‘I feel really inspired by these guys’, says councillor

COUNCILLOR Suzy Horton, inset, who supports the youth representatives, said: ‘I feel really inspired by these guys.

‘We did our best to have a robust campaign and they came through it.

‘They’ve been really tasked with a challenge around all the Covid stuff. What they’ve achieved so far has been really valuable.

‘Any experience in politics, you will realise there are barriers and I hope that they will learn from them.’

Council participation officer Adam Murphy works with Cllr Horton to enable the young people to do their work.

He said: ‘Naturally I’m an extreme advocate for it. As a city, there are many more stakeholders in terms of the future of the city.

‘It’s been so important to understand what the priorities are for young people.’

Beyond their work with the youth parliament, the future is bright for the three young women.

Soon Destiny will be stepping down from her role to pursue a university education.

She said she is ‘definitely excited’ to be studying law and Spanish, while

Ella plans to do a degree in wildlife ecology and conservation.

University is still a long way off for Willow, but like

Destiny, she is interested in studying law and is keen to ‘change the future’.

Willow is set to serve as deputy MYP for two years, but this could change as her colleagues head off to university.

She said: ‘I can decide whether I want to become MYP myself - but that’s far in the future.’

Cllr Horton added that the work of the MYPs should change the perception some have of young people in the city, as it demonstrates the character and ability of the majority of Portsmouth’s youth.

She said: ‘I genuinely think we’ll be hearing a lot more youth voices moving forward.

‘I hear all the time that people don’t think they can make a difference - but these guys have realised already that they can.’