Hey everyone!! i hope you are all ok.
if you could just email me a photo of yourself and a small paragraph saying what you name is, how old you are and how you became interested in being a YC then that would be absolutely brilliant!!! at the moment it just looks like Laura and me are the only two youth councilers (see below!)

Leah they look like good discussion points - perhaps we could bring them up in next meeting if there is time - that way we could get other people's opinions and then relate them to what we would like to do in the youth council. It would be great if we could show people that we are taking issues in society and applying them to what we are carrying out or improving.

Anyway Happy Christmas to everyone. hope you get some lovely presents and have a happy new year :D (please don't forget about the pics :D)

Rachel xxxxx

Hey All :)

Wow... it really has been a while!..

Anyways, if anyone's up for a discussion, i think i've finally had some interesting ideas...

1. Discuss the pro's and con's of traditional, specific conservation and preservation.

• Is it always a good idea to focus mainly on one or two species that are particularly rare or endangered, if their needs are in conflict with those of more common but still vital species?
• Is the protection gained for wildlife from almost totally shutting out the public from a certain 'protected' area enough to balance the loss of public awareness of wildlife this generally causes?

2. If given the choice, would you choose to work out in the field or in an office based capacity?

3. Do you think the courses and lessons at your school or college directed wholly or partly towards raising wildlife awareness and understanding are currently sufficient?

There we go, that's all i've got for the moment... :) If you don't like any of the subjects then no need to bother giving an opinion on them... unless you want to voice a complaint about the way the question is put, or something like that... but any that you do feel are worthwhile topics of discussions, please feel free to fire away!

Peace Out Peoples,

Leah :D

Hi Guys can't make the next meeting such a shame :(

Hey everyone,

I go away early tomorrow morning, so just to say bye and hope that the next meeting goes well :)

I'll try to take loads of pictures and look forward to Stamner Park when I get back.

See you soon!

Ali x
d

Some money for something...

Does anyone have any ideas for a small project that we could apply for some money for?

vcashpoint - Round Six Open to Applications
Grants are awarded to young people in England, aged between 16 and 25, to set up exciting and creative voluntary projects that benefit their communities. The scheme has a total budget of £1 million available for distribution, with individual grants capped at £2,500.
Projects that involve young people in their organisation, planning and implementation will be supported. The funding can be used to design and undertake schemes that will benefit the applicant’s community and will have a positive impact in the long-term. The deadline for receipt of applications is 17 August 2009. http://www.vinspired.com/

Springwatch Photos

Finally...

I got round to posting on the blog! It's so long since I've been on that I almost forgot the password.

There are two things I think we should discuss on here. One was suggested by Leah ages ago - what are people's favourite places for taking photos round Sussex - the deadline for the photography competition is September so you should all be out trying to get some good pictures. I really like big open spaces and landscapes (but that's because my cameras not very good at doing small detailed photos). I also think it depends on how the light is more than what you'ree subject is.

The second thing is the votes from Springwatch - as those of you there might have guessed, the camping idea got the most with 55 votes, followed by the day in Stanmer park with 16 votes and lastly the bat wlak which got 13 votes. So, what do we do next? We'll be dicussing this at the next meeting so please come prepared with lots of ideas (bearing in mind that I only have about 6 more days of work before my contract ends and I'll be leaving :(

This means we're a bit limited, but I'm sure there's something you could do.

Anyhow, time for breakfast so ciao for now.
Sarah

I cann't open the agenda for tomorrow
so i don't know what we are doing!
Laura

Hi everyone

Does anyone know when the meeting starts on Sunday?

From Calum

Lunch or not...

Hi Laura
I won't be ordering lunch for you all so it depends - you can either have it before you come or bring some with you - your choice.
See you all sunday.
Sarah

next meeting

hi everyone
how r u
I was wondering if we needed to bring lunch to the next meeting
I hope u r all well
c u soon
Laura Hennessy

Weald and Downland Museum, Food and Farming Fair

Hi, me again! Just to let you know that tomorrow (Monday 4th May)I shall be sharing a stall with a friend (SMH Books) at the Food and Farming Fair at the Weald and Downland Museum, Singleton, West Sussex. I will be displaying and )hopefully!) selling some of my photos, hand made bookmarks and more, alongside my friend's second hand books and bestselling book 'REDBREAST; Robin in Life and Literature' which contains one of my photos. If anyone is in the area during the day why not pop in and say 'Hi!' - would be cool to see you.
cheerio
Sophie May xx

