Universal Children’s Day

World Children’s Day started way back in 1954 as “Universal Children’s Day” and is celebrated on 20 November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare.

Since 1990, World Children’s Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the Declaration and the Convention on children’s rights. We use this day to celebrate the development of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and improving the lives of young people right across the world.

Cardiff Youth Council want to make you more aware of the impact and significance of these days and how the UNCRC has improved the lives of children and young people across the world.

The World is not perfect…but the welfare for young people right across the world has improved. The amount of young people feeling safe has improved. The amount of provision and access to youth services has improved. Most importantly “Children and young people have a voice and a choice in decisions that affect them” – (Article 12 UNCRC).

There is still more that can be done. There are always ways to improve and reach more young people improving their lives and providing more opportunities. Today we celebrate all our achievements and the developments towards a brighter future for all children and young people and we ask you to take one small step in reaching that goal. Lets all raise awareness of Universal Children’s Day.

Kyle: Cardiff Youth Council Member

Spread the word with a tweet and help us share the message for Universal Children’s Day!

#UCDCardiff

The Votes are in… CYC Elections

 

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AND THE VOTES ARE IN…..
CYC have been busy electing 4 members to significant posts in the organisation. Firstly we thanked the 4 CYC members who were stepping down. CYC had a great year and a lot of this was down to the leadership and commitment from those folks who were successful in last years election.

 

Our new Chair is Stephanie Ezeadum (17), she was MYP last year and is studying for her A levels at Cathedral School.

C Y C  ELECTIONS
Our new Vice Chair is Ed Jones (16) a student at Cardiff High and a member of CYC for 2 years. Ed said ‘I am passionate about young people having their voice

heard and look forward to representing the views of young people over the next year!’ Our 2 new elected Members of Youth Parliament for Cardiff are David Abadir (17) and Tabitha Balogun (17). David told CYC members ‘Thank you for voting for me and I will ensure I will work hard to represent Cardiff not only in the House of Commons but throughout the year here in the constituency’

 

CYC Met With Future Generations Commissioner

future generations commissioner meeting

Seven CYC members went to meeting Sophie Howe, Further Generations Commissioner in January. The meeting enabled young people to find out more about the role of the Future Generations Commissioner as well as raise concerns and share key issues raised by young people.

CYC Member James Martin (16) said ‘It was great to meet Sophie, she was friendly and explained her role which covers a lot of things’

Issues discussed included Brexit, the M4 relief road and the future career pathways for young people.

Second Grand Council event 23/03

Hey guys!

As some of you will know, as part of its plan to engage more with young people and CYC, Cardiff Council are working with us to produce three Grand Council events at the City Hall this year; the first of which that was held in December, on the theme of “What Matters to Future Generations”  was a great success.

We’re really looking forward to meeting young people from schools colleges and youth organisations all over Cardiff this March for our second installment, in order to discuss how Cardiff can achieve UNICEF “Child Friendly City” status. This status would recognise Cardiff as a city committed to fulfilling children’s rights.

You can find out more about this initiative here.

We’ll be looking at the criteria needed to meet this, and will have the opportunity to offer solutions from the perspective of young people to the challenges Cardiff faces in becoming “Child Friendly”.

Here are the basic points that have to be met:

Young people… 

  • know and understand their rights know about the services available and how to access them
  • have a say in the design, delivery and evaluation of services
  • experience connected, tailored and responsive services, even if their needs are complex
  • feel safe, nurtured, prioritised and are treated with dignity.

 

For those of you who have received confirmation of their place at the event, I’ll look forward to seeing you there! Remember that the event is being held at Cardiff City Hall, Cathays Park, 9:30-2:00, and light refreshments and a packed lunch will be provided. 

 And for those of you who are not attending the event- is there anything you’d like to comment on with regards to Cardiff becoming a “Child-Friendly City?” If you have any remarks, questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions regarding any of the above points, or anything else, don’t hesitate to get in touch! 

