If elected your MP I will always listen and do my best to help secure the best deal for the young people of East Hampshire. 

A sampler of 10 Conservative policies…

1.    Homes.  Make it easier to build affordable housing in East Hants, reserved for local people.

2.    Police.  Less form filling will mean more time on the streets.

3.    Knives. Knife crime conviction = prison.

4.    Training. 400,000 extra apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, college places and ‘work pairings’ over 2 years.

5.    University.  Better information on courses (students’ satisfaction, and earnings potential).

6.    Civil liberties. Scrap ID cards and focus DNA database on the guilty not the innocent.

7.    Political reform.  Voters could kick out MPs guilty of serious wrong doing.

8.    Greening.  Work for global deal and reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.

9.    Superfast broadband nationwide by 2017. 

10. Aid. Increase international aid to 0.7% of national income by 2013.

If I can deliver one thing for young people in East Hampshire – it would be to give them the freedom to influence the services delivered to them,   so they can make sure the money spent on young people is spent on the right things in the right way.    

One of my passions is getting young people involved and engaged in politics – for them to realise that they have an important stake in the decisions politicians are making.  They have a right to speak up and demand better schools and youth services.  We also need to recognise that young people have valid concerns and opinions about their communities as a whole which should be heard. 

There are a few key things I therefore support:

·          Votes at 16

·          Delegated budgets to youth councils or a youth Mayor

·          Ensuring local decisions and engagement are accessible to young people

Adam Carew  -  Liberal Democrat

I’m Adam, a green/wildlife campaigner and East Hampshire’s Local Candidate, I agree with Nick Clegg.

I joined the Lib Dems at 14, was elected the youngest councillor on EHDC and set-up the National Younger Councillors’ Forum to get young people into politics. 

Lib Dems are the only party who believe in fairness, action on green issues, fair votes and real reform of parliament.

We have the youngest MPs.

I / We pledge

1    Votes at 16

2    Jobs & training vs youth unemployment

3    Axe Tuition Fees.  Students shouldn’t leave University £22,000 in debt.

4   Affordable Housing for young people

5   More Public Transport

6  Things for young people to do

Hampshire Conservatives spend less on young people than anywhere in Britain.

I will always listen, work hard and stand-up for East Hampshire !

Vote Adam Carew (Liberal Democrat).

A fresh start for East Hampshire.

A fresh start for Britain.

Young people in the district can get their hands on £5,000 set aside specifically for youth projects but hurry as the deadline is Friday 19^th March.

The scheme is run by the 14 to 17-year-old members of East Hampshire Youth Council, which hands out grants of up to £250 for organisations working with young people.

East Hampshire District Council funds the scheme. Cllr Hilary Ayer, EHDC’s Portfolio Holder for Young People and Community Safety, said: “The youth council will look at the applications themselves and make the decision.”

Lara Nolan, Youth Council Co-ordinator, said the Money Pot, launched last year, has already funded a great range of projects from providing the money for the parts required to manufacture an electric racing car for Horndean Technology College to an educational daytrip for young people from Treloar College focusing on conservation at Marwell Zoo.

Mrs Nolan said: “It was interesting to see the Money Pot funds being used so creatively and I would encourage more groups to make use of the money available.”

The Money Pot will close at the end of March 2010 but if the scheme uses the £5,000 allocated for this year it will be likely to carry on.

To apply to the Money Pot contact Lara Nolan, Youth Council Co-ordinator, on 01730 234186.

Contact: Lara Nolan, Youth Council Co-ordinator, 01730 234186. E-mail: lara.nolan@easthants.gov.uk

The Chairperson of the East Hampshire Youth Council, Jake Topp also appealed to Councillors to promote the good things young people do at the meetings they attend by stating ‘please remember it is only the small minority of young people who cause problems, it is not all young people.’

Following the presentation, Councillor James commented ‘this has been the most interesting 10 minutes I have experienced in my time as a Councillor.’

As a result of the presentation Councillor Moon instantly volunteered for a young person to shadow him as part of the Local Councillor Shadowing Programme which is a government funded scheme aiming to give young people a taste of leadership.

Lara Nolan, Youth Council Coordinator commented ‘two of our young volunteers signed up to the Youth Council within weeks of starting their shadowing which reflects the type of long-term community involvement the programme aims to achieve.’

For more information on the East Hampshire Youth Council or Local Councillor Shadowing Programme please contact Lara Nolan, telephone: 01730 234186 or email: Lara.Nolan@easthants.gov.uk

East Hampshire Youth Council is a group of young people aged 11-21 who meet on a monthly basis across the district in order to improve young people’s lives.

EHYC has run two exciting projects this year: the creation of an accredited proof of age card for young people who live in the district and the ‘Penny Pushers’ project, which has included an educational DVD about money, a dedicated section on the youth council’s website and money drop-in sessions, starting soon at Mill Chase Community School.

