Project notes: A Guide to Councils, Cambridgeshire

Goals: To explain what the differences are between parish, district, county and other councils in a youth-friendly way

Funding: Received 400 from East Cambridgeshire District Council to cover printing costs

Trying to fathom out which council is responsible for what locally can be a frustrating task. But young people from Soham Village College in east Cambridgeshire have designed a leaflet to explain simply to their peers the roles that various councils play.

The young people are all aged 11 to 13 and developed the guide as part of the Active Citizens programme co-ordinated by youth workers at their school. Each young person gave up several lunchtimes to come up with designs for the leaflet and provide feedback on what they thought about local councils and facilities. Jane Fletcher, support officer (local strategic partnership) at East Cambridgeshire District Council, helped co-ordinate the project with the school. "There was a lack of understanding about what councils do locally," she says. "There was confusion in particular over the roles of district, parish and county councils."