Are you 16+ and interested in making a difference in your community? We want to hear from you! We have put together a short questions and answers to help you decide if becoming a Youth Commitee member is right for you. We hope this helps 🙂
What is a Youth Committee?
The Sphere 17 Youth Committee is a group made up of young people, 16+ years, from Sphere 17, who are interested in working together to make a positive difference in different ways in the lives of local young people, and in their youth service.
Is this going to be a new group?
While the Sphere 17 Youth Committee will be a new group made up of new young people, Sphere 17 did have a Youth Action Group (known as the YAG’s) which only finished up earlier this year. The YAG’s were also made up of young people from Sphere and they were involved in developing some great projects over recent years. Some members of that group are going to help set up the new group and share their YAG experiences with the Youth Committee. We are hoping to have 16 young people – 4 from each of the Sphere17 youth centres – Bonnybrook, Darndale, Kilbarrack and Priorswood, to best ensure a fair representation of young people
So, what kind of stuff can we do on a Youth Committee (YC)?
Well, that’s going to be up to the YC to decide, but some of the things we hope will happen is:
· The Youth Committee will be a youth consultative body for Sphere 17. That means that, if, say, Sphere 17 staff or the Sphere 17 Board wanted to get the opinion of young people on anything that is happening (or planned), they can go to the Youth Committee (YC) and the YC will give it a bit of thought together and then come back with their view.
· The YC will be a place for young people to discuss stuff that is important and matters to them, or to other young people
· The YC can decide to organise action projects in response to any issues or needs they feel are in their community
· A Youth Director, who will sit on the Board of Sphere 17, will be elected from the Youth Committee.
· As a YC member, you might also like to get involved in other opportunities like recruitment of staff, youth surveys, media campaigns, and training & development, etc.
Is there any other benefit for me if I join?
Absolutely! You get to meet new people, develop your confidence and skills, learn how to make change happen, and have the ultimate honour of being a voice for local young people in your youth service!!
If I’m interested, how long do I have to sign up for and how often do the YC meet?
Youth Committee members are asked to sign up for a two year term. At the start, there will be a training programme to help people get to know each other and to learn about how to work together well, so as to make the most of your time on the YC.
An open evening for all those who apply will take place on Wednesday, October 12th, 7-9pm and the following topics will be covered over the following 5 weeks (every Wednesday 7-9pm):
· Leadership and Groupwork
· Communication and Problem Solving
· Confidence and Self Esteem
· Committee Skills and Teamwork
· Event Planning
A residential overnight (Friday) activity is also planned for the YC group in late November/early December (details to be confirmed). The focus for the residential will be:
· Team building activities
· Agree group commitment and contract for 2023
· Identify suitable days / times for YC meetings
· Explore ideas for action projects
From 2023, the YC will meet 7 times. The exact dates/times are to be set by the YC, but will likely be 1-3 weeks before the Sphere 17 Board meetings.
So, what happens next …?
· 1st Sept – Social Media Promotion for the Youth Committee begins
· Early Sept – Promo visits to each areas senior drop-in
· 30th Sept 2022 – Applications close
· Week of October 4th – all applicants contacted
· Oct 12th – open evening session (7-9pm)
· Oct 19th – training programme starts (7-9pm)
How do I apply?
You can apply by filling in a short online application form available here
Your youth centre will also have copies of the forms which you can complete and return to a staff member before September 30th.
We can’t wait to hear from you 🙂
