Agenda item

The Panel received a presentation from the Youth Council relating to it’s Election held on 19^th December 2021, the “Make You Mark” priorities and actions undertaken on Domestic Abuse.  From the presentation, Members noted:

·      18 schools were represented on the Youth Council;

·      There had been 42 newly elected Youth Councillors;

·      “Make Your Mark” ballots, requesting the main areas of concern amongst young people, were then divided into Area Priorities;  and

·      Domestic Abuse had been the top “Make Your Mark” issue in November 2020 – the Youth Council worked closely with South Yorkshire Police, Doncaster Children’s Services Trust and the Domestic Abuse Team on the work undertaken, including:

Ø  Formalising a logo, and creating a #ReduceDomesticAbuse hashtag;

Ø  Presented ideas to the Domestic Abuse Theme Group, and secured funding from the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU);

Ø  Circulated a survey in schools on healthy / unhealthy relationships;

Ø  Promoted the hashtag throughout Domestic Abuse Awareness month;

Ø  The Youth Council collaborated with local mural artist Natasha Clarke to develop an abstract art piece raising awareness of coercive and controlling behaviour.  This would be displayed in DGLAM in May 2022;

Ø  Produced a short film with a local filmmaker titled ‘Red Flags’ planned and scripted to highlight the signs to look for in a coercive / controlling relationship.  This will be released as an advert in Doncaster’s two cinemas throughout April 2022. 

The film was well received by the Domestic Abuse team, and has already had an impact.  Young people can call Doncaster Children’s Services Trust about a ‘red flag’ and they will be able to skip the safeguarding assessment form and instead receive direct advice and guidance;  and

Ø  Produced posters to be used across Doncaster bus stops  designed to include some of the signs highlighted in the ‘RED FLAGS’ film.

The posters will include reference to toxic behaviours such as:
- Gaslighting;

- Lovebombing;  and

- Location tracking.

The Following areas were discussed in further detail:

Representation on the Youth Council across the whole borough – a Member stressed it was unfortunate that not all schools had a representative on the Youth Council but noted that work was being undertaken to try and ensure as many young people as possible were aware of the Youth Council to encourage their schools to take part.  For example, posters were being display in bus stops to encourage involvement and to reach as many young people as possible.

Voting and ballots used – due to the Covid pandemic the Panel noted that traditional paper based voting mechanisms could not be used therefore voting through a Google forum was undertaken adapting to more online methods.

Partnership working – whilst working on the Domestic Abuse campaign, Youth Councillors acknowledged that the topic was very sensitive and to avoid accidentally offending people, they worked closely with the Domestic Abuse Team, South Yorkshire Police and the Doncaster Children’s Trust who helped them correctly focus the work undertaken.

The Panel was absolutely delighted with and commended the work undertaken by the Youth Council.

RESOLVEDthat:

1.    the Youth Council be congratulated on the fantastic work undertaken;

2.    the Participation Officer share the #ReduceDomesticAbuse hashtag with the Panel so they were able to share on their own social media pages;  and

3.    note the information provided.