You can comment on this post, tweet us @cardiffyc, get in touch via our Facebook page, or send an email to me at maegandaviesjohn@outlook.com.

Thanks for reading guys, and remember to like and share!

Mae and CYC 🙂

Don’t Hate, Educate

Hi everyone,

Just a quick post to tell everyone that there’s a new campaign page up and running for CYC – #DontHateEducate

This page has been set up by Cardiff Youth Council members to support our priority of tackling racial and religious discrimination in Cardiff, if you’d like more information on how the UK Youth Parliament as a whole are taking on this priority, then click here.

This is a really important issue, so please show your support by liking and sharing our new page:  https://www.facebook.com/donthateeducatecyc/

Look out for upcoming events, and please make sure to attend and show your support!

Thank you for reading,

Stay awesome.

Xinyu, and CYC 🙂

Time Credits

A message to those of you who aren’t sure what these are,

Time credits are those pieces of paper, fondly nicknamed, “monopoly money” by some members of CYC. Some of you have been receiving these since the start of this academic year, and to those who haven’t, they look something like this;

time creds.jpg

The whole principle of these tokens is, that for every hour you spend helping out in the community, you get something in return- that’s why for every hour you spend at a CYC meeting, and working on your campaign in the office, you sign off for another on of these.

As lovely as they may look stuck on the wall as wallpaper, or as a decorative cover on one of your schoolbooks, or even making you feel that much richer by sitting there building up into a massive pile in your wallet, I think it’s about time we get out there and spend them. On what, I hear you cry! Well, it actually is pretty exciting. You can do a whole range of things, from going to the gym, to getting your hair cut, to working up a sweat at a Zumba class, to rock climbing, touring the stadium, or a farm, or a castle, to watching a movie… check out the list for yourself, here! 

If NONE of that catches your fancy, which I doubt, you can also donate your time credits to an organisation that could use them to give children opportunities to play, and have fun in the community… or even give them to a friend or family member to use!

So get out there, and spend!

See you soon,

Mae and CYC

(Remember to comment, share, tweet, whatever if you have any questions!)

 

 

Happy New Year!

Hey everyone,

Firstly, sorry for activity being a bit slow over Christmas, but now we’re back!

Just to remind everyone of the meeting we have coming up tomorrow, and to show you the agenda that’s been prepared for tomorrow, here it is;

photo (2).jpgWe have some really exciting news to share with you all about the Mental Health priority, and we’ll be doing some important work on all of our priorities this week, so it’d be great to see you all there!

As always, a warm welcome to any new members, and if you have any questions at all feel free to get in touch 🙂

Look out for some exciting updates really soon!!

Thanks again,

Mae and CYC 🙂

 

Grand Council Event 7/12

Hey guys,

So this Monday, as some of you know, a “Grand Council Event” will be taking place.  I thought you might like a bit of an overview of how the event will be happening, and what it’s all about.

Firstly, that it’s this Monday the 7th of December, to begin at 9:30am at the City Hall.

Secondly, that CYC will help facilitate three of these events over the course of the academic year, and this one is the first! This time, the focus will be “What Matters to Future Generations”, and all the young people that come along will be presented with the valuable opportunity to voice their opinion on the councils budget proposals and “What Matters”, the city’s strategic plan. As we all know, how the council decides to spend its money could have a huge impact on the services available to us and our families, so having your say could be really important.

Here’s a timetable showing the format of the days proceedings;

Time     Activity

9.30      Welcome and registration

9.45       Housekeeping/outline of day/group contract

9.50       Official Welcome and Cardiff Vision for the future

10.00      Short Term Strategic Planning- Table top group discussions       around the councils budget proposals

10.45      Medium Term Strategic Planning- Round 1 Of Workshops

Each group should identify a facilitator, a timekeeper and a reporter. 

