AS well as being a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, I was also recently elected as chair of the West Dunbartonshire Youth Council.

The West Dunbartonshire Youth Council (WDYC) is an opportunity for young people to enact local change in the community, through meetings with council officials, councillors and MSPs, raising awareness through hosting workshops and campaigns, raising funds for local charities and so much more.

Members have the chance to take up training and accreditation opportunities to aid in their skills and abilities such as leadership, public speaking and mental health training.

The WDYC’s last campaign on mental health was aimed at opening up the discussion and increasing awareness of key findings on young people’s mental health and how this can be improved.

Whilst we did not prepare for taking this campaign completely online, and had many in-person meetings planned, we quickly turned this around when the pandemic lockdown forced us to change our plans, to ensure we kept an active profile and followed through best we could.

As one of the campaign managers, I produced the materials posted by the Youth Council on social media throughout lockdown. For 10 weeks we posted a continuous stream of support, information and resources for local young people via our social media channels.

Moving on, we recently launched our second campaign – this time on employability.

We hope to share valuable resources with West Dunbartonshire’s young people, show them different pathways or routes into employment, and signpost young people to the local and national services that are available to ensure they are as ready as they can be to enter the world of work.

We are aiming to explore different avenues this time around, and I believe the experiences of our mental health campaign earlier in the year mean that we are much better equipped this time to deal with the challenges that are presented by Covid-19 restrictions.

We are always looking for new members (aged between 12 and 25) from all over West Dunbartonshire to become members of the WDYC.

If you are passionate about making a difference in your community, and would like to join or hear more about WDYC and its work please contact me or the Working4U Youth Learning Team at wdyouthcouncil@west-dunbarton.gov.uk or 01389 738775.

You can also check out our social channels: you’ll find us on Twitter at @WDYouthCouncil, on Facebook at West Dunbartonshire Youth Council, and on Instagram at WDYouthCouncil.