Friday 20th January 2006

Well, this is week two! At the weekend I became the local celebrity, as an article featuring my new role and the type of work I will be doing appeared in 'The Sentinel' newspaper.

I began this week with a visit to Rose Vakis, The Chief Officer of Stafford and District Voluntary Services, to discover exactly what their role is, how they might help me in my role and vice versa. It was most interesting and I learned a lot; for example, I had no idea that there are around 5,000 voluntary organisations in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent! It was also useful because I now have an easy way to get access to them all via their service delivery network, something which I intend to do.

On Tuesday I met with colleagues who work very closely with children, young people, parents and carers. We met to discuss the forthcoming Children and Young People's Plan for Staffordshire. We discussed how we can make it more meaningful for you - the public - and how you can have direct involvement in this. Watch this space for more info over the coming weeks.

I also spent some time talking to a reporter from the Staffordshire Newsletter today who was very interested in my new role. They interviewed me for their weekly 'Profile' seection, so I'll be keeping a look out for that story in future issues.

This week I met with Darran Millington who manages the Children and Young People's Voice project for Staffordshire's Looked After Children. I ran some ideas past him as I value his opinion; he has a lot of experience of talking to children and young people. One project that I am working on is to discover all of the groups that formally consult; who are they, where are they, what do they do and more importantly, what about the children and young people we don't know? I will be meeting with all of these organisations in the very near future and will keep you updated.

I had a successful meeting with youth service colleagues and found out a lot more about what they do and the vast range of services/consultation groups that they run and support. I have been invited to a couple of events, including the UK Youth Parliament Election Event, which I look forward to.

The end of the week will see me organising my forthcoming diary. As you can imagine I have a lot to do and many, many places to visit.

Last Modified: 29/09/2006 08:29:16
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