I Am The Change

The NUS is looking for young

people who have want to make a

small difference to where they

live. If that’s you head to Page 7.

#lessons4life campaign

launched by UKYP

‘A Curriculum to prepare us for

life’ is this years campaign from

the UK Youth Parliament. Find

out more on Page 10.

Volunteering opportunities

Could you give up a few hours a

month to support Taunton’s new

youth café? Page 12.

The #1 newspaper for

young people, by young

people in Somerset

@SomersetYPNews

‘Somerset Young People’s

Newspaper’

Somerset’s UK Youth Parliament Advisory Group will be awarding grants of up to £10,000 to youth clubs and services in Somerset as part of the Youth & Community Group Grant scheme from

Somerset County Council.

The scheme is designed to help communities adapt to changes in the way the council funds its youth services in light of pressures on the budge, with the intention of towns and parishes delivering their own

youth work.

Since previous funding rounds, the amount that groups can apply for has doubled from the original £5,000 set out when the YCGG was

created in August 2011.

Also, changes in criteria have allowed groups which have previously received funding to reapply for contingency funds and the amount that can be spent on youth club building themselves has risen from 30% to 50% of the total

bid application.

SCC Cabinet member for Children &

Young People said "I welcome the

increased flexibility in the criteria,

and the fact that groups can now

apply more than once. Locally led

youth work is invaluable right across

the county”.

For more information about YCGGs visit the Somerset Youth website

www.somersetyouth.org.uk.

Britain now has the second highest youth unemployment rate in

Europe. Tell us how you would solve this crisis in you were the

Chancellor for a chance to win £50 in Amazon vouchers Page 9

£140,000 to be given to youth groups in Somerset

March 2013

‘Give young people a say

in the future of town’ Young people in Radstock should be more

engaged in decisions that affect them as well

as the wider community, says a report by the

Radstock Youth Partnership (RYP).

The document calls for a radical overhaul in

youth engagement, in order for the town to be

sustainable as a stronger community. They feel

this is something which is important for everyone

in the Radstock area due to increased tensions

between different aspects of the community.

Young people to be more involved in activities in

the town, and many would like to feel more safe

when out in the town. A lack of transport after

5pm is also a contributing factor, it says.

In a poll conducted by the RYP, 71% of young

people feel unsafe in parts of Radstock (Page 4)

2

Polls open for UK Youth Parliament elections

Young people will have the

opportunity to elect their local

Member of Youth Parliament

(MYP) and Deputy (DMYP) from

the 18th - 22nd February.

Voting will take place in schools,

colleges and youth clubs who

have signed up to hold elections.

There are four constituencies in

Somerset; Sedgmoor, Mendip,

South Somerset and Taunton

Deane & West Somerset. There

are a maximum of four candidates

contesting each seat.

Ballots will be accompanied by

manifesto booklets, outlining each

candidates ideas in 300 words,

pitching the reasons why you

should vote for them. Of the four

candidates in each area, the one

with the most votes will go on to

be the MYP and whichever gets

the second highest number of

votes takes the role of DMYP.

MYPs and Deputies will work

alongside others across the South

West and the UK, through regional

events and the Annual Sitting which

will be held in Leeds this year. In

addition, in November there will be

the 5th UKYP House of Commons

debate.

The term of office lasts for 2 years

and if an MYP were to resign, the

DMYP would take their place and

the candidate who came 3rd in the

election would become the Deputy.

Should a DMYP resign, the same

process would take place.

Results of the election will be

announced on the 7th March at

County Hall, Taunton.

Those aged 11-18 are eligible to vote for their Members of Youth Parliament in Somerset

About UKYP

UK Youth Parliament was set up in

1998 in order to promote the voice

and representation of young peo-

ple aged 11-18. As such, it is the

only body that represents the

views of young people in a na-

tional democratic forum.

As a charity, its entirely free of

party politics; meaning all Mem-

bers of Youth Parliament are inde-

pendent and only represent the

views of their constituents. Thus,

MYPs are not allowed to publicly

endorse any UK political party.

You can follow Youth Parliament

on Twitter @ukyp or visit:

www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk.

“Order, order, the youth parliament is now in session”: MYPs debate in the 4th annual UKYP House of Commons debate.

3

Controversial plans to change the

way 16 year olds are examined at

the end of secondary education

have been dropped, but Gove still

intends on pushing on with reforms.

