How did you get into this? My background is in sport. I graduated from York St John University with a degree in sports studies and PE. I was attracted by the opportunity to gain some experience of working with young people, because in the long term, I plan to be a PE teacher.
What are the most fulfilling and most challenging aspects? The most fulfilling part is the interaction with young people and the feeling you're making a difference. The frustrating part is the fact that councillors get involved in our projects, but in the long term, there doesn't seem to be much action from what we've done.
Can you give us an example of one of your projects? The first one we worked on was called Democracy Week, where we met young people and North Yorkshire county councillors at a local Connexions centre and tried to get young people's views on how they were involved in democracy and how things could change. We wrote the issues on bricks, which we built into a wall, which we transported to County Hall in Northallerton. One of the councillors broke down the wall, on condition that he did something about the issues.
How would you like to see the role develop? I do a 25-hour week at the moment, but I think it should become a full-time post. Once you get involved in the projects, it takes quite a long time.
