Maidenhead & Windsor

Young people aged 12 to 18 have this week been speaking about the issues affecting them and their peers in the Royal Windsor and Maidenhead Borough.

Students from the 14 Windsor and Maidenhead secondary and middle schools in the Royal Borough were invited to take part in the SpeakEasy 2007 conference held at the Town Hall on Tuesday November 20 – a one-day event which aimed to find out what can be done to support younger residents.

The Windsor and Maidenhead conference – held during anti-bullying week – followed on from a survey undertaken in 2006 when 700 young people were asked to identify the issues which were most important to them. The key themes that emerged were keeping safe from harm, coping with bullying and maintaining good physical and mental health. These formed the basis of the discussions at the conference.

SpeakEasy delegates were asked to feed back the opinions of their peers around the four key themes to the professionals who provide services for young people. The findings will be used to inform the new Children’s and Young People’s Plan 2008-11 and the anti-bullying strategy.

Cllr Eileen Quick, lead member for Windsor and Maidenhead children’s services, said: “The SpeakEasy conference has allowed the borough’s young people to have an official voice in their community and their school. It has also let our younger residents know how important their views are to the professionals who make decisions which affect them.”

Cyndy Gray, Royal Borough adviser for Windsor and Maidenhead healthy schools, said: “The event excelled all our expectations. The young people were lively, responsive and thoroughly engaged in the process, taking on board issues in a very thoughtful way. We were thrilled to be able to get votes anonymously about specific issues facilitated by two sixth formers at Furze Platt School, and also delighted to have the whole event filmed by a group of media studies students from Altwood School.”

Ed, a pupil from Desborough Boys’ School said: ”It has been good to talk about issues which are important to us and the borough. I think it would be useful for us to continue having such an active involvement in policies which effect our lives.”

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead