SYP Weekly Update 151
22nd July 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
- Picture the Change Highlights
- SYP Hit The Big Tent Festival This Weekend!
UK and International
- People making Waves
- Your Voice. Your Photo.
Communications
- Everyone needs the ClickCEOP app in their life...
Policy
- ASH Scotland wants to hear from you!
- Conveners Group meet
NOTE: Some of the opportunities mentioned in the Weekly Update may apply only to Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs). Please email francesca.l@syp.org.uk for guidance.
Picture the Change Highlights
Nicole Mouat MSYP for Shetland, and Emily Shaw, the Chair of Shetland Youth Voice recently held the first of many events to promote Picture the Change, SYP and the Shetland Youth Voice forum. Taking to the high street Nicole and Emily had a stall where they could consult with young people on the manifesto; share information with them on SYP, Shetland’s Youth Voice and encourage young people in Shetland to use these platforms speak up on the issues important to them and be more involved in their communities.
The pair racked up a substantial number of responses for the consultation in just a few hours, and even wrote to their local press further spreading the word of Picture the Change, and of the work SYP and Shetland Youth Voice do. Coverage from the event was included in their local weekly paper ‘The Shetland Times’ and the nightly radio broadcast from ‘BBC Radio Shetland’!
Tavish Scott MSP said "You can change the country and change Shetland! Nicole and Emily are leading by example by raising issues that matter to Shetland's young people."
Youthbeatz
John Brown, MSYP for Galloway & Upper Nithsdale and Ami Kirk, MSYP for Dumfrieshire, attended the Youthbeatz festival at Dock Park in Dumfries on Saturday 17th July to consult with their constituents.
SYP would like to say well done to Nicole, Emily, John, and Ami for their hard work at both events. You’ve really hit the nail on the head with spreading the word on ‘Picture the Change’ and getting young people to take part in the consultation. We look forward to hearing more manifesto updates from MSYPs over the coming weeks.
What are you doing to support 'Picture the Change'?
Have you been out consulting yet? Don’t forget ALL MSYPs have a target of 50 responses to reach individually by the end of the consultation, and there’s that crazy shoe giveaway for the MSYP with the most collected responses, so come on and muster up some energy to get out and consult. SYP wasn’t built in a day you know, and we need your support to reach our target of 15,000 responses. And if you haven’t done the survey yourself yet, then just click here to take part.
Picture the Change Idea of the Week
It looks like it’ll be a pretty nice weekend weather-wise, so why not head down to your local town centre and survey young people on what their opinions are on the Picture the Change statements, like Nicole did?
Remember one of the sections counts as one response, so you’ll only need to ask them ten questions, and as long as you stick to public property (basically in the high street or the park, rather than the shopping centre) and aren’t causing an obstruction, you shouldn’t have to ask permission from the authorities. You can get loads of responses in a short space of time! For more info on doing a street survey, check out the Manifesto Pack by clicking here.
SYP Hit The Big Tent Festival This Weekend!
Only a few weeks ago we launched our consultation ‘Picture the Change’ outside the Scottish Parliament with our theatrical living room picture installation. This weekend we will be heading with our installation to the beautiful Falkland Estate in Fife for *The Big Tent Festival, where our MSYPs will be consulting with as many young people as possible to help change their future.
If you’re in the area why not come along to step into our living room installation? Complete with fireplace, standard lamp, and an inflatable chesterfield sofa, it’s definitely set to turn heads in the middle of a muddy field!
If you can’t make it along this weekend don’t worry though, we’ll let you know how we get on, and you can always catch us at one of the many other events we’re off to this summer, to find out where we’re going next just click here.
*Please note this event is ticketed so you’ll need to head to their website for more details on how and where to buy tickets www.bigtentfestival.co.uk.
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People making Waves
Looking for a volunteering opportunity to develop you volunteering experience? Want to meet new people? Or just fancy doing a new challenge? The Wave of Friendship is a volunteer exchange programme that encourages and supports the exchange of volunteers between Scotland and London connecting people to the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. You can apply for bursaries of up to £500 to cover travel, accommodation and other costs involved in the exchange.
All volunteers need to do is choose any opportunity that takes place between now and September 2012 that demonstrates one or more of these values; Friendship, Respect, Courage, Determination, Equality and Inspiration.
It’s a fantastic opportunity to gain experience of volunteering in another part of the country and to share your volunteering experiences with others. You could learn new skills, enhance existing skills and help to build new relationships and connections between Scotland and London.
If you would like more information about this scheme just email: wof@peoplemakingwaves.org.uk where they can explain a little more, or check out their website www.peoplemakingwaves.org.uk/.
Your Voice. Your Photo.
What does democracy mean to you? Complete the phrase “Democracy is…” with an original photograph and share it with the world. You could be lucky enough and have your masterpiece shared at a special exhibition at the United Nations, and at galleries in New York and Los Angeles.
Click here to find out more
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Everyone needs the ClickCEOP app in their life...
Repeated friend requests from someone you don’t know? Upsetting comments from so-called friends? Downloaded a virus by accident? Embarrassing pics posted online?
We all know someone that these things have happened to.
Well, from here on, if you are worried about anything online, you can get access to help, advice and support direct from your Facebook profile – all you have to do is add and bookmark the app – show your friends (and anyone pretending to be your friend online!) that you are hooked up to ClickCEOP.
The app links directly to the police organisation dedicated to keeping young people safe online so if you run into trouble online – this is the place to go where there are people that can help.
Too add the CEOP button check out www.facebook.com/ClickCEOP.
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ASH Scotland wants to hear from you!
In Scotland, over 13,000 people die every year from tobacco use. It is estimated that 15,000 young people (age 13 – 24) in Scotland start smoking each year. Scotland is a world leader reducing smoking, with smoke-free public places, excellent local stop smoking services, and a lot of work on preventing young people from starting smoking.
ASH Scotland are the leading Charity that campaign for better control and reduction of tobacco use in Scotland. They are planning a new campaign for a new tobacco control strategy in Scotland for the next five years. And they want to hear your views!
You can tell them what you think is important by filling in this survey on Survey Monkey:
Click here to take part
Conveners Group meet
Last night the Conveners Group held its first meeting in Edinburgh where they explored what their new role, both as Subject Committee Conveners and members of the Conveners Group involves and talked about what the SYP could do going forward with policy and campaigns at the October Sitting in the Scottish Parliament, Picture the Change and the Youth Manifesto and beyond!
Watch this space for a number of these exciting ideas coming your way soon!
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