Spring watch

Hi everybody!
Just a couple of things, firstly as an amateur photographer I take loads of wildlife photos and I use some to make hand made greetings cards. What do you think about me bringing some along to springwatch to sell - all profits to swt of course! I can bring some examples to the next meeting if you think its a good idea. I mentioned this idea to Sarah and she suggested I put it to you all via the blog.
And secondly, further down the page was mentioned the idea of trips to places in Sussex and the possibility of the Weald and Downland museum. Well I volunteer at the stables there every friday and can highly recomend it as a good place to visit.
Finally, I have updated my blog after my holiday in Kent, so if anyone wants to see what I got up to and some of the photos I took do have a look - www.sophiecosussex.blogspot.com
Thats all for now
cheerio!
Sophie May xx

Hey Ho :)

That all sounds really exciting Sarah! I am sooo looking forward to our next meeting :)

Just one thing though... could you explain what a 'mini allotment ' is? I know what a regular sized allotment is, lol, I'm just not quite getting how you make a smaller version... and it does sound like a really interesting thing to try and do!

Also, I forgot to say before, I love your idea about having a plant identification thing at SpringWatch, Rachel! Maybe we could also have a talk about how we could make that happen at the next meeting?

One last thing, i had one other small idea for SpringWatch, partly inspired by something my mum said... we could maybe have another very simple questionnaire type thing, where all you have to do is tell us what you think you'd do if you were given the chance to manage a piece of land (on your own or as part of group) with no interference from outside authorities... hopefully we'd get quite a few entries with really good nature-related ideas, and not just "I'd build a football pitch", lol...

I'll shush now! Peace Out

Leah :)

Things to do...

Hey

Great to see you're all busy and chatting on the blog. I've been busy too and have got some things to ask you...

If you're all keen on Leah's idea about video-interviewing people at Springwatch, you needto come up with some ideas for thing you want to talk to them about - what are you going to be asking them about?

Also, Brighton and Hove Council are holding a mini allotment competition at Springwatch and they were asking whether any of you would like to enter - you just need to build one and bring it along on the day. Make it in a recycled container if possible.

We've been given a couple of jobs to do in preparation for Sprinwatch too so we're going to have a busy and creative next meeting. I'll email info to Melissa and she can put a rough agenda together and email it round you all.

That's all for now I think.
Sarah

Hey All :)

Thanks again Rachel :) I'd actually completely forgotten about that idea! lol

One other thing... I suddenly realized that there is one really awesome place to visit in Sussex that nobody has yet mentioned (this may be because you've all been there loads already though...)

But just to check, would any of you be interested in a visit to the Weald & Downs Museum?...

That's all for now

Peace Out, Leah :) 

it was me

hi everyone the post were it says about the ending was me and yes leah mi computter is really werid and changes things sorry;lol...yer it was me
from reniece

Oh yeah i see now :) Thank you!
was reading some of the older posts too and Leah your idea about having a workshop type thing is really good - i think it would definitely encourage more people to visit the stall. Like you say though, not sure how plausable it is. Maybe we could have a 'tracker' (not sure what they're called) down to one of our meetings so that we could go for one of our walks and take pictures of what is identified. Then at the stall, the visitors could look at pictures on display and guess what they are. Only a small idea, it doesn't need to go ahead at all - not sure how cost effective it would be - no tracker works for nothing i'm sure of that! hehe :)

still coming up with a few ideas for the logo - could anyone send me the logo you have already with the big Y (sure you know what i mean) if not no worries :)

see you soon,
Rachel xxx

Look into the paassst...

Thanks Rachel :)

Also, if you go down to the bottom of the page and click 'Older Posts' twice, and then go up again you should find a post from Sarah that explains everything you need to know about the photography competition :) It's better you do that than I explain it, cos I'd only get it all mixed up! lol

Peace Out... again

Leah :D

:)

Hi everyone, hope you are all ok - it was lovely to meet all of you and i thought the first meeting went very well :) Leah I think that is a really good idea (and those pics are fab too!) - definitely nice idea to have it on the blog too so other people can see what we've been up to!
Also, I think the mission statement sounds much better - thank you Sarah for readjusting it :)
have been trying to come up with a few ideas for the logo - will also try to maybe put the pics of them on here to see what you all think.
could you guys remind me about the photography competition as well - what is the closing date and what kind of pics do we need to take?

thanks very much
looking forward to meeting everyone again and everyone who couldn't make it :)
Rachel xxx

Hey Ali :)

Coool, I haven't been camping in ages and Derby sounds like a pretty fun place to do it! lol

Anyway, i don't really know a whole lot about camera's, so don't take my advice as completely foolproof... but i think if you want an uber-good camera that is also totally waterproof, then you might just want to go for an uber-good camera with a totally waterproof extra casing, which you can probably buy separately :) 

Our family digital camera is a Nikon CoolPix P6000, which is supposed to be one the smallest professional standard camera's around... you can't put any extra lenses on though, which makes it a little less appealing...