Previously, the government had

intended to introduce a new English

Baccalaureate Certificate (EBC) or

‘Ebacc’, a much tougher exam, sat at

the end of two years and with a single

exam board for each subject.

This had caused tensions in the

cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister

Nick Clegg had openly opposed such

a change to the exam system which

he said was “unfair” to less academic

students. Subjects such as Art were

left out of the EBC, leading to strong

criticism from the National Union of

Teachers and other education bodies.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Gove

said: "Last September we outlined

plans to change GCSE qualifications

and address grade inflation, dumbing

down and loss of rigour in those

examinations. We have consulted on

those proposals and there is now a

consensus that the system needs to

change.

"But one of the proposals I put

forward was a bridge too far."

Education minister Michael Gove back-

tracks on plans to reform GCSE system

In October, SYPN said that Gove was

set to change the GCSEs in England.

Editor’s foreword

I think it is fair to say that the

last few weeks have been

reasonably positive and

certainly progressive for young

people as well as the wider

community.

On the 24th January, MPs

voted in favour of lowering the

voting age to 16, 119 to 46, a

solid majority. The motion was

put forward by a Bristol MP,

Stephen Williams; it even had

the support of my editor at the

Wells Journal who replied to an

article I wrote in his own

column: “they say 50 is the new

40. I say 16 is the new 18”.

The campaign for equal

marriage for gay people also

received a huge boost with a

clear passage through the

Commons; though it is not a

law just yet. Sam Foulder-

Hughes wrote a great article

about this on page 14.

Closer to home, UK Youth

Parliament also got underway,

a great opportunity for you to

have your say on youth issues

(more about this after the 7th).

Anyway, thank you for reading,

have a happy February.

Proposed reforms to the exam

system have been shelved by

the government.

Read more about the reaction to the

“Ebbactrack” and what this means

for young people on Page

History textbook ‘Eurosceptic’, says MPs

An A-level history textbook has

been described as over-bias and

Eurosceptic by a group of MPs.

Hodder Education’s ‘Britain 1945 -

2007’ contained 26 lines with

reasons why Britain shouldn’t have

joined the European Economic

Community, with as few as 5 lines

detailing arguments in favour.

The book also says that "the British

people were never given the full

story, kept in the dark and they

were constantly told there were no

political implications attaching to

Britain's joining; that it was purely

an economic arrangement”, going

on to describe it as a “deception”.

Julian Huppert, Lib Dem MP for

Cambridge, described the book as

“deeply worrying”.

Former Conservative minister,

Stephen Dorrell MP, said that

“most 17- and 18-year-olds are

perfectly able to see that line of

argument for what it is”.

The textbook, which is written by

respected historian Michael

Lynch, is popular in schools the

Department for Education has

said it isn’t on the syllabus.

Jake Pitt, Editor

@jakepitt_

4

(cont. Page 1) with a further 84%

of girls saying that they avoid

going out alone when it is dark, a

barrier to being engaged in

positive activities.

However, 69% of those surveyed

said that they would like to be

involved in activities, as long as

they are tailored to what young

people want.

Having faced funding cuts from

Bath and North East Somerset

(B&NES) Council, which have

severely delayed the opening of

services. Despite this, the

Radstock Youth Hub has worked

with around 170 young people.

This is a substantial increase from

2007, when just 64 young people

attended the club. The RYP

attribute this success to better

prepared programmes and asking

the young people what they want

from the Hub.

Radstock councillor Eleanor

Jackson told her fellow B&NES

councillors “there are a lot of

unexceptional children, who

haven't had any problems, but it

only takes a divorce to tip a family

into darkness. There has really

been an awful lot of substantial

achievements. We hope you are

going to further support this work.”

The Radstock Youth Partnership

was formed three years ago to

manage the affects of cuts in

funding available for youth services

across the area. It has

representatives of different

communities who work with the

youth hub in order to sustain

provision.

The RYP is non-political, but

received a grant of £15,000 from

the new Lib Dem administration

in 2011 to develop activities for

the town’s youth services and

activities in order to support their

social and economic needs.

Support for the Hub has come

from church leaders of different

denominations, B&NES and

Radstock town councillors in

addition to Will Bridge, Member

of Youth Parliament for North

East Somerset.

Radstock Youth Partnership calls on council to better engage with youth service

North Somerset Council

taken to High Court over

cuts to youth services

Public sector union, UNISON, is campaigning against the cuts

The High Court have granted an appeal by a

young person with learning disabilities over cuts

to a provision for disabled young people in

Weston-super-Mare.

