Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon, OX14 3JE
Email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01235 520202

Vale of White Horse District Council

The Youth Forum

The Youth Forum is the main way the Council consults young people about their views and encourages them to become involved in their community. It also gives them the opportunity to meet pupils from different schools and to express and share their opinions while discussing relevant issues. 

The aim of the Youth Forum is primarily to listen to young people's views but also to give them an idea of the Council's work.        

It was started in 1996 originally as a way of seeking young people's views on drugs issues. It was then decided by the young people who attended that the group could be used as a way to consult with them and their peers on a range of issues. 

Four Forums are held every year, including an introductory meeting for year 9 students in June. Eight representatives from each school in the Vale are invited. This includes Didcot and the European School as many of those pupils live in the Vale.

The Forums include presentations or talks, open discussion and various panels such as the Drugs Action Team. Local MPs and MEPs regularly come to answer challenging questions from the representatives.       

Drugs, leisure provision, environmental issues, health, prevention of vandalism are just a few of the topics that have been covered.

There is a working group of Vale Councillors who regularly attend Forum meetings and report back to their colleagues. The Youth Forum is also consulted on Council plans and policies.

Youth Forum logo

Next meeting

The next Youth Forum is for Year 9 pupils on Tuesday 23 June at the Net Youth Centre, Abingdon. Topics on the agenda include:

• What the Council does and the services it provides
• Consultation on bullying
• Community policing
• UK Youth Parliament manifesto for Oxfordshire
• Vale Youth Cabinet update

The full agenda can be downloaded from the right of the page.

How to get involved

Students interested in getting involved with the Youth Forum should talk to the designated youth forum contact teacher at their school. Teachers decide who will attend the meetings depending on the commitments for that student. Students can start in Year 9 at the Youth Forum in June and continue representing their school until Year 13. The Youth Forum is open to students of all academic abilities and more important is a desire to discuss local issues, participate in debates and an interest in politics.

For details of contact teachers please see Schools involved with the Youth Forum.

The Youth Forum celebrates its 10 year birthday in October 2006 at its Forum meeting at Rutherford Laboratory