Anyway, thats all I can tell you for sure, lol :)

Peace Out

Leah :D

p.s.thanks for the translation! lol

Hi :)

Hi, glad to hear that the first meeting went well- sorry again for not being able to be there, but camping in Derby was great :)

Also, I was wondering if anyone could recommend a really good waterproof camera (as much optical zoom as possible!). I'm going to the Amazon in the summer (as some of you know) and really want a great camera to take some pictures! :)
Also I'm looking to buy a camcorder and haven't a clue what to look for (again best if waterproof), so if anyone could advise me, that would be great

Love Ali x
d

Oh, and I translated the wierd post as:
'I think that sounds really great sarah, especially the end bit where it says constantly making nature our main focus and embracing nature where ever possible. from Reniece'

hmmm... :)

Hi All :)

Thanks Sarah :) Glad you like the ideas, (neither were actually thought up by me though... lol) and i'd be happy to volunteer as a 'Watcher' for the next meeting. But we could actually have more than one if anyone else is interested in this role... then it wouldn't just be my opinion!

Anyway, the 'mission statement' is lookin pretty good and making a bit more sense :) lol. 

Only one thing i suddenly thought was whether it would sound better if it ended with "embracing nature at all times" or something similar, instead of "embracing nature wherever possible"... just because maybe it sounds a bit more positive... but if any of you think it's to major a change then forget about it!

Peace Out, Leah :)

p.s. Who sent the last post??? And is it supposed to look like that? ... Or is it just the computer going weird...? Ah well... it actually looks pretty cool that way! :)

sounds great

i think that sounds really great sarah,espically the end bit where it says constantly making nature our main focus and embrassing nature where ever possible.
from Reniece

Our Mission Statement

Me again

I've been trying to work out the Mission Statement we came up with on Saturday which can't have a semi colon where we put it! What we finished with on Saturday was:

‘Our aim is to connect young people with their local environment and with other like-minded people . We hope to inspire, educate and encourage each other and our peers through organising activities, events and projects;constantly making wildlife our main focus and embracing nature wherever possible.’

I've added 'peers' and modern technologies and moved some stuff around to come up with this:

‘Our aim is to connect young people with their local environment and with other like-minded people through organising activities, events and projects and using modern technologies. We hope to inspire, educate and encourage each other and our peers, constantly making wildlife our main focus and embracing nature wherever possible.’

What do you all think?
Sarah

Fantastic idea

Hey everyone

Just a quick post to say how much I enjoyed meeting you all on Saturday. I think we're going to get some fantastic things going and I'm really excited about being your Facilitator!

Leah, what a wonderful idea about filming people's opinions at Springwatch - we could put it all together using Windows Moviemaker and put it onto the SWT Youtube site: www.youtube.com/group/sussexwildlifetrust which we could link to through the blog.

I think this is just the sort of thing we need to be doing to get to reach more young people. Brilliant.

Also, I think the idea of a Watcher is good - I sort of do that in my role, but I think it's much better for one of you to do it - Leah would you like to volunteer for the next meeting?!

Hope you're all going to take some photos for the photography competition - don't forget there's a section for photos taken on mobile phones.

Ciao for now
Sarah

First meeting was AWESOME!!

Hey All :)

Just wanted to say thanks to all of you for making our first meeting so fun and productive!

Also, I've had a couple of new ideas suggested to me by a few unamed persons...

1) Another thing we could do at Spring Watch, if it wasn't too hard to arrange, would be to maybe make an interviews video type thing... like where a few of us go off walking around the tents and

 asking random people their opinions... and filming their responses... What do people think? :)

2) Another  one of the responsibilities could be something like a 'Watcher'... who watches the 'group dynamic' all through the meeting, (as well as participating themselves, of course) and at the end gives their opinion on whether we are listening to each other well... and stuff like that... not sure if we actually need a role like that though... Again, what do people think? 

I'll stop talking now :)

Peace Out, Leah 

Best pics from Woods Mill :)

Happy Easter all

Hello all,

Hope you have all been having a good Easter weekend. Just to say sorry I wont be with you on Saturday, look forward to getting together with you all soon. My family and I will be nature watching in Kent (and sussing out the Sussex Wildlife Trust's opposition! haha!). Meanwhile a photo I took a couple of weeks ago of the original Easter Bunny.

Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus)

See you all soon

Sophie May x

Hi everyone and welcome to new members!
Sorry I won't be able to make the first meeting, but lovely to talk on the blog :)

Ali x
d

Hi everyone!

