Youth Action Kouncil Homepage

What is YAK (Youth Action Kouncil)?

The Youth Action Kouncil advises the County Council on service provision; it gives young people a voice, a chance to express their opinions and a chance to be heard.

Members must be aged between 11 and 19 and membership is by election only from one of the following groups:

From any of the Staffordshire District Youth Forums
Young Carers Forum
4us Forum (Young People Leaving Care)
Children and Young Peoples Voice (Young People in Care)
Special Needs Young People
S.C.V.Y.S (Staffordshire Council for Voluntary Youth Services Forum)
UK Youth Parliament, 8 elected members all receive an automatic place

All of the above groups receive 4 places for which the young people are all democratically elected within their own group. Elections take place between mid February and mid March annually.

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Current Projects

Alcohol & Drug Misuse

YAK recently took the opportunity to give their opinions and views on alcohol and drug misuse amongst young people to the influential Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) at County Buildings. Following a preparatory session in the morning with staff from acclaimed charity Mentor UK, the group met 3 key representatives from the ACMD to explain what influences the way they think about drugs; their thoughts on drug education and who they felt was best to give information and advice about drugs. The young people felt that all of the adults were really approachable, down to earth and really keen to hear what they had to say. This information will be fed back to the full ACMD group, and will be used to assess how suggestions in a recent report have made a difference to young people's lives.

Media Training

YAK were recently selected to undergo intensive training and support around dealing with the media from the County's Communication team. Individually, the young people were given scenarios that may generate media interest and were then asked to role play interviews - both radio and TV-style. The group then reviewed the footage and were offered constructive feedback from staff and peers. The young people were so impressed by the training opportunity that they have suggested it be repeated with other groups. One of the participants said "The training was really useful and gave me skills that I will use in the future. Although I was really nervous and it was embarrassing watching the interviews, we all supported each other, so it felt okay."

Contact Details

For Further Information about YAK, please contact...

Darren Foley
Senior Youth Worker

Staffordshire Youth Service
Training & Development Team
Talbot Street
Rugeley
WS15 2SG

Telephone: 01889 256158 - Fax: 01889 256197
Email: yak@staffordshire.gov.uk

Last Modified: 06/10/2008 13:05:08
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