1 - I’ll introduce an annual Young Labour Trade Union month in line with the TUC’s young workers month 2 - I’ll engage with FE colleges, and schools to get Labour into the heart of people’s communities 3 – I will ensure every area of the country has an active Young Labour group by setting up new groups 4 – I’ll put the contact details of your local youth officer on the back of your membership card so you can always reach someone in the know 5 – We need to offer young members specialised training so they can develop new skills. I’ll do this by offering online webcasts and workshops at all national events and at conference. Young Labour has had an amazing and welcomed increase in membership since last Summer, we must ensure we engage with members old and new to continue our movement and continue changing the lives of our members.
We have thousands upon thousands of new young members who are fired up and wanting to get active but if Young Labour doesn’t reach out these new members could easily fall off the radar. When I joined Labour in 2011 I was lucky enough to live near an active group in Liverpool and had a close friend to accompany me to meetings, but many young members don’t have this and find themselves fighting tooth and nail to become active until the barriers are too much that they give up. After becoming active I spoke at conference to Ed Miliband raising the issue of cuts to my already failing school, got out on the doorstep and soon began to take on leadership roles myself. Young Labour and the opportunities it presented me at a time in my life when I was struggling to fit in anywhere have changed my life and I want every young member to have that too. As a result of Young Labour I’ve been able to raise money for Foodbanks, put on a production of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists raising thousands for mental health charities, set up a hardship fund for my Young Labour group, campaign in key seats across the country and get rid of vile Tory MP Esther McVey. The things I’ve done in politics weren’t handed to me on a silver platter, I had to fight to get involved and it’s a fight no young member should have to have. If I’m elected as your NEC Youth rep I will promise to make Young Labour the most engaging organisation it can be, for all young members, not just those privileged few. First I want to roll out what we have done within Merseyside Young Labour by reaching out to our communities going into schools, colleges and youth clubs to tell young people, particularly in disadvantaged areas that their voice matters and that they can have a say in politics. We have gained some of our most active members from doing this and I will roll out an online training programme, seminar sessions and a training pack for members so we can do this in every region across the country. Online training sessions can help empower grassroots members wherever they are, by giving members the skills and help to localise efforts to improve their regional groups. I will roll out an online training series with funding from our party and trade unions to help members set up Young Labour groups, increase membership and become more engaging for members. Our young members are talented and everyone has something to bring to the table, one size often doesn’t fit all and this programme will help all young members gain the skills they need to improve our youth movement. Over the past few months I’ve spoke to members from Leeds to London to learn more about what you want from our Party. Too often I heard young members saying they came across Young Labour years after they joined or had never heard of it at all. This must change. I promise to ensure every area of our country is covered by an active Young Labour group. I will do this by creating a Young Labour Grassroots Network of young members who want to see more activity in their regions and by giving them the skills and resources they need from their regional offices this will allow young members to go into surrounding areas and set up Young Labour groups. Our regional offices and CLPs must do more to support young members wanting to do this and I will make this a priority if elected. I have set up a number of Young Labour groups across Merseyside and in surrounding areas because I’m passionate about every young members being able to get the most from Young Labour and I am proud to say groups I have helped set up such as St Helens Young Labour and Liverpool Young Labour are now active groups bringing in new members every week. Once I had the skills to do this it was easy and I will ensure we give power back to our young members in this way. All members are given a membership card with their CLP secretary’s name and contact details on but this doesn’t tell any young member how to get in touch with their local Young Labour group. I will make this change to ensure all young members’ membership cards also has a Young Labour contact on it along with a Young Labour welcome pack delivered to all young members to give them information about how to get involved. We must stop young members falling through the net. Young Trade unionists have for too long now been an add on to our youth movement, I want to put our young workers back the centre of everything Young Labour does. To do this I will create an annual Young Labour Trade Union month in our calendar where we can have a recruitment drive, raising awareness for the importance of our young workers joining trade unions and having events centred around issues young workers face. With the Tories anti-trade union bill we must help our Trade Unions be stronger than ever. Young Labour was set up to engage and connect with young people across the UK who believe in social justice, equality and fairness we must champion those labels to fight the Tories and be the most united organisation we can possibly be. This is the Young Labour I want to create and by engaging members through online videos, more debates, engagement with our trade unions and ensuring the country is covered by Young Labour groups we can work together to get Jeremy into number 10 in 2020.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorJasmin Beckett Archives
June 2017
Categories |