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BYC Convention
8 – 10th August 2006
On Tuesday 8th August GYM members met up at Gloucester station and set off on a 3 hour train journey to Southampton for the British Youth Council's second National Youth Council Convention. We got to Southampton Solent University at about 12.30, loaded up with suitcases ready for 3 days of workshops revolving around the different themes of Volunteering, Democracy, and Positive Images of Young People.
Day One, was about Volunteering and GYM members got to join workshops with different voluntary organisations and learnt about making the most out of the different aspects of volunteering from marketing to using that all important resource – people. After a fun afternoon meeting new people and attending a ‘Volunteering Fair’ where all the young people were able to ask questions and get details about volunteering for specific organisations it was time for tea.
After dinner there was time for a quick change and then it was quiz time in the Students Union. GYM did well and came second, only losing by a couple of points! Then there was free time, and we decided it was time to teach GYM to play pool…
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They were all pro's by the end... |
Giving a presentation about Leadership qualities... |
Day 2 was about Democracy. What is it? How do we get it? Why is it so important? These questions were tackled in 3 different sets of workshops throughout the day teaching leadership skills, communication skills and promotion, planning campaigns and lobbying of MP’s. In between these workshops GYM members even found the time to be on American TV!
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Chatting to MP's, taking part in discussions and filming about the Mosquito youth deterrent device as well as workshops about Democracy - it was non stop! |
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A demonstration of the Mosquito occurred and was filmed by ABC news, who then went on to interview some of the young people who could hear the device, 3 of which were GYM members. After dinner, there was more entertainment in the form of charades and bingo – using lots of silly bells, cymbals etc. for teams to give their answer.
Finally, Day 3 arrived. This was the last day for GYM members to hang out with their new friends and to get stuck into workshops tackling the issue of Positive Images of Young People. GYM produced a great poster using the tagline “Why use labels…we have names” which worked really well.
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One of our GYM members showing off the poster that GYM made during the convention! |
Later there was a debate about perceptions of young people and the issue of respect. It was very interesting and threw up many of the stereotypes young people have to deal with regularly, such as, wearing hoodies being a negative thing. After so much excitement there was just time to grab our bags and wander back to the train station to come back home to Gloucester.
Overall GYM had a great time and is already looking forward to next year – if you want to come along, contact us here at GYM, become a member and get involved!!