Young people’s groups can apply to the EHYC for grants of up to £250 to help pay for equipment, trips, uniforms and other items.

Youth councillors can choose their level of involvement and many have volunteered to help at council-run events such as Butserfest, a young people’s alcohol and drug free music event, the annual Youth Quiz and the talent contest Show Off.

Members of EHYC are also trained to assess organisations and services for young people by collecting evidence through a site visit on: involvement of young people, equality and diversity, environment and resources and links to other services. If the service or organisation is deemed to be ‘young person friendly’ they are awarded the CAT Mark award, designed by young people from the Care Action Team. The award is designed to recognise excellence and to help services improve their practice.

Anyone wishing to find out more should come along to Bordon Youth Centre on Thursday 4 March from 6.30-8.30pm. Please register your interest by contacting Lara Nolan (Youth Council Coordinator) by email at Lara.Nolan@easthants.gov.uk or call 01730 234186. Help with transport may be available if this is required.

CONTACT Lara Nolan, EHDC Youth Council Co-ordinator, 01730 234186

A community worker from East Hampshire District Council found herself faced with fried duckling, sea slug and caterpillar soup as part of a cultural exchange trip to China.

Lara Nolan, EHDC Youth Council Coordinator, headed to the Far East along with 100 other delegates from the UK, selected as potential future leaders in the political and business spheres.

She found that culinary tastes were not the only difference between the two countries as she learnt about how Chinese youngsters were taught about important values such as respect and work ethic and how anti-social behaviour is almost non-existent.

As part of her nine-day trip, taking in Beijing and the province of Jiangsu, Mrs Nolan enjoyed a tour with a host family, attended meetings, chatted with locals and was entertained at banquets.

She said she found the people ‘incredibly hospitable' but some of the dishes served up at official meals were not often found at home.

"At the banquets we were told to try as much of the local food as possible and warned that it was not polite to leave the food but some of it was quite unusual, like a whole baby duck, with beak and feet, caterpillar soup, duck's blood soup and a fat sea slug."

Mrs Nolan's trip, funded by the British Council, the All China Youth Federation and £300 from EHDC, is part of a national programme of exchange for bright young people from both countries.

The 24-year-old, who is also studying a Youth Degree at Southampton University, said she was particularly interested in the way China treats its young people.

"Concepts of youth in China are very different," she said. "The children study at school from 7am to 6pm and then study when they get home until about midnight, before returning to school for 7am the next day.

"In Yancheng, the largest city in Jiangsu, we visited a museum of values which shows young children how they should be treating their parents, the elderly and the rest of society.

"The emphasis there is for society to instil values into young children as opposed to here where it is the job of the individual and the family. They also consider people up to the age of 40 to be ‘young people' which is very different from over here.

"And they have no real problem with anti-social behaviour there. I think there isn't time for young people to behave anti-socially because they're at school all day, study in the evening and pick up extra classes at the weekends."

Mrs Nolan found the UK and China also had different ways of engaging young people. While the UK offered school and youth councils, the Chinese students focused more on young people volunteering, particularly in light of the earthquakes in recent years, showing how young people try to improve the lives of others in their communities.

One of the only people from the South East region to be picked for the trip, she said she was amazed by the sights and kindness of the people, although it was clear that in some parts they were not used to seeing travellers. 

"In Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province, they were staring, laughing and pointing at us, some people were taking photographs, it was obvious they hadn't seen many Caucasian people before! It was a very interesting experience being part of a minority group in that way.

"But everyone was very friendly and they couldn't do enough for us. I feel very lucky to have had this opportunity and I will take away a lot of positives from the trip. It has definitely given me a much greater understanding of Chinese people and their culture and values."

Twenty-nine local youngsters saw the partially constructed stadium that will host the games and met two athletes that hope to compete.

The trip in early August could become part of a nationwide scheme run for local councils.  East Hampshire District Council worked closely with Mango Events Management Ltd to develop this innovative concept and was the first to try it out.

Mrs Jennifer Gray, Portfolio Holder for Community and Active Lifestyles, said that seeing the construction and meeting top sports stars would give youngsters the motivation to achieve their own ambitions.

"The Olympic legacy does not start in 2012, it starts now," he said. "We can use the Olympics to inspire a generation of children today.

"We are one of the first councils to take part in these tours and we believe they are an innovative and novel way of inspiring children to achieve their dreams.

"They may not be great sportsmen but whether they are artists, performers or even photographers they can be inspired to reach their goals."

Two athletes gave the youngsters a talk on what it takes to fulfil your ambition. Sprinter Ryan Scott hopes to compete in 2012 as does Cecelia Turk, a Paralympic boccia champion, from Waterlooville.