  • People in Cardiff are healthy; 
  • People in Cardiff have a clean, attractive and sustainable environment;
  • People in Cardiff are safe and feel safe

11.20       Round 2 Of Workshops

Each group should identify a facilitator, a timekeeper and a reporter

  • Cardiff has a thriving and prosperous economy;
  • People in Cardiff achieve their full potential

12.00      Future Diff Creative Workshop

Artist led workshop where delegates use cardboard boxes to make Cardiff City landscape. Delegates answer following questions and stick sheet to their building and tweet last answer using #futurediff

  • What is the best thing about living in Cardiff?
  • What needs improving the most in Cardiff?
  • How would you advertise your perfect Cardiff in one sentence/slogan

12.30      Working lunch and carry on Future Diff workshop

1.00         Round 3 Of Workshops

Each group should identify a facilitator, a timekeeper and a reporter

  • Cardiff is a great place to live, work and play;
  • Cardiff is a fair, just and inclusive society.

1.30        Chambers Debate

Jointly chaired by CYC Chair and Cllr Dan De’Ath. Delegates debate a themed session around the 7 key areas of “What Matters”. Each area is introduced by workshop generated 1 minute message. Graphic recording to be made by artist, session to be audio recorded.

2.30         The end (…until the next one!) 

 

You can find more information about the Plan to make Cardiff “A Livable City” here.

Otherwise, if you have any questions about the event, feel free to contact us on Facebook through our page Cardiff Youth Council, or to email me at maegandaviesjohn@outlook.com. You can also tweet us @cardiffyc.

Hope to see lots of you at the event, and remember to share this with anyone who might be interested! We can provide you with a permission slip if the event coincides with school or college or whatever.

See you soon!

Mae and CYC 🙂

 

CYC’s Stuttgart Adventures: Installment drei!

So, it’s time for the third installment of Adventures of CYC in Stuttgart!

We began the day by spending a few hours in Stuttgart’s zoo; where we saw vibrant flamingos, adorably cuddly gorillas, munching fruit bats (who are far from the scary blood sucking stereotypical bat), exotic bird species from tropical areas of the world, and many more.12177735_1067327783300529_1984376527_n 12179076_1067327589967215_318836819_n 12179161_1067327643300543_150747236_n12179242_1067327773300530_1557668953_n

The zoo was highly enjoyable and even for those who weren’t head-over-heels for animals before, I think it’s safe to say that there’s definitely a new found soft spot for at least some these beautiful and majestic creatures. (ft. Stuttgart’s very own Dory and Nemo – safe and sound)

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One of our CYC members, Luke has a new found friendship with this fluffy mammal. Meanwhile, this undying love between Mae and Alaw was rediscovered.

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Our mischievous mob did have to bid farewell to the zoo and move onto the next element of the day; the city tour! This was our opportunity to see and view all the great projects that our counterparts are working on currently. And so it starts…12190507_904995216256811_516770768_o

One thing all touring members did notice was the fantastic amount of artwork around the city. Albeit, graffiti, street art, architectural prowess or just the skyline at dusk. 12193118_904995616256771_832413885_o

Art Throughout Cardiff Collage

All of our members left this inspiring tour with a fresh view on urban life. We had the opportunity to see one of Stuttgart’s many urban rooftop gardens, which now, of course in the midst of autumn, has been turned to a venue available to hire for those parties or gatherings you may wish to host.12185781_503519366474025_24201805_o12016292_904995379590128_2079971825_o12179425_904995346256798_276784724_n

Even this seemingly plain multistory car park holds so much creativity, on the walk up you would just see sneak peaks of each individual artists stamp on their area.

12193156_904995326256800_195727158_o Just along the outskirts of this carpark was one of the projects Jugendrat Stuttgart had been working on for 3 years. Consisting of Dutsch inspired skate ramps which doubled up as a ‘chill zone’, 3G Football pitch and a wall for legal graffiti.

To end our hectically busy, yet highly rewarding day, we wound down and visited a youth centre on the other side of the city and cooked our own meals. After filling up on lots of scrumptious food, games of pool were played while our 2 lovely singer song writers accompanied us with more of their original creations.

Thank you Stuttgart for another wonderful day!