Town Centre Consultation, 14th & 21st October
(Town Centre)
In early September 2006, Darlington Borough Council was approached by Tescos with a proposal to build a new superstore on the site of the Town Hall. A new Town Hall would be built at the rear of the Dolphin Centre.
The Youth Service was asked to consult with young people on the proposal, which would feed into the overall Town-wide consultation on the event. This was undertaken over a 5 week period involving School, Colleges and Youth Projects. Young people were also consulted during Local Democracy week, using the Connexions Tees Valley Bus.
Meet the Mayor, 16th Oct
(Town Hall, Council Chamber)
Children from St. Teresa's R.C. Primary School, Holy Family R.C. Primary School, Harrowgate Hill Primary School and St Augustine's RC Primary School attended the session with the Mayor of Darlington, Councillor Eleanor Lister.
Before the audience began, Mayoral Support Officer David Alloway gave the children a tour of the chamber and gave a brief history of the Mayorship of Darlington over the years and the Town Crest.
Andy Whittam from Darlington Youth Service explained why the Children’s Fund and the Youth Service had invited the children to meet the Mayor, explaining that it was Youth Democracy week and how important it was for children and young people to exercise their right to have a say and have a voice.
After the audience, the Mayor invited the group into the parlour for photos and to sign the visitors book. The event ended with the Mayor presenting the children with a badge with Darlington's Crest on.
Hear By Right (HbR), 17th Oct
(Darlington Football Club)
34 people attended a workshop organised by the National Youth Agency, looking at how Hear by Right can be used to develop services for young people and how young people can be involved - something with Darlington Youth Service are very keen on developing.
Branksome – Consultation event 17th Oct
(Branksome Youth Centre)
A consultation workshop was held with a group of 10 young people at Branksome Youth Club. The consultation was based around what they wanted in the youth club, as well as their opinions on Local Democracy Week
Question Time, 18th Oct (2.30 – 4.00pm)
(Dolphin Centre, Central Hall)
Young people were given the opportunity to put questions to the top people at Darlington Borough Council. Attending were Ada Burns (Chief Executive), Councillor Bill Dixon (Deputy Leader of the Council), Mervyn Bell (Head of Youth Service), Sue Collingwood (Darlington police), Colin Morris (Chief Exec of Darlington Primary Care Trust) with Steve Thompson, (Assistant Director of Community Services) chairing the session.
Questions came from Schools and Colleges across Darlington, covering a range of topics and issues.
Voice & Action Group Launch, 18th Oct (5.00 – 7.30pm)
(Dolphin Centre, Central Hall)
36 young people attended the launch of the Voice & Action Group (V&AG), which gave an overview of existing work of Darlington Youth Assembly members and gave young people the opportunity to prioritise issues from earlier consultations. These findings would be presented by the Member of Youth Parliament (MYP) Ashleigh Trevarrow, at the next Children’s Trust meeting
Using our new PP Vote equipment, focus groups were created and issues discussed under the five headings of Every Child Matters (ECM): Be Healthy, Staying Safe, Enjoy & Achieve, Making a Positive Contribution, Achieving Economic Well-being.
Town Centre Consultation, 19th Oct
(Darlington College)
Members of the participation team undertook consultation at Darlington College seeking the views of young people with regards to the Tesco’s proposal.
Peas, Politics & Pudding, 22nd Oct
(Darlington Football Club)
To mark the end of Local Democracy Week, there was a dinner at Darlington Football club with guests invited from local and regional youth forums. Members from the North East Regional Youth Assembly, United Kingdom Youth Parliament, Darlington Youth Assembly and Red Hall Youth Group, attended the event along with Mervyn Bell (Head of Youth Service), Participation team members, representatives from Democratic Services and a group of young people from Brighter Futures.
The 57 strong audience were viewed the Intergeneration project DVD, which members of the Youth Assembly have been working on for the past few months. There was a quiz and discussions took place over lunch.
The event was hosted by Ashleigh Trevarrow (MYP for Darlington) and Christian Smith (Deputy MYP for Darlington)