SYP Weekly Update 126
14th January 2010
Find out more about what's happening in the SYP in our weekly updates, click on the section title to take you to more information for each of the articles...
List
Events
- Fundraising tips for Keenan
- Help design an Anti-Bullying Strategy for Scotland
- Conveners Group meeting
- Commonwealth Video Contest! WIN stuff and be heard...
- 2Young2Die campaign competition!
Communications
UK and International
Policy
- A week is a long time in politics…
General
- MP for a week
- We need your stories!
NOTE: Some of the opportunities mentioned in the Weekly Update may apply only to Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs). Please email rob.g@scottishyouthparliament.org.uk for guidance.
Fundraising tips for Keenan
Keenan Alexander MSYP for Glasgow Springburn got in touch with us at SYP HQ and reported that he and eight other Glasgow MSYPs are heading off to Malawi in September to work with the National Youth Council of Malawi! The group will be looking at health, participation and representation of females in Malawi, and are hoping to volunteer in schools, orphanages and hospitals whilst they are there.
In Keenan’s words:
“We don’t want the trip to be about us, so we’d love the opportunity to give something back. The reason I’m telling you all about this trip is fundraising. As you can imagine we have quite a bit of money to raise, and I was hoping that some of you would have had some experience. I’d love to hear about any successful ventures regarding fundraising, as we’re in need of some inspiration! If you have any ideas then please give me an email at: keenan.alexander.msyp@sypmail.org.uk. Thanks”
Thanks for getting in touch with us Keenan, it sounds like a great opportunity for yourself and the group to experience what Malawi is like, and to give something back. I’m sure we can help Keenan out by sending him an email with some ideas, and or successful fundraising stories. You can also find on our Facebook discussion page we have added a topic on fundraising, please leave your comments and stories on fundraising to help the group out.
Help design an Anti-Bullying Strategy for Scotland
Being bullied is a huge issue for many young people in Scotland and can affect your life in a bad way if it’s happened to you. The Scottish Government wants to know what should be done to stop bullying happen, and the SYP has teamed up with our partners at YouthLink Scotland to make sure young people are the heart of designing a strategy!
We’ve got spaces for MSYPs to take part in an exciting interactive afternoon which will bring together young people with professionals from the youth work sector. The aim of the session is to draw up an Anti-Bullying Strategy for Scotland which will be presented to Government. The session is designed with young people in mind and promises to be interesting and good fun too!
The meeting will be held from 1.00 – 4.30pm on Thursday 28th January at the SYP offices in Edinburgh. If you’re interested in taking part, get in touch with Rob Gowans on 0131 313 2488 or rob.g@scottishyouthparliament.org.uk by next Friday 22nd January at the latest.
Conveners Group meeting
Last night saw the latest meeting of the SYP Conveners Group. In an action-packed meeting, Conveners decided what topics should be discussed at the March Sitting, what Member’s Motions you’ll have the chance to discuss, and how SYP can fight once more to tackle threats of the purchase age of alcohol being raised to 21. They also discussed plans for the next Youth Manifesto, which will be coming your way soon!
Info about the discussion topics, Members Motions and details of what will happen at the Sitting will be heading your way late next week, so keep your eye on your email and the Weekly Update for all the latest!
Commonwealth Video Contest! WIN stuff and be heard...
The Commonwealth Secretariat, representing an association of 54 member states, including the UK, has launched an online video contest to showcase the talents of young speakers and performers. This is an awesome opportunity to get expressive, and show them what you can do, and what makes you unique.
The most original, inspiring or entertaining video will earn the prestigious Best Commonwealth Video title and win either a netbook computer or an iPod Touch (you choose!).
The singer, musician, dancer or band responsible for the best musical video will be crowned Best Commonwealth Band/Artist and receive £200 worth of Amazon vouchers.
Entrants should either:
- Perform a song,
- Highlight an issue (peace, climate change, democracy, human rights, education, health, youth issues or anything else), or
- Talk about themselves, their hobbies, friends, family, home country or local community.
The deadline is 26 February 2010 and the winners, judged by a panel of experts, will be announced on Commonwealth Day (8 March 2010).
To find out more hop on over to their website and check out the latest entrants videos and find out more about how to enter http://yourcommonwealth.org/.
