Young people head south for ‘Big Ideas’ event

FOUR young people from Shetland spent the weekend in Stirling with folk from across Scotland as part of an event designed to inspire and empower the country’s youth.

Anya Hawkins, Brandon Kennedy, Erin Watt and Beenie-Ann Wood are also members of the Young Islanders Network.

Both the network, and the event in Stirling, are overseen by Youth Scotland, a charity which deals with youth work organisations in the country.

The four Shetlanders were accompanied by Sonny Thomason, graduate participation and empowerment officer for Shetland Islands Council’s youth and employability service.

He said the Big Ideas event in Stirling is designed to pull young people from across Scotland together, but also consult on different issues.

This year’s focus was on community centres.

Thomason said across the weekend the youngsters could also take part in training workshops on teamwork, confidence building and trying new things.

“They all did really well and from that they gained their Hi5 award, which is one of the three youth achievement awards that Youth Scotland provides,” he said.

“They all had a really good time. They’re all from different parts of Shetland – Brandon being from Yell, Anya being from the south end, Beenie-Ann being from Muckle Roe and Erin being from Lerwick.

“They’re from all corners of Shetland, which is good to get the variety.”

Thomason said the Young Islanders Network brings together people from across Scotland’s islands, from the Northern Isles to the West Coast.

“They come together usually online every month and they discuss issues – they realise that most islands have similar issues,” he added.

“They discuss these issues, and the likes of ministers come in to listen and speak about what their views are on certain issues.”

At the moment the network – which involves face to face meet-ups – is focused on affordable housing for young people, Thomason said.

“It’s good for them to be able to relate to other islands, and that we’re not the only ones facing these problems,” he added.

It is another layer of representation for young people on top of the existing Scottish Youth Parliament, at which Shetland has two members.

But Thomason said the young islanders network is more about “relationship and confidence building” rather than policy or legislation, which is what the youth parliament centres on.

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