Today was the Annual General Meeting of the British Youth Council, which aims to represent and promote young people in the UK. I attended as a delegate member. The day reviewed the BYC’s activities of the past year and determined the direction the charity would go in over the following twelve months. The council was made up of members of charities, faith groups, youth councils and political groups, many of whom I didn’t even know existed.
In the morning we also elected the new chair and the rest of the team, after which fireworks ensued. Within half an hour of the chair being elected a guy declared no confidence in him, seemingly because of a personal vendetta. All of us for whom this was the first BYC meeting watched in stunned silence as people started screaming at each other in every regional dialect and shouting others down without actually making any sense. In the end, the motion was sensibly withdrawn and we carried on.
In the afternoon there was a review on progress made and media exposure given to the BYC, before another controversial half-hour. The National Union of Students proposed that the charity have a policy not to share a platform with people holding extreme prejudiced or bigoted views. We weren’t sure that this was within the Council’s constitution, and people argued that by refusing to engage with bigots we wouldn’t be able to counteract their attitudes. In the end the motion was rejected by just two votes and there were many abstentions. That prompted the NUS delegation to walk out.
Anyway, I think the idea of a national group which can represent the views of young people to the decision-makers in the country is a really good idea, which is why I decided to be a candidate for the Participation and Development sub-committee.
The SJA posse
Outside Council headquarters near London Bridge
