Highsted Hosts Swale Youth Forum

On Tuesday 2 October, Highsted hosted this year's first Swale Youth Forum with the School Council representing our student body. Emily P, Year 10, a GCSE student interested in politics, chaired the meeting. 

Swale Youth Forum meets six times a year and provides the young people of Swale with an opportunity to discuss current issues with relevant agencies. It helps young people between the ages of 11 and 19 to get their voice heard and gives them the opportunity to be part of changes in their local area. It also gives them a chance to learn new skills and get involved in resolving those issues that matter most to the young people of the borough. The Mayor and relevant councillors from Swale were present throughout the duration of the meeting to answer any questions the young people had.

The meeting started at 9:30am with a walkabout around Sittingbourne Town Centre. This is an opportunity for the young people to share their views on the town centre and input their ideas. Councillor Jill Read, who is one of the councillors responsible for the regeneration and improvements to Sittingbourne High Street, participated in the walk around Sittingbourne. Students were able to discuss their ideas with her and once we returned to Highsted students formally gave their views and ideas, which Jill will now take back to the team working on the development.

Students were then given a talk by Councillor Christopher Blandford who consults on the cycling and walking schemes in Sittingbourne, and the students raised valid and thought-provoking points about how to encourage the community to take a more active and healthy approach to getting about the area. We then had a representative from Ideas Test, Jack Finch-Harding, to discuss with students the many opportunities to collaborate with artists and practitioners in order to improve the uptake in exciting arts-based projects for young people, ranging from music and drama to large-scale art pieces. 

Finally the meeting came to a close with a 'Hot Topics' section which gave young people present an opportunity to raise and discuss key issues in their school and the wider community. The event was a great success and there are plans for the next meeting to be held on Wednesday 21 November at Swale House. Any young person interested in getting involved with their local community is encouraged to join Highsted’s School Council or post their views to The Swale Youth Forum Instagram and have their voice heard.