Aaron Hunt, 21, from Banwell, used to attend the

Escape Club for young people aged 11-24 with

disabilities and has been campaigning for over a

year to overturn the council cuts to youth services.

Last July, Mr Justice Wyn Williams dismissed his

suit against the council, despite u-turns in cuts to

youth services having taken place in Derbyshire in

June of last year. However, last month David

Wolfe QC of Public Interest Lawyers managed to

convince London’s Civil Appeals Court that the

case should be re-examined.

This means that Mr Hunt will be able to continue

his battle to save services in North Somerset

his battle to save services in North Somerset. Somerset

Young People’s Newspaper has submitted a Freedom

of Information request about the cost of legal fees for

the council.

A spokesperson for Public Interest Lawyers said in a

statement that: “The reconfiguration of his club left Mr

Hunt feeling confused and isolated and the uncertainty

Planned savings of 72% to the youth budget

could be overturned by a High Court appeal.

5

about the club’s long term sustainability has been

the source of considerable upset”.

“The Council’s decision has already had profound

effects across the whole of North Somerset with six

youth groups already confirmed as having closed or

being due to close”.

“Surviving youth groups face a period of uncertainty

as the Council provides only a limited funding grant”.

The proposals prompted an angry response from

Weston-super-Mare town councillor, Tony Probert.

Writing in the Weston Mercury, Cllr Probert said: "I

am absolutely disgusted at the latest sickening cuts

policy of North Somerset District Council who has

decided to withdraw the sum of £250,000 from an

earmarked budget for the establishment of a youth

network across the county”.

He called on district councillors to take a cut in their

allowances - which total around £750,000 a year - in

order to finance the extra £250,000 for services.

However, Mr Hunt’s appeal will be heard by Lord

Justice Toulson who believes that the council may

not have conducted their consultation process

properly. The case will now be heard before three

Appeal Court judges.

MPs makes history by supporting votes at 16

The campaign to give 1.5 million

16 and 17 year olds in England

and Wales the right to vote has

been given a huge boost by a

successful motion by Stephen

Williams, MP for Bristol West.

MPs vote 119 to 46 in favour of

the motion, which was supported

by the Liberal Democrats, Labour,

SNP and some Conservative

backbenchers.

Mr Williams said that votes at 16

was an issue which was a "vital

step in the renewal of Britain's

democracy" and would help to

engage more young people in the

political system.

However, the result

is not binding on the

government as it is

a backbench motion

which can only express the

support of MPs for

particular issues.

A spokesperson for Number 10

said that the Prime Minister has “no

plans whatsoever to lower the

voting age” and said they would

prefer to focus on increasing voter

turnout.

The Votes at 16 Coalition, run by

the British Youth Council, described

the vote by Parliament as “a very

positive step”.

“It reflects the boost to the cause

from the momentous decision on

the Scottish independence

referendum, and a growing

momentum towards recognising

that 16 is the right age to

become a full member of our

political community”.

Williams has now started

drafting legislation for the bill.

Backbench motion to enfranchise 16 year olds passed

A history of Votes at 16

1999 — Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes proposes

an amendment to the Representation of

the People Bill that would give 16 year

olds the vote. It was defeated 434 to 36.

2003 — Matthew Green MP puts forward an Early

Day Motion (a motion to raise an issue in

the House of Commons) to mark the

creation of the Votes at 16 coalition.

The Conservative Peer, Lord Lucas,

introduces a Private Member’s Bill, the

Voting Age (Reduction to 16) Bill. Passed

in the Lords, but not put to Commons.

2005 — Stephen Williams MP introduces a Private

Members Bill to give 16 year old suffrage,

which is narrowly defeated 136 to 128.

2008 — Young people aged 16 and 17 can

now vote in Jersey and Austria.

2013 — Stephen Williams successfully

passed a motion supporting votes at 16

with a majority of 73.

6

It's a running joke with my mates how long I was

involved in scouting. But without it, there is no way

I would have had the confidence to get involved in

community work, join my students' union, and

eventually run for president of National Union of

Students.

I didn't think of the work we scouts did in the

community to restore green spaces and coach

young people as "campaigning" or "activism", but

that's exactly what it was. Volunteering is all about

giving back and helping to create confident citizens

– and no better examples can be found than the

student volunteers we are highlighting during

Student Volunteering Week 2013.

