Stratford young people sharing their ideas

Stratford is once again hosting Celia Lashlie, well-known author of ‘He'll be Ok: Growing Gorgeous Boys into Good Men’. Celia is coming to help the Stratford District Council with a youth initiative, in partnership with the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs.

The initiative is a youth forum, aimed at engaging with Stratford young people aged 15-24 about the issues relating to employment and skills training in our district.

The forum will be split into distinct groups, starting with a gathering of 15-24 year olds. Stratford District Council Community Development Advisor Pauline James has personally approached young Stratford people and asked them to attend. “In a community the size of Stratford, this is something that is worth doing. Young people respond well to face-to-face conversations, and have some ownership of the project because they individually feel involved. That’s great to have from the outset, because this forum is totally about them. It’s not a chance for adults to lament the youth of today, but for the youth to give adults a positive and helpful direction to move in.”

Pauline has contacted as many young people as possible, but more are still out there. “Anyone who is interested in attending should contact me at the Council,” she says.

After the young people have gathered and had a chance to talk, the forum will host some government officials to receive the feedback.

In the afternoon, businesses, organizations and individuals who have a link with youth will meet with the government officials. They will collectively have a chance to talk about the issues raised and develop an action plan to address them.

Pauline says “it will be a busy couple of days, but it’s an excellent chance to discuss education, training and employment - some of the key issues young people are dealing with in Taranaki.”