YourVoice- Have Your Say

Run by British Youth Council and led by young people, Make Your Mark is the largest ballot of youth views in the UK. It allows young people aged 11-18 to vote for the issues they would like to be debated at the House of Commons in November. The survey takes place in October every year in school. In 2018 we had 11,636 votes which is 40.49% of our youth population in Doncaster. The top three areas for our Members of Youth Parliament to focus on are:

• Mental Health
• Put an end to Knife crime
• Equal pay for Equal work

Make Your Mark 2019 has now closed. The results will be posted in the coming weeks.

In 2019 we created the Junior Make Your Mark campaign for children who are of a primary school age. We are excited to say that we are the very first local authority to recognise our children’s voices in this way.

The junior campaign mirrors the national campaign and gives children the chance to vote for one topic, that they feel needs to be changed and/or improved within the borough.

We are thrilled to announce that over 5000 local children, from 50 different primary schools, voted in that first year and the most voted for topic was to ‘Improve the environment’. As a final project, our children designed and created a video, which provides 'Top 5 tips on how to be environmentally friendly'. You can view it here https://youtu.be/37LcBGUbGRo.

2020 Campaign

Due to the COVID19 pandemic, the 2020 campaign was run differently in order to keep in line with Government guidance. You can find out all about it by visiting the page: Doncaster Junior Civic Mayor.

If you are a professional and you think that you can contribute to our project work, please email YourVoice@doncaster.gov.uk or phone Amy Enwright on 01302 737120.

Led by public health and in partnership with our team the Pupil Lifestyle Questionnaire is an annual survey completed in schools by children and young people. Public Health will send out information to your teachers about this.

The SEND Forum makes sure that the voices of young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are heard and listened to. The forum usually takes place twice a year at Heatherwood School and is held during the school day. During the COVID19 pandemic, these meetings have been held virtually. The young people get the chance to have their say about current topics and get involved with campaigns.

There are two of these a year. They are high profile events that provide the platform for children, families and professionals to review our progress against the Children and Young People’s Plan.

Many children in our local primary schools are part of our Primary Network. The main focus of this network is to focus on the top result from the Junior Make Your Mark campaign and to come up with the ideas to make a difference and then act on them! If you are a child or teacher that it not involved with our Primary Network and you would like to be, please email YourVoice@doncaster.gov.uk.