There was a buzz in Cardiff last Thursday and Friday when 83 young people from 22 local authorities across Wales attended the 8th Funky Dragon annual general meeting. The first day was spent at the Cyn-Coed campus of UWIC where a number of workshops took place. These workshops included topics such as Governance in Wales, the Portfolios in WAG, Funky Dragon website and an introduction to the FD (Funky Dragon) Management Committee. Attending the Thursday workshops enabled the participants to decide which of the 7 workshops they would attend on Friday when the action moved to the Senedd and Ty Hywel in Cardiff Bay.
Friday morning started bright and early when the First Minister Carwyn Jones welcomed the young people to the Senedd. Then during the first half of the morning the young people went into their chosen workshop to discuss and plan the questions they would ask the ministers and WAG officials in the second sessions of workshops held after the coffee break.
The workshop caregories were:
Children, Education and Lifelong Learning, Health and Social Services, Economy and Transport, Social Justice and Local Government, Rural Affairs, Heritage, Environment Sustainability and Housing.
The topics and questions asked included the following:
- more information needed about EMAs,
- the lack of availability of Welsh Lessons outside school for young Welsh learners,
- young people should be attending local health boards,
- making sex education compulsory in schools,
- farmers taking things into their own hands following the successful appeal against the badger cull,
- more recycling bins on the streets of Wales, new housing campaign,
- the lack of understanding about the differing needs of 16 year olds who have been in care and those who have been in a the parental home.
This is just a flavour of the topical, very important and varied issues that the representatives brought to the AGM from their youth forums and councils. One theme common to a number of the workshops was the content and delivery of PSE lessons in schools.
Friday afternoon was the business part of the day when the Grand Council held their annual meeting in the Ty Hywel debating chamber. The agenda started with a welcome and report back from the workshops. It then moved on to the presentation of the accounts for 2009 – 10 and appointment of auditors for 2010-11. The final section of the meeting was devoted to the retirement of the trustees that has served for 2 years and the election of new trustees. There were 17 candidates in the 11 to 17 category and 6 in the 18 to 25 category.
The successful young people were:
11 to 17
- Isabella Hughes (Ceridigion)
- Guto Davies (Anglesey)
- Tom Childs (Powys)
18 to 25
- Anthony Aratoon (Flintshire)
- Amelia Wingfield (RCT)
- Tom Turner (Powys)
- Matthew Bradley (Neath Port Talbot)
Everyone finished the day with a dinner, awards presentation, karaoke and disco at the Millennium stadium. This was a really lively and thoroughly enjoyable end to a very successful two days and gave all the opportunity to relax, reflect and have fun after participating and working hard to ensure that the voice of young people continues to be heard in the corridors of power in Wales.