To me, volunteering and campaigning actually

overlap. Sometimes people start volunteering in a

soup kitchen and end up being the most informed

policy advocates around issues such as poverty and

hunger, becoming integral to a campaign. I think that

this is the approach today's student volunteers

should take.

While you have time to do so, seize the opportunity

to contribute – the full working day of employment is

not so kind.

This week, the NUS, Student Hubs and Barclays are

celebrating the achievements of student volunteers.

There are more than 5,000 students involved in over

300 events around the country that contradict the

stereotypes of students as being self-centred and

disengaged. Actually they're helping local

communities, contributing positively to campuses,

and even travelling abroad to help.

I've been incredibly lucky as NUS president over

thepast two years to represent what I consider to be

Students, lazy? Not at all, they're changing lives.

by Liam Burns

President, National

Union of Students

Students from De Montfort University learn to knit at a social

event for older people (c) guardian.co.uk/students

the most inspiring group of people in the

country. If you don't believe me, then allow me

to illustrate with some of the finalists shortlisted

for Student Volunteer of the Year award.

Anna Ray has led an English conversation and

support class for refugees and asylum seekers

in Leeds for the past three years (oh, and did I

mention she's also a medical student). She tells

me: "I spend a lot of my life with asylum seekers

and refugees now – at English class, at my

house, at their homes.

"It's just life. Nothing I can put on my CV. But it's

all because, when you volunteer, when you

really see and connect with others, they change

you, and you can't say no."

Thomas Holt has devoted 166 hours in the past

two years to working as a telephone counsellor

to over 400 children for Childline. He also

mentors a little boy and is a scout leader.

"People often ask why I do what I do," he says,

"and how I can get up in the morning knowing I

have 12 hours of children's activities to plan and

run along with assignments and uni work. The

truth is, I enjoy every second of it."

Our finalists may have been singled out for

recognition, but there is more going on, all the

time, that people don't know about. The time

students spend volunteering often goes unsung

and unnoticed.

Students Eats, for example, brings universities

and communities together to grow locally

sustainable produce. Schemes such as Green

Impact promote energy save and greener work

practices. And thousands of students and

students' unions raised money for Children in

Need last year.

Thomas and Anna are right: volunteering is a

human story. It's about connecting with people

in a real, tangible way. You can see the

difference you are making.

It's something in which I passionately believe.

Because it's actually not overly idealistic or

zealously liberal to believe you can make that

7

Courtney Giles: I am the change — saving Epsom Phab

Last year, the NUS helped Courtney Giles, from

Warwick University, to save the Epsom Phab youth

centre in Surrey from closure.

The concluding Council review meeting on Thursday

22 November saw a remarkable number of local sixth

formers present and argue their final case for Epsom

Phab. They won. The Council has relented and will

now fund a new building.

Through six months of lobbying and campaigning

Courtney, NUS and Epsom Phab secured an extra

year in their current premises from Surrey County

Council. However Courtney and her mother Julia, a

supervisor at the Phab, would not give up. Their

perseverance resulted in the agreement for their final

victorious meeting at the end of last year.

Courtney said "after students submitted their

proposals for change, people could vote on them

online. My change got 5,000 votes. It’s been an

absolutely amazing opportunity - it’s helped Phab and

more widely it shows you can make a difference even

if you think it’s for something small".

I Am The Change is a campaign by the National Union of Students designed to encourage college and

university students to make a positive difference in their communities, no matter how big or small.

This change could be about education, the community, the environment, personal development, health

and wellbeing, society, careers or politics. It can take place in a college campus, or in the wider

community and can be done by individuals or groups of students.

Last year, I Am The Change was won by Courtney Giles who wanted to save Epsom Phab, an inclusive

club in South West London for physically disabled or able-bodied children, which faced closure by local

council.

Epsom Phab volunteers and users received bespoke training from NUS and funding to help them

deliver their campaign. They’ve already secured an extra year in their current premises from Surrey

County Council, and will continue to use the skills and experience they’ve gained to fight for the club’s

future.

Voting will then take place on the NUS website, with the most popular receiving training and a campaign

budget to help deliver their campaign.

For more information, and to apply visit www.nus.org.uk/en/campaigns/i-am-the-change/

8

No-pay placements branded as ‘slave labour’ after appeal

Huge blow to the Department for Work & Pensions’ back to work scheme after ruling

Thinking about going to uni? This might help...

