I’m Becci Hassey, 15 years old and in St. Chad’s school. This is my first time on Youth Cabinet and I want to run for Youth Parliament this year.

I’ve worked with several young people’s voluntary groups and think I’ve already done a lot for my community but I wasn’t this to be a chance to do more.

I spent the last year working with Halton Access to Media and am the Halton Youth Media Forum co-ordinator working to give young people a chance to have their say on the radio. It’s been fantastic being able to work in this environment and people actually listened to what I had to say, it’s a real confidence boost!

I’ve also spent years working with the libraries in Halton, sounds boring but it’s been so much fun. Halloween, for example, anyone who heard about The Freaky Fun Friday with the reptiles, rock wall, art, wii, x-box. There was so much going on that day it was unbelievable!! We’ve done book buys and also got involved with H208 earlier in the year, Halton’s youth festival. Things like this are experiences I will never forget.

It’s opportunities like this that I think all young people should have. Being a young person isn’t about spending all your time studying, it’s a chance to have some fun too!!

I’ve been told to make daft promises to give everyone chocolate and things like that but I don’t think that’d be possible. I can say that I will make sure you have some say in what happens to you, I want to help to give young people a chance to not only do things that they can enjoy and learn from but to make them feel safe in what they’re doing too. I can go on about how I can be committed and dedicated but I’d hope that the work I’ve already done can speak for itself. There’s so much I want to do to help, I want young people’s opinions to be listen to and their suggestions acted on. I can’t promise I’m going to save the world (no matter how hard I can try) but I can promise to do everything in my power to make sure that the world treats you like a real person rather than just a kid.

All I need is this platform to stand on.