Dartford Youth Council held its inaugural meeting of this academic year, which welcomed fourteen new members from across the borough, presented a speech from the Member of Youth Parliament for South East Hampshire and allowed members to experience a revised Executive Committee election process as a result of the everlasting effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The meeting was opened by Vice Chair Ricky Taing where he welcomed both new and returning members, followed by an exciting icebreaker activity (through the magic of Zoom) where we had the opportunity to connect with each other and meet our guest speaker.
He then welcomed Gareth Boyes MYP from the Curriculum for Life Awards Scheme to discuss their outreach with schools – an initiative which wishes to accredit schools for their teaching of a ‘curriculum for life’ to gear students to life beyond secondary education. We discussed how we could work with the organisation, especially in promoting the scheme with the schools in our borough. To find out about the scheme and how your school can get involved, click here.
Ricky then invited Dartford Youth Councillor Sanya Sunil to raise the key points mentioned from the Dartford Young People’s Partnership Conversation meeting, which both members attended. The details of the upcoming Try Angle Awards, which Dartford Youth Council were recognised in at the county finals, were also shared with the members. The initiative works to recognise the efforts shown by young people in the county – to nominate a young person, click here.
The highlight of the meeting was the election process for the Executive Committee – due to the impacts of the pandemic, we unanimously agreed that it would be in the best interests of the serving members to offer them another year on the committee.
Whilst Events Officer Babafunto Ojo and Website Administrator Isobel Ibironke chose to continue their roles, Chairman Princess Nwafor and P.R Officer Danielle Okine retired, with Ricky Taing and Zapran Carlsson being newly elected to the roles of Chairman and Vice Chair.
We also welcomed former Vice Chair Thomas Gebbett to serve as PR Officer, with new execs Sanya Sunil as Secretary and Folabomi Ojo as Treasurer. To find out about our new execs, click here.
Reflecting on a successful meeting, newly-elected Secretary Sanya commented: “Getting elected this year was an honour. Over the past year, I have tried my best to participate in all the events DYC has to offer such as the Santa’s House event and the DYPPC meetings. Being a part of this experience has allowed me to express my opinions on certain issues but also the viewpoint of my peers. Furthermore, this opportunity will allow me to continue to play an active role in DYC.”
We must thank Princess Nwafor, Toju and Danielle Okine for serving on the Executive Committee as Chairman, Treasurer and P.R Officer respectively, and wish them the very best towards their future pursuits.
Dartford Youth Council 