The children were also treated to a demonstration of football skills and beat boxing, and some even took part. The feedback after the event showed the children felt empowered by the day and would be taking up some form of sport. One was delighted to hear that although it is not an Olympic sport; beat boxing could be a career.

Ryan Howlett, who went on the trip, said: "Having started my cycling season with a knee injury that has put me out of competition riding for a few months, I found that the presentations given by Ryan Scott and especially Cecelia Turk so inspiring. It has given me the encouragement I needed to keep me going with a sport I love."

The drug/alcohol-free festival, aimed at 14-20 year olds, is in its third year. Previous headliners have been Elliott Minor and You Me At Six. ‘We always aim to get bands which are on their way up for the festival, The Blackout have a great buzz around them already’ says Lucy Soal, band booker. ‘We do online surveys to find out the bands that our festival-goers want to see, and The Blackout have been very popular. We’re proud to be able to announce that they’re playing.’

Also rocking the main stage at Queen Elizabeth Country Park will be:

Go:Audio

We Are The Ocean

Attack! Attack!

Save Your Breath

Malefice

All Forgotten

Alzir

The Light Divided

PLUS four bands from Butserquest – a series of mini-gigs that have taken place around East Hampshire:

Reduced to Ashes

The Frisbys

We Push Buttons

Lecarla

New for 2009 is the Butserquest stage, with local favourites Vallenbrosa, As Gods, Forever Wednesday and (from Butserquest) What Is Life For?, The Theory Of Six Degrees, Switch Transmission, Hardly Heroes, The Zed Men, Flexability, Thursdays Bad Luck, A Thousand Ways To Fall, Chemical Sunset, The Meakins and Luke Ferre.

But it’s not just about the music. There will be a range of free activities on site. Previous years have included: inflatable table football, climbing walls, spray art, bucking bronco and laser tag.

Tickets for Butserfest are just £12 in advance (£15 on the door) and are on sale from www.ticketsouth.co.uk call 023 8071 1818.

For more information, go to myspace.com/butserfest or www.butserfest.co.uk.

 The organisers of East Hampshire's biggest rock gig threw down the gauntlet to young bands to compete for a coveted spot on the stage through a series of minigigs called Butserquest.

Bordon hosted the first of the four events on Saturday night at the Forest Community Centre with five bands answering the challenge and facing an audience laced with Butserfest judges. 

Next week the search continues with a Butserquest gig at Alton Community Centre, on 27 June, and then two more in Petersfield, 4 July, and Horndean, 18 July.

Saturday's line-up kicked off with The Devil's Conspiracy, Portsmouth-based post-punkers with a confident stage presence.

Then came The Theory Of Six Degrees, from Grayshott and Surrey, with their tight sound and rocking tunes that got everyone in the crowd going.

Next was pop/punk three-piece Chubby Mother  with their blend of upbeat music and on stage humour.

They were followed by Flexability from Surrey, veterans of the Butserfest fields from last year. Their catchy tunes and youthful enthusiasm had even the harshest of judges tapping their feet.

The last band on were Lecarla (pictured) a five-piece band from Milton Keynes, who cite their influences as Paramore and Lostprophets. They impressed the judges with their high quality set and attitude.

The quest continues on to three more venues:
Alton Community Centre - Sat 27 June
Studio@TPS, Petersfield - Sat 4 July
Barton Hall, Horndean - Sat 18 July

All events start at 7.30pm and will finish at around 10pm.
Entry is only £2.

Four slots on the main stage are still being strongly contested via the BUTSERQUEST the 2nd stage line up is yet to be announced but will be headed up by the very popular vallenbrosa. For up to date Butserfest information click here

The young people voted in a new Chairperson - Jake Topp from Petersfield, Vice Chairperson -  Danielle Woodford from Bordon, Secretary -  Elin Thomas from Horndean, Publicity rep -  Tilly Morgan from Bohunt, Webmaster -  Harry Gilliatt.  The role of Treasurer remains vacant for now.

Matt Deaves (the outgoing chairperson) gave a summary of the Youth Council's achievements during the past year. One of the achievements included giving £3,000 in small grants to young people's projects. Some of the projects benefitting from these grants gave small presentations on the difference the funding had made for them.

After the break the young people voted for the projects which they wanted the Youth Council to champion these were:

• looking into young people's debt and working with East Hants District Council to look at ways of providing information and guidance in order to help prevent young people getting into debt.
• Young people's transport issues. The Youth Council will work alongside East Hants Council in order to develop a young people friendly transport system across the district.

The young people also voted that the Youth Council supported the following campaign:

• Raising the positive profile of young people in the press and media. It was felt that young people were generally promoted in a negative way by the press and media. The Youth Council will work towards promoting a more positive image regarding young people.

Certificates were presented to all the Youth Council members for their service during the past year.