YMCA England & Wales Global Link

YMCA England Youth Democracy Project

The Youth Democracy project was made up of 2 parts the first being 3 day long sessions where we learnt about British democracy and the European Union. In the first session we discussed the how government and power works, we tested our knowledge of democracy and how local and national government works. We then went on to discuss issues that face young people across England, many issues were raised but due to the relevance to the discussions being made in parliament at the time we decided to focus on the threat to housing benefit for under 25s. Although this was not the only focus for the project is gave us a focus for the rest of the sessions and enabled us to use it as a topic when learning about other aspects of the democracy process. This made me aware of how although all of the participants are from the YMCA we all come from such diverse backgrounds both personally and also within the YMCA. I definitely think this was one of the strongest points to the whole project, and could be something to replicate in the future, not only did it inspire residents to become more involved in th YMCA Movement but it also allowed me to see the YMCA from a whole new angle.

The second session was around the European Institutions, in which we learnt what it means to be part of Europe and how the different parts of the European bodies work individually and also how they fit into and work alongside each other. This part of the project was very helpful as it made me more aware of what being a part of Europe actually means and how the different parts are separate from each other. It dispelled a lot of rumours and for me and made me realise I was quite misinformed about how everything works. In the second session we also went on to learn about constructing an argument, looking at how to best structure it to make your points the most effective they can be. The final part of the session gave us a chance to practice our argument structuring and debating skills in a debating arena. This was good as I learnt not to go out full force and give all my points away at the beginning as it then leaves you with no ammunition later on in the debate.

The final day long session was based on Lobbying and Campaigning in which we learnt all of the different ways to design and deliver a campaign. This was very useful as it opened my eyes to all of the different types of campaigns.

Now for the fun parts ;)

The second part of the project was 2 international exchanges between France and England. The first of them taking place in London and lasting 4 days. In this time we visited the Houses of Parliament