October Sitting 2011

29th and 30th October

Kindly hosted by North Ayrshire Council

As you will all know the next national Sitting of the Scottish Youth Parliament will take place on the 29th and 30th October 2011. The Sitting is kindly hosted by North Ayrshire Council and all activities over the weekend will be held in St. Matthew’s Academy, Saltcoats, KA21 5NT. Please ensure you register your attendance with your support worker by Friday 14th October or you will be unable to attend!! Support workers can download the attendance forms and travel and accommodation info from the bottom of this page.

The weekend's activities in brief...

 
Click here for the Sitting agenda

Click here for speaker bios

The theme of the Sitting will be ‘Motivate and Inspire’ which will be reflected in all aspects of the agenda. On Saturday MSYPs will debate a series of Members Motions and decide which motions pass to become SYP policy. For more information on the Motions which will be debated on Saturday click here.

On Saturday afternoon MSYPs will be joined by Rt. Hon Michael Moore MP, Secretary of State for Scotland. Mr Moore will address the membership and then open the floor to questions so ensure you have a questions prepped for the day! This is a key opportunity for members to engage with the Scotland Office and address key youth issues such as education and employment.

On Sunday morning MSYPs will break out into Subject Committees. Each group will address an issue specific to that committee which will be facilitated by the Committee Convener.

Sunday afternoon is completely dedicated to Love Equally – SYP’s campaign for marriage equality!! MSYPs will hear from Tim Hopkins, Director of the Equality Network who has been campaigning for marriage equality for over 10 years - so make sure you have a question ready for Tim. After the Q+A session the membership will take part in a campaign workshop session, aiming to ensure every MSYP has responded to the government consultation on same-sex marriage but also to teach MSYPs how to deliver a campaign session with other young people in their local area.

Saturday Evening

Well as our Sitting falls on Halloween, it would be a shame not to enter into the spirit (sorry) of things eh?! The North Ayrshire MSYPs have been hard a work to put together a brilliant line up of games, food, music and performance of Saturday evening to ensure every MSYP has a great night!

It would be great if everyone could dress up for the night! We have not set a theme as such but thought it would be a great idea if each local authority or voluntary organisation dressed up as a group theme! So for example your group could go as Smurfs or Simpsons characters!! If everyone gets involved we are sure it will make for an interesting night!!

In the run up to the Sitting we will be announcing further details on the weekend’s activities and a draft agenda will be available 1-2 weeks before. In the meantime if you have any questions or require any further details please contact Kate Bouchier-Hayes, kate.b@syp.org.uk

Love Equally Reminder

A wee reminder for the Love Equally campaign, please let Kate (kate.b@syp.org.uk) know if you have any questions or advise regarding the campaign or if you have any plans or require materials to support your work. All info and advice has been emailed to MSYPs since the launch on the 1st of August and info is always available on our website by clicking here. Please keep us informed with your work and if possible post all completed petitions to the SYP Office, Gordon Lamb House, 3 Jackson’s Entry, Edinburgh EH8 8PJ!

 

Click here to download the Attendance Sheet for the Sitting. These should be returned to kate.b@syp.org.uk by Friday 14th October at the latest.

Click here for the October Sitting Saltcoats travel and accommodation guide.