The government has been left in

a state of disarray after the High

Court has ruled that its work

experience scheme for young

people out of work it unlawful.

The scheme forced unemployed to

carry out unpaid work experience,

or risk losing benefits. University

graduate Cait Reilly (right) was

made to give up her internship at a

museum in order to take a

placement at Poundland. She can

now claim back money lost from

the government.

Public Interest Lawyers, who

represented Miss Reilly, said: “The

result is that over the past two

years the Government has

unlawfully required tens of

thousands of unemployed people

to work without pay and unlawfully

stripped thousands more of their

subsistence benefits.”

Employment minister Mark Hoban

said he was “disappointed” and

“surprised” at the court's decision

on the regulations. New legislation

was expected to be brought in

which would strengthen the back to

work programme.

Liam Byrne, shadow work and

pensions minister, added his voice

to the criticism.

"It beggars belief that David

Cameron's Government is now so

incompetent it can't even organise

work experience.

"Work experience is crucial in

helping many young people get

ready for work. Two years in, David

Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith's

so-called welfare revolution is in

a state of advanced chaos”.

Cait Reilly said in an interview

with the Guardian newspaper

she refuted accusations that she

was a ‘job snob’ and that

working at the discount store

prevented her from finding

sustainable employment or

doing volunteer work.

In a statement, she said: “I hope

the government will now take

this opportunity to rethink its

strategy and do something which

actually builds on young

unemployed peoples' skills and

tackles the issue of what causes

such long-term unemployment. I

agree we need to get people

back to work but the best way of

doing that is by helping them,

not punishing them”.

The government is expected to

rethink its strategy on work

placement schemes.

Court ruling ‘a victory for common sense’

National Student Survey (NSS) is published, revealing university rankings for 2013

# University

NSS (%)

1 Cambridge 100.0

2 Oxford 94.4

3 London School of Economics 93.9

4 St. Andrews 86.1

5 Warwick 82.1

6 University College London 80.7

7 Durham 78.4

7 Lancaster 78.4

9 Bath 75.8

10 Exeter 75.3

11 Loughborough 74.6

12 Surrey 73.5

9

Britain has the second highest youth

unemployment rate in Europe.

(first is Spain, third is Greece) What would you do to solve youth unemployment?

Enter our competition and you could win £50 in Amazon vouchers.

To apply, tell us what you think the government should be doing to reduce the levels of young

people not in education, employment or training. You could present your ideas in a variety of

ways:

Essay (up to 600 words)

Video (no longer than 2 minutes)

A4-size Poster/leaflet

Any other medium - speak to us for clearance

Send us your entry via email to youthunemployment@sypn.org. Entries will be shortlisted by the

SYPN journalist team. They will then be published on the SYPN website, and a public vote will

determine which entry would best the best solution to youth unemployment.

You might want to consider in your

If Labour were in power, they would create a system where all young people are

guaranteed a job, funded by a tax on banks.

In government, the Conservative Party is creating a £1 bn ‘youth contract’ to

incentivise businesses to take on young people

The Liberal Democrats want to increase apprenticeships for 18-24 year olds.

10

UK Youth Parliament launches #lessons4life campaign

‘A curriculum to prepare us for life’ is chosen as UKYP’s main priority in House of Commons

In November, 154 of 295 MYPs

voted to support the motion ‘a

curriculum to prepare us for life’,

and now the UK Youth

Parliament is calling on politicians

of all parties to support the

pledge.

The campaign says that the

national curriculum should be

radically overhauled through a

youth-led review that helps develop

young people’s political knowledge,

better SRE (sex and relationship

education), cultural awareness,

community cohesion, finance skills

and sustainable living.

Young people can get involved in

the debate by tweeting using the

hashtag #lessons4life, contacting

MPs and writing to the Secretary of

State for Education, Michael Gove

saying why the government should

introduce aspects of the curriculum

which better prepare young people

for the real world.

The Labour leader Ed Miliband

(left), pledged his “full support” for

the curriculum for life campaign

whilst on a trip to Sandwell College

in the West Midlands.

In an article in the Wells Journal

and Somerset Standard, Jake Pitt,

editor of SYPN and Member of

Youth Parliament for Mendip said

that young people need to be

taught life skills in schools.

“Young people need to know the

basics - how to write a CV and how

to do well in a job interview - in

order to be successful be full

participants in their communities.”

