Dingwall Academy pupil elected to represent Highland youths is ‘devoted and committed’
A DINGWALL Academy pupil has been elected to give a voice to Highland young people as a Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) representative.
Jake MacCulloch, from Dingwall, will be representing the young people of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch alongside fellow SYP member, Rory Young from Lochaber. He is delighted to be elected and has campaigned that he will strive to highlight the issues concerning young people in the constituency so that they are listened to and acted upon. Jake hopes to establish and support more youth volunteering opportunities in youth forums and youth organisations.
He is also a proud member of and an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, and a strong advocate for improving and supporting mental health and wellbeing. The Dingwall pupil hopes to work closely together with other Highland MSYPs and youth development officers to assist in this goal.
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“I am confident in saying that I will be devoted and committed to ensuring the young people in my community are properly heard and properly represented,” said Jake.
Jake has experience of representing and listening to young people as an active member of Dingwall Youth Forum, his local youth forum for the school catchment area.
He continued: “We meet weekly to formally discuss issues affecting young people in our community and the ways in which we help and improve these issues. For instance, recently we assembled and distributed 184 mental health and wellbeing packs to young people in our community.
“I am also a member of the Dingwall Community Council as a youth representative, representing my peers and speaking up for local residents and the issues that they are concerned about.
“We also organise community events to help strengthen community well-being, for instance early this summer we held a community run for gala week, where people from throughout community came down and took part in a run, organised by the community council.”
Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament are elected every two years and become the voice of Scotland's youth. Young people who are 12-25 years and live, work or attend school in the relevant areas can vote for their peers.
High Life Highland’s senior youth development officer, Audrey Anthoney said: “The Highlands are full team of Highland MSYPs will engage in Scottish Youth Parliament campaigns and participate in the Scottish Youth Parliament sittings which take place three times each year.
“They will also work closely with their local youth forums and groups and the Highland Youth Parliament and Highland Youth Convener, ensuring young people’s views across the Highland area are voiced and represented at a national level.”