The Scottish Youth Parliament has welcomed a new Highland member following its recent by election for the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency area.
Jake MacCulloch from Dingwall has been successful in the by-election and will now represent young people in his area, bringing their issues to relevant platforms over his term as a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYP).
Jake is delighted to be elected and has campaigned that he will strive to highlight the issues concerning young people in the constituency so that they are listened to and acted upon. He hopes to establish and/or support more youth volunteering opportunities in youth forums and youth organisations.
He is also a proud member of and an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, and a strong advocate for improving and supporting mental health and wellbeing. He hopes to work closely together with other Highland MSYPs and youth development officers to assist in this goal.
“I am confident in saying that I will be devoted and committed to ensuring the young people in my community are properly heard and properly represented,” he said.
Jake has experience of representing and listening to young people as an active member of Dingwall Youth Forum, his local youth forum for the school catchment area.
He said: “We meet weekly to formally discuss issues affecting young people in our community and the ways in which we help and improve these issues. For instance, recently we assembled and distributed 184 mental health and wellbeing packs to young people in our community.
“I am also a member of the Dingwall Community Council as a youth representative, representing my peers and speaking up for local residents and the issues that they are concerned about.
“We also organise community events to help strengthen community well-being, for instance early this summer we held a community run for gala week, where people from throughout community came down and took part in a run, organised by the community council.”
Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament are elected every two years and become the voice of Scotland’s young people. Young people who are 12-25 years and live, work or attend school in the relevant areas can vote for their peers.
The other MSYPs for the three constituency areas in Highland are:
Inverness and Nairn: Hamish Nott studying at UHI from Nethy Bridge and Ziva Kinsman from Inverness Millburn.
Caithness Sutherland and Ross: Jamie Dickson from Alness and Megan Travers from Wick.
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch: Rory Young, from Lochaber and now Jake MacCulloch from Dingwall.
MSYPs range in age from 14 to 25 and represent constituencies in all 32 local authorities throughout the country. The Scottish Youth Parliament was established on 30 June 1999 – making it older than the Scottish Parliament.
High Life Highland’s Senior Youth Development Officer, Audrey Anthoney said: “Highland’s now full team of Highland MSYPs will engage in Scottish Youth Parliament campaigns and participate in the Scottish Youth Parliament sittings which take place three times each year.
“They will also work closely with their local youth forums and groups and the Highland Youth Parliament and Highland Youth Convener, ensuring young people’s views across the Highland area are voiced and represented at a national level.”
For more information on the Scottish Youth Parliament go here Home – Scottish Youth Parliament (syp.org.uk)
