Hull Young People's Parliament Addresses Crime & Safety

The annual meeting of the Hull Young People's Parliament convened today in the Council Chambers of Hull's Guild Hall today. This was chaired by Eunice, the Hull Young Mayor, and supported by her dedicated team, which includes Precious and Emperor who are Hull's UK Youth Parliament Representatives (MYPs). Honoured guests were the Lord Mayor, Councillor Cheryl Payne and Councillor Linda Tock, who has championed Young People's Voice & Influence for years. It is great that these important people are fully supportive of the work that our young people do and they are genuinely the audience that listens and responds to them. Many items were covered in today's meeting with featured over 140 young people from across the city. These included updates on the Hull Children & Young People's Plan and other initiatives from around the city. There were light-hearted and serious discussions. To make everyone feel safe and comfortable, Precious led a debate on whether Pineapple should be added to Pizzas! This settled everyone's nerves so they were then ready to talk about their views on personal safety around Hull, especially in the parks and on public transport. The feedback from this is going to be discussed by the Young Mayor's team in a meeting with the Humberside Chief Constable in a week or so.

Underpinning all of this work is the Lundy Model of Child Participation. Eunice and her colleagues explained this again to the Parliament, although it is now very familiar to most.

Also, the team shared the 'Stop Violence against Women & Girls' campaign, which the Young Mayor's Team has initiated and led, with the unveiling of a banner designed by them and supported by 'Square Peg' artists.

The Hull Young People's Parliament used to meet three times in the Guildhall but this has been changed. Following this meeting, Pop-up Parliaments will be taking place across the city to ensure the voices of many more young people in youth groups, main stream and special schools are heard thus reaching a much wider and diverse range of Hull Young People. This is a structure that has been particularly effective over the last few years and feeds into Hull's plans for the future. We were delighted to see our Thrive students joining other children from across the various trusts in the city.

It's been another wonderful meeting and highlights the strength of Young People's Voice & Influence in Hull.