25 January 2011 - Youth Can Achieve students debate European issues in council chamber
Nikki Sharpe, personal injury lawyer at Thompsons Solicitor’s and founder of social enterprise Youth Can Achieve is chairing the high profile Talking about Europe 2011 debate in the town hall’s council chamber among five Sheffield schools this week.
The aim of the debates, which take place among students all around Europe, is to engage young people in local, national and international democracy at a time when many young people are feeling excluded from the process; encouraging them to think about international issues in one of the key venues for local democracy. The winning school gets to take pupils to visit the European Parliament in Strasbourg in June.
Nikki explains, “I knew nothing about the competition until last year when an article by MEP Linda McAvan on a European schools debating competition caught my eye. I called the contact and put a case forward for Youth Can Achieve students to be involved this year. We mainly work with students who are marginalized in some way: excluded, vulnerable, in care or feeling disenfranchised. These are not normally the type of young people who have the social mobility or prospect of gaining access to these type of opportunities which will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Long term motivation is at the heart of what we do through Youth Can Achieve.
We are delighted the organisers at the European Parliament agreed and will part fund the winning team’s trip, together with their school. It’s a wonderful experience for the young people the schools have chosen to showcase their debating skills, who we know have the talent and determination to be able to take part in something positive which connects young people to Europe and global activities at a time when services for young people are being slashed.”
The schools taking part are Chaucer, Westfield, Silverdale, City School and Birley Community College, debating hot topics like ‘does the EU have too much power over UK sovereignty?’ and ‘how does the UK think about Europe – positively or negatively?’ All the students have picked their own presentation titles to deliver.
Friday’s debate will be judged by Linda McAvan (MEP), Tim Roache (Regional secretary of the GMB), Faye Smith (of Keep your Fork marketing) and Julie Lockwood (News Correspondent for ITV Calendar news). The event is being opened by Sheffield’s Lord Mayor, Cllr Alan Law.
Tim Roache, regional secretary of GMB Union commented, “It is a myth that young people don’t know or don’t care about politics, just look at the activity around the recent student protests. The GMB is proud to witness schools debating democracy and the importance Europe plays in our local community and shows the future is in good hands.”
Faye Smith of Youth Can Achieve’s Sheffield marketing agency Keep your Fork is looking forward to judging. “I was delighted Nikki invited me to be on the panel as she knows my passion for preparing young people for work. Being a member of my school debating team gave me confidence in communicating and constructing arguments which became a vital key opening the doors to progression in my varied career. These are invaluable employability skills that all the students who enter will be gaining and the winning team that goes to Europe will have a really stand-out experience to put on their CVs.”
Linda McAvan concluded, “I’m delighted to be a judge of Talking About Europe. It’s fantastic to see young people taking a real interest in the EU and democracy. There’s a lot said about the pluses and minuses of Britain’s EU membership, yet many people have little knowledge of how it works. Events such as this get young people involved, giving them the opportunity to learn, debate the issues and make up their own mind.”
To find out more about Youth Can Achieve or how you can become involved, contact Nikki Sharpe nikkisharpe@thompsons.law.co.uk 07980 239061 www.youthcanachieve.co.uk
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