Summer starts with a Sitting…

With the ‘Picture the Change’ consultation for our next Youth Manifesto it looks set to be a long hot summer of SYP action. It kicked off with our June Sitting and AGM in Livingston, where MSYPs decided the 50 statements that make up ‘Picture the Change’ as well as electing a new Board and Subject Committee Conveners for the exciting year ahead!

The making of ‘Picture the Change’

The SYP’s next Youth Manifesto will be the biggest thing we’ve ever undertaken, aiming to consult 15,000 young people from across Scotland to decide what will make up the Manifesto and dictate much of the SYP’s campaigning work right up until 2015. On the Saturday of the Sitting MSYPs set about deciding which issues to include in ‘Picture the Change’. Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People Tam Baillie introduced the Manifesto consultation together with SCCYP’s own ‘Right Blether’ which will run alongside ‘Picture the Change’ before ably chairing a special ‘Manifesto Motion’ session.

Four topical issues were introduced by MSYPs Tom Sparks, Laura Gorman, Claire Ewing, Jill Pringle, Anna Devine and Angus Duncan before being hotly debated by the full membership. Strong points both for and against issues such as replacing the Trident nuclear missile system and funding for local youth groups were made, before all four issues were voted through to the next stage of the process.

That next stage saw MSYPs in groups rotating 104 issues and cutting them down to the top 50. In a lively session, MSYPs chose the final fifty which now make up the five surveys of ‘Picture the Change’. You can take part in ‘Picture the Change’ and have your say on whether we’ve got the picture right at http://www.picturethechange.org/

Board Elections

The AGM part of the Sitting on the Sunday saw the annual election of the SYP’s Board of Trustees. One of the unique things about the SYP is that all our Trustees are from amongst our membership and as a result are all aged 25 and under.

The elections saw nine MSYPs step up to the plate making confident speeches and taking questions in their stride and gave voters a number of tough decisions as a result.

After the dust settled and the votes were counted, the SYP’s Board of Trustees for 2010-11 will be:

Chair
Derek Couper MSYP (Livingston)

Vice Chair
David Leitch MSYP (Livingston)

Trustees

Jodie Campbell MSYP (Paisley North)
Grant Costello MSYP (East Kilbride)
Kris Sinclair MSYP (Paisley South)

Trustee representing Conveners Group
Claire Ewing MSYP (Dunfermline West)

Subject Committee Elections

Subject Committee Conveners have a crucial role in the SYP. They will facilitate meetings of their committee at Sittings and together will form the Conveners Group which directs the policy and campaigning work of the organisation.

In practice this means that the Conveners Group are the MSYP steering group for the Youth Manifesto and any campaigns we run, as well as making decisions on what gets debated at Sittings, and policy consultations the SYP responds to. They also collectively manage what activity will take place at Committee meetings at Sittings.

On the Sunday of the Sitting the ten Committees assembled to elect Conveners and Deputies to take on the roles. The candidates successfully elected were:

Culture and Media Committee
Convener – Laura Gorman MSYP (Dundee West)
Deputy – Jeanna Sally MSYP (Dumbarton)

Education and Lifelong Learning Committee
Convener – Claire Ewing MSYP (Dunfermline West)
Deputy – Rebbecca Garnett MSYP (West Renfrewshire)

Enterprise, Employment and Training Committee
Convener – Ryan Smart MSYP (Central Fife)
Deputy – Jawad Akbar MSYP (Glasgow Shettleston)

Equalities Committee
Convener – Paul Sloan MSYP (Edinburgh Pentlands)
Deputy – Gary Airnes MSYP (Stirling)

External Affairs Committee
Convener – Austin Sheridan MSYP (Glasgow Govan)
Deputy – Keenan Alexander MSYP (Glasgow Springburn)

Health and Wellbeing Committee
Convener – Andrew Deans MSYP (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Deputy – Fiona Beaton MSYP (Girlguiding Scotland)

Justice Committee
Convener – Jamie O’Neill MSYP (Glasgow Anniesland)
Deputy – Matthew Landsburgh MSYP (Dundee East)
Social Justice Committee
Convener – Megan Wallace MSYP (Paisley South)
Deputy – Aamir Riaz MSYP (Glasgow Pollok)

Sport and Leisure Committee
Convener – John Beaton MSYP (Edinburgh West)
Deputy – Liam Murray MSYP (Dumfries)

Transport, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee
Convener – Janie Orr MSYP (Roxburgh and Berwickshire)
Deputy – Angus Duncan MSYP (Dunfermline East)

Together with a lively Hedfone Party on the Saturday night, that saw a battle between the sounds of the Nineties and the Noughties, the Sitting was one to remember, and a perfect way to kick off the summer of ‘Picture the Change’ with our new Board and Conveners Group at the heart of it!