, say and celebrate the work, projects and the positive achievements that we have had as a Youth Council over the last year.

ELECTIONS

During the evening, we were treated to inspiring speeches from our talented members who had put their names forward as candidates. The speeches gave us an insight into the skills, qualities and experience each candidate would bring to the role, helping us making the decision on who we would vote for in our Elections.

All the young people at our AGM took part in the Elections. The votes were in, the final count took place… it was a nail-biter and a very closely fought Election.

The Official Results of the 10 April 2024 Election of Carmarthenshire Youth Councils Executive Board are:

★ Chairperson – Magda Smith
★ Vice Chairperson – Toby Bithray
★ Secretary – Evie Somers
★ Treasurer – Sam Kwan
★ Communications Officer – Zach Davis

We are grateful to all our members who stepped forward to stand as candidates and give speeches, well done! We welcome our newly elected Executive Board with excitement and look forward to the next two years. Congratulations!

Magda, our newly appoint Chairperson said “ I am so grateful to have the votes and trust of my fellow Youth Council members, in my 2 year term as Chair I aim to support all young people in Carmarthenshire the way I have been, I want to help their ideas flourish, give them all every opportunity, and push their voices above and beyond while supporting them in every way they need. The future I see is the young people of Carmarthenshire paving the way for the next generation with their ideas leading the way.”

It was a very busy and full meeting held in County Hall, Carmarthen on Wednesday 10^th April 2024 and once again, this year we were fortunate to have the support of decision makers, managers, elected members form Carmarthenshire County Council and guests from Schools and national organisations attending our meeting.

OUR SUCCESSES

Over the last 12 months we have been involved in a variety of projects, here are just a few of our highlights:
★ Our Voice, Our Vote, Our Future
★ Never Silence the Violence DocuDrama
★ Young Wales
★ Welsh Youth Parliament
★ UKYP
★ Rights Together Conference
★ Summer Camp
★ Youth Symposium, Messines Belgium
★ Consultations and Campaigns

SUPPORT

We were pleased have the support of County Council Executive Board Members, Decision Makers and Managers from the County Council. We welcomed Gareth Morgans, Director of Education and Children’s Services to officially open our 2024 meeting, along with the support from County Council Leader Cllr. Darren Price who also addressed the meeting.

GETTING INVOVLED

If you are interested in joining us on Carmarthenshire Youth Council or would like to find out more about us then please reach out and contact us by clicking HERE.

Win The Fight Against Domestic Abuse

Posted on 18th March 202418th March 2025 by Sarah

My name is Toby, and I am the Lead Officer for the Never Silence the Violence campaign. This campaign, created by the young people in Carmarthenshire Youth Council, aims to raise awareness of domestic abuse. So far, we’ve had several meetings, and training sessions which include discussions with the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Partnership coordinator, Dyfed Powys Police, DA project coordinator and Catrin Rees Health Schools coordinator. These discussions between our members of the Never Silence the Violence campaign and many professionals, we are equipped to bring action against domestic abuse.

Our main project as part of the Never Silence the Violence campaign is our DocuDrama. Our members decided to create a DocuDrama looking at the steps of what happens after you report domestic abuse.

We felt that this was important to us as everyone focuses on actually reporting domestic abuse while the aftermath is rarely spoken about. This causes people to feel like they can’t report anything as not knowing what will happen afterwards is scary.

To complete this DocuDrama we all attended training in filming and sound by Sharon from ‘Curious Ostrich’, who is also the director of this project. We had meetings to create scripts about the events after reporting domestic abuse, this information was collected by speaking to Dyfed Powys Police, Carmdas, and other services.

I have been proud as the lead officer of this campaign because the project was based around the new law stating that seeing domestic abuse makes you a victim of domestic abuse.

You don’t have to experience it. I feel that this was important to promote in this project to help raise awareness of the effects of witnessing domestic abuse to use their voice and stand up against domestic abuse and make reporting domestic abuse that little bit easier.

It has been an amazing experience working with such talented young people who are so passionate about this project, all the young people involved have inspired me and everyone else involved to create amazing work to win the fight against Domestic Abuse.

Article By
Toby