Meeting the Lewisham Young Mayor and his Advisors

On Monday evening, I went to meet the Lewisham Young Mayor Miguel Gutierrez Astudillo and his group of advisors at the Town Hall.

Lewisham was the first Council in the country to have a directly elected Young Mayor. The Young Mayor is in office for one year and has a budget of £25,000 to spend on things to make life better for young people in Lewisham.

I wanted to go and meet Miguel, the advisors and the adults that help support the Mayor for a number of reasons:

Firstly, I wanted to know more about what they do and how they do it. It seems they are involved in a huge number of events and initiatives around the borough. Their diary for the next week was packed and included a visit from a similar group of young people from Bulgaria!

Secondly, I wanted their help on one of my personal priorities for my campaign, which is to ensure all young people who are old enough to vote, take the opportunity and make an informed decision about how they vote (which doesn’t necessarily mean voting for me!) The young people spoke about a number of ways to encourage other young people and different opportunities that are available.

Finally, I wanted to hear first hand from young people in Lewisham about the things that concern them most.

I’ve done a lot of work around the participation of young people in their community, particularly when I worked in children’s services at Southwark Council. I was thrilled to see such a positive and well-rounded group of young people who had great ideas and a willingness to get involved and make things change. I was also impressed by the way they are left to form their own views and chair their meetings, without their adult workers interfering, it shows real trust. I hope to have more to do with them as time moves on.

Gemma Townsend

23rd March 2009