This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Young People's Service Youth Worker, Giovanni Ferri, for the attention of all school staff.
Congratulations to Slough student, Susuana Senghor, from Westgate will be part of the National Youth Select Committee this year which sits at the House of Commons.
Suzy is a former Slough Youth Parliament representative who sits on the Safer Slough Partnership (SSP) board; she has been selected as one of only eleven young people in the UK to be on the select committee this year, investigating the UK’s knife crime epidemic.
“Following last years Make Your Mark Ballot, young people from across the UK including Slough made it clear that knife crime is their biggest concern. The call for evidence is now live and I’d like to encourage a whole range of people, young people, schools, businesses and also organisations that support victims and offenders to have their say and help the committee find solutions”.
- Suzy, 16
Every year a Make Your Mark Ballots takes place to find the top issue for young people. More than 1.1 million took part in the last ballot and knife crime was the biggest concern. The Youth Select Committee call for written evidence is currently open and you can have your say here. The submission deadline is Friday 7 June and the committee will hold oral evidence sessions in the House of Commons in July before making its recommendations to Government later this year.
The Committee would welcome submissions from a wide range of stakeholders, including young people and schools. Written evidence is invited on, but not restricted to, the following Terms of Reference and young people can also complete a 5 minute anonymous survey.
Suzy is meeting with the co chair of the SSP, Supt Sarah Grahame to encourage partnership members to submit evidence to the inquiry.
“The Youth Select Committee plays a vital role in raising awareness about the issues affecting young people. As one of 11 members on this year’s committee, we are very proud that Suzy is representing Slough on the national stage.”
- Giovanni Ferri, Slough Borough Council's Youth Worker
This is a fantastic opportunity for Suzy to represent Slough and the voice of young people on this select committee. Knife crime is an issue that has national significance and we are, extremely proud of Suzy for being selected for this position.”
- Gary Tallett, Slough Borough Council's Community Safety Group Manager
You can find about more about the committee and meet the members here