Shrewsbury pupils contribute to county youth conference

Last week six Fourth Form pupils attended the Shropshire Schools Youth Conference, hosted by Shropshire’s youth MP representative Stephanie.  

The event was held in the form of a conference panel in which we had the opportunity, along with other local schools, to ask a group of relevant speakers questions relating to youth issues in Shrewsbury.  

The event was held in SYA’s new youth centre building, as this is where Stephanie works with the staff as part of her responsibilities with the youth parliament. In her manifesto Stephanie stated she wanted to make sure the voices of the youth were heard and so in order to achieve this she hosted the first of what she hoped will be many of these panels. 

We were offered the chance to raise difficulties that impact our daily lives and question what is being done to resolve the concerns. One of the attending speakers was Shropshire’s MP, Julia Buckley, who was able to provide insight into the work that takes place behind the scenes to address prominent issues affecting the youth of Shropshire. All who attended the trip found that our feedback was taken on board and agreed that the event was a really enjoyable experience. Julia Buckley was extremely generous with her time and was also very happy to answer as many questions as we liked after the panel had finished. The Shrewsbury School pupils certainly took her up on that offer and we were very lucky to have the chance to talk for so long to the local MP.   

Sara W (M, IV)