New youth forum to be shaped by 11 to 19 year olds

A new youth group is giving young people in Blackburn with Darwen a voice to discuss their big issues.

The Youth Integration Forum aims to get 11 to 19 year olds talking about the hot topics they care about most, and put them in control of shaping the forum’s activities.

Part of the Our Community, Our Future social integration programme, this new forum will bring together young people from different parts of Blackburn with Darwen.

Sessions will take place in different locations in both Blackburn and Darwen, and will engage young people in constructive activities to help them guide the forum’s scope to make it relevant and meaningful to them.

Dates have been set for the first Youth Integration Forum sessions in these locations:

• Young People’s Service base, Daisyfield, Blackburn – Mondays 3 & 10 February
• Blackburn Sports & Leisure Centre – Mondays 17 & 24 February
• Darwen Youth Centre – Mondays 2 & 9 March

All sessions will take place between 6pm and 8pm, with pizza and drinks provided free to everyone who takes part.

The Youth Integration Forum will then join up groups from different parts of the borough for bigger sessions to hear from speakers on topics the young people have said they are interested in.

Councillor Mohammed Khan, Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and Chair of the Our Community, Our Future Board, said:

Young people are a vital part of our plans to encourage better mixing between people from different backgrounds.

The Youth Integration Forum will build on the great work that’s being done through other Our Community, Our Future youth projects to help this age group get to know others from outside their school social circles or their immediate neighbourhoods.

Our young people are facing issues that transcend their culture or religion. The Youth Integration Forum will give them a place to come together and talk about them, and perhaps identify some local solutions they can work on collaboratively.

The Youth Integration Forum will be run by Engagement & Integration Officers Kelvin Sole and Mariyam Emam from the Our Community, Our Future team. This is the team that’s delivering the borough’s social integration programme, a three year programme that takes innovative approaches to integration in Blackburn with Darwen.

Our Community, Our Future is funded through the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

To find out more about the new Youth Integration Forum, get in touch with Kelvin and Mariyam on integration@blackburn.gov.uk, text 07971 779801 or call 01254 304597.