Follow us on Facebook says community council!

Fiona Howard • Published 4 Feb 2010 11:16 0 Comments

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HELENSBURGH young people are to be encouraged to become Facebook "fans" of Helensburgh Community Council.

In an attempt to boost their credibility with the town's youth, the community council is to set up its own Facebook page where young people can engage with the council and perhaps be encouraged to get involved.

The decision to take the community council into the realm of social networking came as a result of discussions on ways in which the council can connect with pupils at Hermitage Academy.

Kirsteen Fraser, who was attending the meeting to talk to the council about the new Youth Action Group, suggested that Bebo might be a better medium to use but the council decided to dip their virtual toe in through Facebook before venturing into Bebo.

During her talk Kirsteen, whose father Ian is a community council member, told the council that her proposal for the youth action group had attracted a lot of interest among young people in the town although they heard that none had actually attended the inaugural meeting.

This was, however, attended by a number of Burgh folk keen to help set up the action group and help to establish a cafe meeting place for the town's younger community.

Kirsteen said that while Helensburgh has over 200 clubs and organisations many of them are not welcoming for young people, some only meet in the summer or in the winter and not all year round, and that there is nothing for the young people to do during the school holidays.

She said that what the young people want more than anything is a drop-in cafe where they can meet, relax and mix with their peers.

They also want that to be used as a venue for careers information, advice, demonstrations and other inspirational talks.

They are concerned too about unemployment, about the lack of jobs locally, about a lack of information and help with sexual health and mental health issues especially given the number of their fellows who have committed suicide in recent years.

One of the councillors enquired about groups like Backchat and Streetlinks but was told that for many young people these have a territorial feel being based in Churchill or Kirkmichael and what they want is a youth hub in the town centre that everyone can feel a part of.

Kirsteen told the council that the group had been looking for premises in Helensburgh but the only place big enough for their proposed youth hub carried an annual rent of £50,000 and was well out of their reach.

It was suggested that perhaps one of the existing cafes might be prepared to open up in the evenings for young people but Kirsteen said that even Costa had only recently banned young people for a while because they weren't buying enough coffee.

Council member John Tacchi recalled that when he was young there was nothing at all for young people and pointed out that the town's rugby club has 200 young people in its membership and makes their facilities available to many local groups.

Sheila Wilson remarked that everyone has individual ideas about what should be provided for them and that the youth action group needed a strong core group to be able to drive it in the right direction.

Kirsteen was promised support for her projectby the community council and by Argyll and Bute councillor, Councillor James Robb who advised that they focus on their priorities and then seek help to drive them forward.

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