Children in Blackpool get their voices heard
Election fever is gripping Blackpool and it’s not just the town’s adults who will have the chance to vote.  

Blackpool’s young people have the chance to have their say and are able to cast their votes in two sets of elections, both national ones and local ones for Blackpool’s youngsters.   

Blackpool Council is introducing and facilitating not only the United Kingdom Youth Parliament (UKYP) Elections 2010 but also the Blackpool Junior Ambassador (JA) Elections 2010.  

UKYP enables young people to use their energy and passion to change the world for the better.  It is run by young people for young people; UKYP provides opportunities for 11 – 18 year olds to use their vote to bring about social change.  

The UKYP has 600 elected Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs).  They are elected in annual youth elections throughout the UK at a national, regional and local level.  Anybody aged 11 – 18 can stand or vote and in 2009 Blackpool managed to receive over 3800 votes from young people.  

Once elected MYPs organise events and projects, run campaigns and influence decision makers on the issues which matter most to young people.  All MYPs meet once a year at the UKYP Annual Sitting.

Max Bailey, Blackpool’s UKYP rep for the last year, said:  “Young people know what is best for them, you can't just presume that they are all the same and try to make decisions for them.  Voting numbers are low enough already, if we take away the habit of voting and interest in making decisions what hope is there for the future."  

The Junior Ambassador Scheme, which is for youngsters aged 5 – 11, began in Blackpool last year.  Inspired from UKYP, it aims to give younger children in Blackpool the chance to get their voices heard.  

An incredible amount of support and was given in the inaugural year of voting for Junior Ambassador, which alone received over 4000 votes from children age 5-11 all over Blackpool.  

With the election shortly approaching for UKYP and JA 2010, schools, children’s centres, youth centres and libraries are getting themselves ready for voting and are acting as polling stations around the town.

Cllr Don Clapham, Cabinet Member for Childrens Services, said:  “With 55 Junior Ambassador candidates and more than 20 UKYP candidates it is going to be a big year for young people in Blackpool.”  

“Blackpool Council is looking forward to working with the newly elected individuals and excited about the prospects that 2010 will bring.”  

The elections will be taking place from the 15 March – 26 March.  In this time all children within the age brackets of 5-18 years can vote for who they think should represent the voices of children and young people in Blackpool for at least the next twelve months.  

The announcement of the newly elected representatives for both JA and UKYP will take place on the 30 March at the Town Hall Council Chambers.  

For information on United Kingdom Youth Parliament please contact Lee Abbott at lee.abbott@blackpool.gov.uk or 01253 754 845

For information on Junior Ambassador please contact Emily Berry at Emily.berry@blackpool.gov.uk or 01253 477 471  

For information on children’s and young people’s participation activities in Blackpool please contact Stuart Dunne at stuart.dunne@blackpool.gov.uk or 01253 477 401.