Macclesfield Youth Summit

Macclesfield Town Council’s third annual Youth Summit took place last week at the Town Hall and 40 students from All Hallows, Fallibrome Academy, Tytherington School, Kings School and Just Drop In came along to discuss topics including crime and antisocial behaviour, conservation and opportunities for young people.

At this year’s event, the students were mixed into different groups so that they were working with young people from different areas of the town. While enjoying pizza, they were then given the opportunity to discuss the topics with input from community volunteers representing Macclesfield Police, Rotary Club of Macclesfield Castle, Macc-tastic, Less plastic, RSPB Wildlife Explorers, Macclesfield Police and the Princes Trust.

Past Youth Summit events have resulted in some fantastic projects for the town which have included Macclesfield Pride, street sports, play area renovations, improvements on the Middlewood Way and the new Town Ranger service which will start on 1^st April.

Last week’s Youth Summit has generated a bank of ideas which will be explored over the next year. These ideas include; how we might deal with litter, increasing evening activities for young people age 14-17, pop up stalls in schools on drug and alcohol education, planting more trees, and an event to bring young and older people together.

Helena Gowler, Community Engagement Officer for Macclesfield Town Council said ‘This was our best attended Youth Summit event so far. This year, we particularly targeted school councils. The discussions which took place demonstrate just how much young people care about the present and the future of our town. We look forward to working with the students over the coming year to develop some of the ideas which were put forward’.