Furness College has signed up to a national charter that will help empower more young people to become active citizens.
The college, which has campuses at Channelside and Rating Lane in Barrow, is one of the first in Furness to adopt the Power of Youth Charter, which was developed in response to the #iwill and #iwillambassadors campaigns.
The charter, backed by the Association of Colleges, is a step forward to making social action the norm for young people across the UK.
Assistant principal for curriculum Sue Hannan said: “The Power of Youth Charter believes that all children and young people should be empowered to make a positive difference on the issues that affect their lives, their communities and broader society.
“This is our public commitment to take meaningful action.”
Under the charter, the college pledges to prioritise supporting young people to take social action, open up decision-making structures, work collaboratively with other organisations, show the benefits of youth social action and recognise and celebrate young people’s impact.
Pledges include recruiting a student liaison officer to support and facilitate student-led action, engaging with student representatives at governance level, working with the college’s Student Union, facilitating the National Citizen Service scheme and contributing to local initiatives such as #BrilliantBarrow through representation on the board to reflect the voice of young people locally.
Sue said: “While we already do many of the things in the charter as a matter of course, this is a formal framework to ensure our college continues to make a positive difference and instil long-lasting change within our communities.
“We will be looking to reward good practise with a young volunteer of the year prize for a student who goes above and beyond.”