In response, 73 MPs [at the time of

printing] have signed an Early Day

Motion in support of the campaign

and pressure is now being put on

the Education Secretary Michael

Gove to include subjects such as

political education in his reforms to

the GCSE and A-level exams

system in England.

Ed Miliband, with shadow Education Minister

Stephen Twigg MP and Jugan Kaur Sahota MYP

To get involved in the campaign visit

www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/

curriculum

We’re recruiting. Somerset Young People’s Newspaper is recruiting for young people aged 13-18 to become part of a

bigger team of a young journalists from across the county that produce SYPN.

Interested?

If you’re thinking about getting involved, there are a variety of opportunities available to you.

We’re currently recruiting:

Journalists & reporters Graphics designers Photographers

To apply visit www.sypn.org/apply or email jake.pitt@sypn.org

In an open letter to the Education Minister, Michael

Gove, 15 youth organisations have called on the

Department for Education to put greater resources

into youth policy.

This comes after Gove said to the Education select

committee that he felt that youth policy should be the

responsibility of local, rather than central,

government.

In a survey carried out by the organisations, 92% of

young people said that government ministers do not

care or show very little that they care about young

people.

The letter described Gove’s comments as “alarming”,

adding that the thinking could put the future of young

people in the UK “at risk”.

“We agree that all sections of society need to work

together to support young people to achieve, but for

this to happen we need the government to recognise

the importance of youth services,” the letter said.

“Removing responsibility from central government

would be hugely damaging to both the quality and

quantity of youth support on offer.”

It added that, although schools are important, many

young people benefit from learning outside formal

education settings.

“We want more investment in and outside of the

classroom for young people so that we can all get the

best chances in life,” the letter said.

The open letter from young people follows concerns

raised by leading figures in the sector, who warned

that a lack of government interest in youth services is

marginalising young people and risks triggering social

unrest.

The letter was signed by 15 young people

representing London Youth, YouthNet, Prymface, UK

Youth, the Jewish Lads’ and Girls’ Brigade National

Youth Forum, the Scout Association, the Street

League Academy, the National Council for Voluntary

Youth Services (NCVYS), vInspired, Brook, Leap, the

National Youth Agency, Artswork, the British Youth

Council, and StreetGames.

Young people tell Gove to invest in youth services Youth charities and organisations representing 8 million young people condemn Education Minister for

comments describing youth policy as ‘not a national priority’ to Education select committee.

13

Children’s Society calls on government to extend

free school meals to all families in poverty

From the editor

One of the biggest social catastrophes

of the dire economic situation is youth

unemployment. Britain has the second

highest rate of young people out of

work in Europe – even more than

Greece and Portugal; only Spain, an

economic mess, has a higher rate. It’s

unacceptable that 25% of young people

aged 18-24 can’t find work after they

leave college or graduate from

university, and it is an issue that should

be one of our top priorities.

This is an issue that I have raised

personally with George Osborne, and I

had a somewhat negative response.

Two weeks ago, I went to Downing

Street for the launch of the ‘Youth

Budget’, an event to promote what

young people would do with the public

purse, and I spoke to the Chancellor

about what to do about this issue.

I reiterated to him a view held by many

economists: that we need to temporarily

increase spending in capital investment

projects in order to kick start the

economy. I emphasised that his next

budget needed to be about jobs more

than anything, to which Osborne

retorted “and how do you expect to do

that?”.

The youth budget itself surveyed over

1,400 young people on the budget. It

said that the government should tax

higher earners more, but spend less.

This equated to a deficit of just £66

billion, compared with the £120

billion that the exchequer is

expected to run up. We should

scrap Trident - which costs us £3bn

a year amongst other irrelevant

spending.

We need a progressive attitude to

public finance and services, as well

as real people. Unfortunately, this

government has given up on youth

unemployment. The result will be a

lost generation, forgotten by policy

makers and the Treasury, and

reminiscent of the 1980s.

According to a recent study held

by The Children’s Society, three

quarters of teachers have said

that students at their school often

arrive each day to school without

anything to eat, or money in which

to buy it. From further research,

it’s been reported that around two

thirds of teachers have provided

food to school children. So, what’s

to be done about this discovery?

The Children’s Society are

recommending to the Government

that they extend free school meals

to every child who currently lives

below the line of poverty; they hope

to find a way in which to fund the

children who make up the statistics.

