Spring 2020Rochdale Borough Youth Cabinet member goes international

Rochdale Borough Youth Cabinet member Georgia Jones, 17, took her role international in 2019, not only representing Rochdale, but the whole United Kingdom at the annual Model European Parliament conference.

Currently a second-year student at Rochdale Sixth Form College studying A-level law, English language and psychology, Georgia’s enthusiastic work in her spare time has opened many doors and opportunities for her.

Whilst she has only been a Rochdale Borough Youth Cabinet member for just over a year, she has already made an impact, helping to make changes locally and nationally.

Run by Rochdale Youth Service, the Youth Cabinet supports the Member of UK Youth Parliament for Rochdale Borough in their manifesto. It also has other roles in which young people from Rochdale are represented locally and regionally, can feedback to key decision makers and put motions forward for the adult cabinet.

The Model European Parliament (MEP) is a leadership programme for youths aged 16-19 in the EU member states with the aim of giving an insight into how the European Parliament works. The programme develops political awareness and an understanding of common issues, as well as providing knowledge about EU institutions.

Their most recent conference, held in Malta over a week in November 2019, saw Georgia debate with the ‘Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality’, questioning gender-based discrimination and how it still affects many young people today. She also discussed whether political gender quotas are the solution to ensure fairer representation.

The committee was so impressed with Georgia that she was recommended for the position of Committee President for 2020.

She will next be attending a MEP conference later this year in November, hosted in Bulgaria.

We interviewed Georgia about her role as a local youth cabinet member, her recent trip to Malta and her ambitions for the future.

What started your interest in politics?
At the start of college my friends said they were going to get involved with the cabinet, so I decided to go with them. Over the last year, I’ve just got very into it.

I’m very passionate about the environment and working to tackle climate change, as well as educating others on the environment. I was able to shadow the Environmental Management team at Green Lane for a day. They said they’re willing to do a few projects together, which I’m hoping to start.

What have you achieved as a youth cabinet member?
I’ve been a youth councillor at Rochdale Council and a member of the youth cabinet since December 2018. I was elected as a Pioneer of Sustainable Hope (POSH) Ambassador for the borough by the other cabinet members because of my passion for campaigning about the climate. 

As a POSH representative, I have contacted the IT services at the council about using Ecosia [a search engine which donates 80% or more of its profits to non-profit organisations that focus on reforestation] as a search engine across the local authority, instead of Google.

We have also received funding to get recycle bins in more centres, purchase recycle boxes for crisp packets, and I have taken part in litter picks.

When I first joined, the youth cabinet organised a ‘Week of Action’ – a mental health campaign aimed at raising awareness and removing the stigma surrounding mental health issues. Mental health was the number one issue in the borough in the 2018 Make Your Mark ballot, organised by Youth Parliament, showing how important this issue is to local young people.

We also had Mental Health Awareness Week in May 2019 where we campaigned about tackling body image and the impact social media has on this, and we’re currently planning for the knife crime action week in March 2020. We’ve been involved in lots of other things too outside of Rochdale like the Greater Manchester Youth Combined Authority.

We all just throw out ideas at meetings, debate the ideas, plan it out and then act.

Apart from climate change, what else are you passionate about?
My interests are very much international at the moment, but a big one is human rights. There’s a lot about immigration and asylum seekers, especially in America: how they’re treated over there at the borders interests me.

There’s a Human Rights Festival being planned in Manchester for 2021. The organisers are trying to get all the local areas involved and they visited Rochdale to get some thoughts from us about what we’re proud of as a very multicultural town.

How was your trip to Malta for the MEP conference?
The trip was such a wonderful experience. I’m keen to make a positive change for young people’s futures and this is going to give me a great opportunity to do this. I am so honoured to be asked to be Committee President. I made some wonderful friends, and I’m really thankful for the opportunity.

I got involved by going to Youthforia, an event hosted at Rochdale Town Hall where about 130 young people from across the North West came together to share resources and campaign ideas. I met the organiser, we discussed European Youth Parliament and the conference, and I thought it sounded interesting. I emailed him afterwards, and he said I had a place!

I was very nervous because I didn’t know what I needed to do or how much I needed to research. I was going on my own too, so that was nerve-wracking.

What are your future plans?
I’m swayed more towards law than politics, but my end goal is to be a legal advocate for the European Court of Human Rights, hopefully working with European Parliament. I would have to go to Strasbourg in France as that is where the human rights court is based, but I’d love to live in France anyway.

Why is it important for youths to be involved in politics?
We need to be aware of what is happening, not only in the UK, but internationally. It will hopefully fuel our generation to change the problems current parties aren’t fighting for.

Rochdale Borough Youth Cabinet meets every Tuesday, 6pm-8pm, at Rochdale Town Hall. With 17 current  active members, new members are welcome.