Young people create council's first youth charter

North Northamptonshire Youth Advisory Council will meet in October to consider approving the youth charter

Young people have put together North Northamptonshire Council's first youth charter.

More than 700 people were consulted across the district through discussions, surveys and focus groups.

The charter promises there will be regular youth-led meetings, spaces dedicated to young people and making sure young people have a voice.

"[The charter] will set out a shared commitment to meaningful engagement and inclusion," said Cornelia Andrecut, director of children's services for the council.

"[It] will provide a space for young people to speak openly about their wants and ambitions for the area".

The youth charter has four strands: space, voice and social action, influence and audience.

Included within the strands is the commitment that young people will have the opportunity to have their say in places they feel safe and valued and young people will be involved in decisions that affect them through youth-led meetings.

Ivanna Obi is a member of the UK Youth Parliament and has helped to develop the youth charter

Ivanna, 16, is a member of the UK Youth Parliament and helped create the youth charter.

"We want to make sure young people are the centre and the focus of society in north Northamptonshire," she said.

"It is about making sure young people know they have a place to go if they want support and advice and a created safe space for them to go."

Members of the North Northamptonshire Youth Advisory Council and UK Youth Parliament have helped create the charter.

The Youth Advisory Council is made up of members aged between 13 and 19 years old, and people aged up to 25 with special educational needs and disabilities (Send).

Send chairman Tyler, 14, said the charter was "a promise to the young people to have them heard in a safe space and have those voices taken to the very top where decisions are made".

Louise Ellis, assistant principal at Wrenn School in Wellingborough, said it "is quite groundbreaking, quite revolutionary, we've never had this before".

"It really shows that the council is listening and really understanding what the needs are for young people," she added.

North Northamptonshire Council, which is led by Reform UK, said it was committed to supporting and collaborating with partner organisations that align with the principles of the youth charter.

The charter is due to be approved by the Youth Advisory Council and members of the UK Youth Parliament later this year.