2Young2Die campaign competition! Enter now!
If you are aged between 11 and 25 and want to make a difference and save your generation’s lives on roads, then enter this competition and WIN BIG!
Road deaths are a huge killer of young people. Every day on British roads, 6 young people aged 12-19 are killed or seriously hurt on foot or bicycles, and 19 young people under 25 are killed or seriously hurt in cars.
You can work in a group of mates to stop the carnage by:
1. CAMPAIGN to raise awareness of deaths of young people on roads in your community. For example, you could… create a road safety video (you can click here to view some already produced by young people for Brake) or a road safety poster for your college/school, or hold a photo call about road safety for the local media, holding a road safety banner you’ve made, or run a road safety event such as a stand in a shopping centre where you carry out a road safety quiz and give out road safety advice. Or have your own brilliant idea!
2. COLLECT donations for Brake, the road safety charity, by fundraising and having fun at the same time. For example, you could hold a BrakeBright day where everyone in your school or college comes in wearing something crazily bright in return for a £1 donation to Brake. Or you could hold a karaoke night, or a sponsored danceathon. There are loads more ideas you will have too! (You must raise a minimum of £100, and the higher the amount, the stronger your entry!)
The winning team (and any teacher/tutor who led the team) who ran the best campaign and raised significant funds will win a trip to a special reception and ceremony in the Houses of Parliament and other goodies such as video cameras! Find out more on how to enter by clicking here.
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There are no communications updates this week...
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There are no UK and International updates this week...
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A week is a long time in politics…
Following on from last week’s news about the lowering of prescription charges, a few things have popped up this week that SYP has called for in the past couple of years.
Last year, we asked you what you thought of the Government’s plans to make reforms to the Right To Buy social housing. This would mean that new tenants would not be able to buy social housing to make more homes available to rent. It also proposes new rules which aim to defend the rights of people that rent their homes from a social landlord.
These proposals have now been included in a Housing Bill, which will come before Parliament shortly. Most of what you told us has been agreed by the Government and is included in the Bill, though some actions we called for that aren’t covered in the Bill are still to be decided. We’ll keep you in the loop about these issues – building new social housing and keeping and publicising the LIFT scheme for first-time buyers when we hear more!
In “Our Scotland”, young people in Scotland strongly supported using renewable energy, with a target of 30% of Scotland’s energy being generated by wind and other sustainable sources of power. This week, the Scottish Government approved the upgrading of a power line (Beauly to Denny) which will link renewable power plants in the north of Scotland with the national grid. In separate news, several windfarms have been given the green light to be built in a number of areas around Scotland. This seems to be a step forward, but of course with the major threat of climate change, work to make Scotland a world leader in cutting back on its causes need to be sustained.
Finally, in “Our Scotland”, young people called for more action to be taken to ensure that candidates at elections reflect the people they represent, including women and people from minority ethnic backgrounds. Well, this week a report into how the UK Parliament can modernise recommended that all political parties take steps to make sure that more women and minority ethnic candidates are presented to voters at the next election, or facing the prospect of being forced to do so by the next one. This could be done through all-women or minority ethnic shortlists being imposed – a move which has divided opinion when it’s been used before.
The SYP welcomes moves to improve the situation, but we aren’t sure whether forcing parties to do it is the right move. Why not tell us what you think on our Facebook page?
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MP for a week
This week saw the launch of a computer game by the Parliament in a bid to get 11-14 year olds interested in Politics. The game “MP for a week” allows users to step into the shoes of an MP, Decide on laws, debate with other MPs, deal with the media, make speeches in the House of Commons Chamber and meet ministers and your constituents. The game uses footage of the Commons chamber and interviews with politicians.
We’ve already had a wee shot at it and got promoted after a day and a half from the easy level- we must be too clever for it, ha-ha…What do think of it? Follow this link to have a shot yourself, and post your comments on our Facebook page or email us to: francesca.l@scottishyouthparliament.org.uk
We need your stories!
We’re always looking to hear about what you’ve been getting up to in your areas as an MSYP, so don’t leave us in the dark if you’ve been busy doing fantabulous things, yes I did just say fantabulous things! Drop an email to francesca.l@scottishyouthparliament.org.uk by midday on a Wednesday and we might feature your story in the weekly update!
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