Want to be the next Youth Mayor?

Southend Youth Council is looking for a new Southend Youth Mayor and Deputy Youth Mayor to represent the views of the town's younger residents in 2012.

The Youth Council is primarily aimed at young people between the ages of 13 and 19 - although members as young as 11 have been accepted in the past.

Meetings of the Youth Council, chaired by the Youth Mayor, are held in the Civic Centre on the first Wednesday of every month at 5pm.

To be eligible to run for Youth Mayor or Deputy you must be a member of the Youth Council by Friday 4th November - so if you wish to be considered you are urged to join as soon as possible.

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council's Executive Councillor for Children and Learning, Councillor Mark Flewitt, said: "We are very proud of the Youth Council.

"It has grown in stature considerably in recent years and is helping to ensure that the voice of young people in the town is being heard loud and clear.

"But even though it is thriving we must strive to ensure it provides a platform for young people from every corner of Southend's diverse population.

"We want young people from every area of the borough on the Youth Council, not just the affluent ones, but from every ethnic, faith, gender and disability group as well."

The 2011 Youth Mayor Jake Inwood and his Deputy Brontea Boulton launched a campaign aimed at giving all Southend schoolchildren access to CitizenCards.

CitizenCards are free personal identification and proof of age cards which double up as discount cards for many major national and some local retailers.

The newly installed beach volleyball equipment on Western Esplanade was provided courtesy of a successful Youth Council bid to the Fix-It fund.

The 2010 Youth Mayor Adam Connolly and his Deputy Alex Bright scored a major victory for Southend's young people with their successful campaign to persuade bus operator Arriva to increase the age at which it started charging adult fares.

Alex has since continued his career in politics and is currently working for Southend East and Rochford MP James Duddridge MP.

Members of the Youth Council have been regular visitors to Parliament and British Youth Council conventions and its UK Youth Parliament representative attended the 2011 annual UK Youth Parliament in Leeds.

For more details on the work of the Youth Council and the Youth Mayor and Deputy elections contact youthmayor@southend.gov.uk