Witney Youth Centre Youth Forum at Election

Young People from Witney Young People's Centre's Youth Forum got to witness democracy in action as they observed the election this May.

With the help of Bill Oddy, Head of Community Services, and Area Youth Worker for Witney and Eynsham Carol Rowlands, they were able to watch this historic election unfold; and record all the action on their centre's Facebook.

Afterwards they wrote this report:

Staying awake

Members of Witney Youth Centre Youth Forum attended the election evening at the Windrush Leisure Centre, gaining knowledge of the process of the elections including the odds of a hung parliament. Throughout the night reporting the unfolding events on the centres Face Book page. All managed to stay awake!

Emma Stubbs, Chair person for the Youth Forum stated: "this has widened our horizons to the world of politics".

Toran Boyce, Josh Douglas and Louisa Knight, all Youth Forum members, stated: "The whole event was very intellectual, we learnt so much and will transfer the knowledge gained to further develop the Youth Forum across Witney over the summer period.

We will be working on gaining more skills and knowledge with even more enthusiasm and looking forward to inviting local councillors to deepen our understanding of our local communities."

We would like to thank Bill Oddy, Head of Community Services for obtaining the security passes and fulfilling our dream of attending such an historic event.

Sharing what we learned

Carol Rowland, youth worker, added: "Yes, this was a long night and didn’t stop there, we have continued to follow the events and share with many young people who would not usually take an interest.

In Youth Work, as in all Young People's Services, every child matters, and I am privileged to be working with young people who have become inspired to take an active role in the future of young people within their communities, and who have gained so much from actually observing the election night from the counting of ballot papers, asking questions and reporting to all our members; friends and colleagues, most going to bed by 2.30pm.

We actually finished at 8am with a full breakfast and an evaluation of the night. An overwhelming experience and one we will never forget."

• Find out more on Witney Young People's Centre's Home Page