Stroud Town & Five Valleys
This Local Youth Forum Group meets on average every 2 weeks, as follows:
Day: Tuesday
Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm
Venue: Stroud Library
Contact: steve.miles@stroud.gov.uk / 07896 690140
The following young people are SDYC representatives for Stroud Town and Five Valleys Youth Forum:
Cate James-Hodges (Voting)
How we were created…a quick bit of history!
Work began to create a local youth forum group for Stroud Town in 2010. This was largely done by members of Stroud District Youth Council (SDYC) living in or near to the town and their capacity was limited. Eventually they moved on to pursue further educational and developmental aspects of their lives.
Whilst the group had not been fully formed, it became a good example of the need to have trained and experienced professional youth workers to facilitate such groups. This fact helped influence the decision by Stroud District Council to develop a youth work strategy, which was approved in 2012.
Efforts to create relationships with young people by youth workers tasked with this work, were at times challenging. Whilst mainly due to the wider youth work sector having been deconstructed due to changing national policy – in a large town like Stroud, who had youth services and a dedicated building previously run by the county council, the impact of cuts to those services and the breaking up of youth groups and projects, was severe.
However, with the input again from members of SDYC who lived in or near the town, who were representing their respective schools on SDYC at the time, this local youth forum group gradually became established through their promotion and advocacy of the power of youth voice.
In 2016, with the influx of new members, the group spread its geographical wings and became known as Stroud Town 5 Valleys Youth Forum.
Who We Are
Like the other local youth forum groups in the Stroud district, we enable young people from the aforementioned local communities to come together and have a say on issues of concern to all young people between 11 and 18 years. The five valleys that run in and out of Stroud town are historically diverse and often evoke a strong passion for change. We work on influencing such changes that benefit young people and their communities – we believe young people should have a prominent place in the shaping of current and future matters.
As with the other local youth forum groups in the Stroud district regarding their communities, we are constantly looking for the views and opinions of all young people that either live in or visit Wotton under Edge and the surrounding areas that we represent.
We are a friendly group, that meet on average every two weeks – if you would like to join us, we would love to have you on board… please get in touch (see contact details or click here).
We are supported by the youth work team at Stroud District Council.
Our Projects
Our work over the last few years has focused on a variety of projects.
Places and spaces that are open to and welcome, young people are hugely important – subsequently, we have been working with Stroud Town Council to establish a ‘chat bench’ in the town, as one way of encouraging people to talk to each other in a subtle approach to good mental health.
We are often asked to take part in consultation for various projects and programmes, but we also develop our own methods to gain the views of other young people in our communities.
There’s always lots going on in the area and we strive to ensure we represent a youth voice on these things.
We are now planning our programme of action for the year ahead, why not come and join us!?
If you don’t want to join but you’ve got something you’d like the group to discuss or work towards you can let us know here.
All our Local Youth Forum Groups offer you the opportunity to become a Youth Voice Representative on the Stroud District Youth Council, you can find out more here.