Your voice, your representative
You’ll need
- Laptop with internet connection
- Pen /pencil
- Lined paper
Before you begin
- Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Take a look at our guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
- Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely. Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.
Planning and setting up this activity
- You can use the Democracy Challenge pdf to prepare for the session.
- Ensure there are enough laptops with internet access, if that isn’t possible set this to be done at home and presented in the next session.
- If you want to invite a representative to your session in person or virtually use this to arrange WriteToThem - Email your Councillor, MP, MSP, MS, MLA or London Assembly Member for free
Running this activity
- Gather everyone and tell them that they are going to learn about the people who represent us locally and nationally, and how they make decisions that affect our communities. Everyone should watch the video Welcome to Your Vote - Your Vote in Wales - Full Video
- They need to find out :
- Who their local councillors are?
- Who represents them in the Senedd or Scottish/ Welsh Parliament (MSs)
- Who their MP is in Westminster?
- They can use this link to find out who represents them at each level. WriteToThem - Email your Councillor, MP, MSP, MS, MLA or London Assembly Member for free
3. They should write this information as a fact sheet with the following headings:
- Name
- Contact address, email, number
4. Once they have completed this, they should think about questions they could ask their representative and write them down as well.
Possible questions could be:
About Their Role
- What made you want to become a councillor/MS/MP?
- What is your main job or responsibility each day?
- How do you make decisions that affect our community?
- What’s the most challenging part of your role?
- Who do you work with to get things done?
About the Community
- How do you find out what people in our area need?
- Can young people like us get involved in your work?
- What is the most important issue in our community right now?
- How does your work help make our town/city better?
- Can you share a project you are proud of?
Fun / Personal
- Did being involved in Scouts help you in your role?
- What advice would you give someone our age who wants to make a difference?
5. These questions can be asked in the session where they meet their representative.
6. After meeting their representative they can discuss as a Troop.
- What did they learn about government and representation?
- Did any answers surprise them?
- How can they get involved in their community?
- How might they use this knowledge in the future?
Reflection
The activity helped us understand how government works and how decisions affect our community. It also encouraged us to think about how we could get involved in the future, building our confidence and awareness of civic responsibilities.
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
- Online safety
Supervise young people when they’re online and give them advice about staying safe. Take a look at our online safety or bullying guidance. The NSPCC offers more advice and guidance, too. If you want to know more about specific social networks and games, Childnet has information and safety tips for apps. You can also report anything that’s worried you online to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command. As always, if you’ve got concerns about a young person’s welfare, including their online experiences, follow the Yellow Card to make a report.
Make it accessible
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.