NYA Update: Zahra McCallum talks about her project with Swindon Borough Council
Friday, April 1, 2011
About two months ago, I and several others were contacted by Inner Flame to ask if we wanted to become involved in a project commissioned by Swindon Borough Council and the NYA.
It aimed to look into the opinions of 16- to 17-year-olds about the services and support available to them if they became Neet (not in education, employment or training) and the impact raising the age of participation (the age at which you can leave school or college) would have.
Initially we met up and were given a project brief by our mentors from Inner Flame, the charity that is running this project, and from then on we have become the voice of Swindon's youth. As a group, we have created a questionnaire that we have used to speak to other young adults to get their opinions, and are using this to let the council and public know what we have found out.
The response we have had speaking to these young adults has amazed us and opened our eyes to the problems that many of them have had to overcome and the support that is available to them. We are now in the process of collating our findings and have been given the opportunity to report this to the head teachers of all Swindon's secondary schools, representatives of the support services and the council — this truly is giving the youth of Swindon a voice that is going to be heard.
The young researchers in Swindon are Emma Willson, Matt Pharro, Charlotte Newton, Sacha Nobbs and myself, but we would never have been able to do this without the support of our mentors TeeJay Dowe, David Wreathall and Ian Gunyon and the active support of Swindon Borough Council's James Fortune. Together, we are listening to what our young adults are saying and have been given the opportunity to shape future policy while developing and learning — what a great opportunity for us all.
