Minutes:
As part of the Make Your Mark vote, the top issue reported by young people in Bury was knife crime. The Youth Cabinet undertook an activity in groups with a councillor to talk about what the issues with knife crime were and if they had an ideas how it could be tackled in Bury.
The responses were from the various groups:
That supermarkets and other shops should keep knifes locked away in a cabinet that is only unlocked when they are being bought. That the police should be more proactive in searching young people who may be carrying knives. That drugs and alcohol are a bigger problem than knifes.
That there needs to be more awareness made of knife crime, they would like to hear from people who have been effected by knife crime in school. E.g. a family who have been affected or a nurse who has had to treat someone with a knife wound.
That awareness should be taught from primary school about what to do if someone you know has a knife, who to tell, how to administer first aid if someone has been attacked with a knife. That the police should be more visible in areas where crime is a problem. That parents should be taught how to deal with a child who may be carrying a knife.
It was discussed that Numair should take this back to the Youth Parliament as MPs are best placed to enact change in this instance.
Councillor Cathcart explained that he thought there was a fund of money from the Home Office which was available for applications for the specific use of work around knife crime. There were different agencies around that could be involved regionally to help. He said he would take the message back to his portfolio meeting and talk to Head Teachers.
Councillor O’Brien explained the Be Safe, Be Cool campaign led by Lesley Davidson may be able to help with any work being done. He also explained there is still a Police and Crime Commissioner role in Greater Manchester, under the Deputy Mayor, Beverley Hughes who could help with a strategic direction at a GM level.
Councillor Cathcart explained he had heard about an operation called County Lines where criminals have been targeting young, vulnerable people outside of their geographical area to encourage them to deal drugs or hold weapons for them.
The Youth Cabinet then undertook the same activity for the 2nd issue from the Make Your Mark ballot; Mental Health.
The responses were:
That there should be more advertising in schools of what is available for those needing Mental Health support, especially what is available outside of school.
That there should be a raising of awareness of the symptoms of mental health issues, so there can be early prevention work done. That there should be more awareness of how people can help themselves with their mental health and how peers can help each other. That there should be lessons on the school curriculum about mental health, there are PE lessons for physical health, so there should be something similar for mental health.
That there should be more support available, helplines that can be phoned, information available on school websites that can be accessed outside of school. There should be a place that you can go to speak to someone when you need to, face to face, rather than over the phone. There should be training for young people to be able to help each other with their mental health as they don’t always want to speak to an adult.
STARS disability youth group had emailed Adele to ask a question of the councillors in attendance. They asked if the New Kershaw Centre was going to be converted into offices. The New Kershaw Centre is the only youth space available in Bury and they are concerned it is going to be lost to Offices.
Councillor Cathcart responded that he was going to a meeting with Karen Dolton on Monday 5 November so he will ask the question and respond to Adele.
There was a discussion around vaping and whether it should be allowed and the need for more information about the long term effects.
It was agreed that:
Councillor Cathcart would come and deliver a workshop at the next meeting in his role at Early Break around drugs and alcohol abuse.
It was raised that Ramsbottom is trying to get plastic free status and that the schools in Bury could get involved with this also.
It was raised that there are some sites in Bury that have been selected for potential fracking and is it safe?