In the survey held by the charity,

results have shown that 570 UK

teachers revealed 98 per cent

believed all children living in

poverty, including those in working

families, should receive a free

school meal.

At the moment, around 700,000 of

2.2 million who live in relative

poverty in England miss the chance

to receive free school meals as

parents who are in work, or single

parents who work less than 16

hours are not able to qualify.

Laura Rodrigues, policy officer at

The Children’s Society, says that

they’re “really concerned about

those families that may be living in

poverty but don’t qualify for free

school meals because some of

their children may be having

difficulties and may be hungry in

school.”

It’s being argued that a “healthy

school lunch” impacts not only the

child’s hunger levels, but their

concentration, attainment and

behavior. Health and educational

benefits are a few of many reasons,

not to mention the much needed

financial support for parents, as to

why meals must be distributed

more widely. It will give the

Government an opportunity to

improve the system and ensure that

every child is accounted for.

“Every child in poverty should be

given a free school meal. Free

school meals are key to moving

children out of poverty and vital to

helping them f lourish,” said

Matthew Reed, chief executive of

The Children’s Society.

The report has inevitably attracted

much needed attention to the

matter, especially for the ATL, who

state that they’ve been introduced

to “the importance of free school

meals in tackling child poverty” and

that they’re in full support. What do

you think about the matter? Email

us at letters@sypn.org

By Scott Kilday, News Editor

scott.kilday@sypn.org

14

What will happen to the Church of England?

Sam Foulder-Hughes

Organised religion is dying. Church numbers are

ridiculously low, I recently went looking around a

church near where I live in deeply conservative rural

Somerset on ly to f ind tha t shocking ly the

congregation of the church consisted of only half a

dozen regular church goers in their early sixties. You

might say that this is indicative of how small the

village is, and you're probably on to something there,

but surely these small village parishes are where the

Church of England thrives, surely at least these rural

idylls still hold the traditional church going values of

yesteryear.

If the Church of England is flailing even in

Somerset, what does that mean for the

rest of the country? Well, the English

C h u r ch c en su s o f 200 6 sh o we d

that ,shockingly, only 6.3% of the whole

population attend church regularly. Even

so 72% of people in UK still identify as

Christians. The disparity between these

two figures is tremendous, but does the

fact that these Christians are not regular

church goers mean our moral values have declined?

No, to me it says completely the opposite. It's so

easy to rose tint the past and the more conservative

values that were held by the God fearing people who

lived then, but were our ancestors really all that

great? I think you know the answer to that.

The moral values of the UK are ,despite, what the

“Daily Mail” may have you believe, much better than

they were fifty years ago. Look at all those people

who do ludicrous things for the sake of charity, that

annoyingly lovely Christian virtue in particular is

stronger than ever. Organisations like the British

Youth Council show that while today's youth may not

be especially concerned with religion, they do have

a political conscience and TV shows like “The Secret

Millionaire” show a wonderful undercurrent of

kindness that the right wing media would have you

believe died in the sixties.

It strikes me that the nature of kindness in this

country has become less selfish. People are not

going out of their way to be charitable because a

vicar told them they should, they are doing it from

their own selflessness and goodness of heart. These

brilliant volunteers are the most Christian people on

Earth, they do good things of their own volition and

like the many equally virtuous Christian groups like

the Salvation Army they make a positive change to

the society in which they live.

So, yes, our country does have these altruistic

modern day alms-givers. Most of us however, would

rather worship at the font of Britney

and Gaga wouldn't we? Yes, probably,

I know I would, Britney's one my idols,

but is that such a bad thing? The

Chr is t ian, benef icent bankers of

classical England may have been

replaced with callous, inferior and

fatuous modern day equivalents, but

the one and only Miss Britney Spears

is exemplary to all people in power. A

little known fact is that the groin wielding, head

shaving car ica ture of the press has made

considerable donations to charity during her lifetime

with $350,000 donated to victims of Hurricane

Katrina and $1,000,000 to the families of the

uniformed service hero victims of 9/11.

The modern day faces of goodness are not just the

many wonderful devout church goers. They're that

girl at school who's dressing up as the Queen for

“Help for Heroes”, celebrities like Britney Spears

who put their money and influence to good use and

the hundreds of young people who spend their

Saturdays meeting with politicians trying to save our

youth clubs. Religion and piety are important parts of

our moral conscience, but we must never forget the

atheists, agnostics and humanists who are so

instrumental in contemporary charity.

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