Hi! My name is Rachel Taylor,
I can't really believe that I've been elected - I never thought I would get in but am thrilled that I am. I've been reading the blog and everyone sounds really friendly and interesting and I am really looking forward to meeting you all!
I wanted to join because of my love for the wildlife and environment and I'm also interested in photography and would love to travel to take pics of animals in their natural surroundings!
What does everyone else want to do when you're older?

See most of you on the 18th !

Rachel :)

Ofcourse!

Hi again All!

Good point Tim! I can't believe we hadn't thought of that yet! lol

Leah

Hi everyone it's Tim
just wanted to say for our next meeting could discuss how we're going to fund all the activity's for the next meeting.
p.s It's great to see all the new people using the blog.

hi

i'm so glad i got in
my school has gone mad there so glad someone got in

New Members!!

Hi Sophie May :)

I've just read your post, and you sound like a really interesting person and a valuable addition to what i hope will soon be a highly active and exciting Youth Council! (is the photo of you taking a photo, or someone else?) Pity you can't come to the first meeting, but ah well. Anyway I'm Leah, and as you might have gathered if you've read some of the earlier posts, i like to talk a lot! lol :)

Lovely to meet you in cyberspace.

And see you all soon :)

p.s. Sorry to hear you can't come to the next meeting either Ali, but anyway see you sometime soonish :D

Hello all!

Hi, I have just received my letter telling me that I have been elected to the Youth Council! I am so thrilled to be chosen and look forward to meeting you all!

My name is Sophie May Lewis, I am nearly 17 and am currently studying for a Level 3 National Diploma in Countryside Management. I live in Midhurst, West Sussex and am a keen Wildlife photographer, birdwatcher and nature enthusiast. I am Currently building myself a website: www.SophiEco.co.uk and have a blogspot at: www.sophiecosussex.blogspot.com

I cant wait to start getting involved with the Sussex Wildlife Trust Youth Council, However I am afraid I do have to make an apology (that's a good start isn't it?!) . I am due to go on holiday on the 18th of April; the date of the next meeting, so will be unable to attend. Sorry!! I will be staying near Dungeness, Kent for a week, so will be sure to visit some of the SWT reserves 'Kent counterparts' whilst I am there.

I wish you all the best for the next meeting and hope to see you all soon, Sophie May xx

???

Just a few quick questions...

Can anyone tell me about a few places that they find are really inspiring and good for taking photo's? And, are we going to have another group photo for the blog taken at our next meeting?

Thanks, thats all, Leah :)

Sussex Wildlife Trust Photography Competition

I'm sure some of you will have some winning photos for this:

What's Your View - Sussex Wildife Trust Photography Competition

Time to get out your cameras and camera phones out and show us your favourite, inspiring and valued wild places of Sussex. Will it be the rolling downland, dramatic seascapes, hedgehogs in your local park or frogspawn in a school pond?

We want you to know What’s Your View.

Enter your images of wild places, animals, plants and people and they could be featured on the Sussex Wildlife Trust website or magazine. The winner of each category will receive £40 and the overall winner £75 in prize money.


Categories
1.People and Wild Places - 16 and Over Category - Under 16 Category
2.The Wild Side of Town - 16 and Over Category - Under 16 Category
3.Get Connected - View from the phone - 16 and Over Category - Under 16 Category

You can enter up to three images in each category.

Prizes will be awarded in each category for under 16s and 16 and over. There will also be an overall winner. All winners will be presented with their prize by Chris Packham at the Trust AGM on October 31st in Hassocks West Sussex. Winning photos will be featured on the SWT website, and the overall winning image in Sussex Wildlife Trust's Wildlife magazine.

You can enter via post or online at Flickr, the photo-sharing website, http://www.flickr.com/groups/whatsyourview/

For full terms and conditions please see the Sussex Wildlife Trust’s website.
www.sussexwt.org.uk/misc/page00006.htm

So go out and get shooting.
Sarah

A couple of things...

Greetings fellow bloggers ;)
First of all, when you post can you please put your name at the end so we know which one of us it is.
Secondly, I've given the login details to all our new Youth Councillors so hopefully some of them may be posting soon.
Thirdly, you all need to help me plan the next meeting which will be a full day session. Is there anything which you think should be included in the plan for the day? Ahy particular guests? (we have a few options - I was thinking it'd be nice to have Tony Whitbread who is the Chief Executive come along and speak to us, but there's also Ann Mudd from the People and Wildlife Committee (who we need to write a report to) or Henri Brocklebank who is Head of Living Landscapes, although maybe we should leave Living Landscapes until a second meeting.

Timothy and Leah, don't worry too much about missing the last meeting. It was an important one, but everyone forgets things sometimes. Just make sure you're at the next one which will be even more exciting!

Hope you're all enjoying this wonderful weather now that Spring is finally here. Has anyone seen anything special? I've seen lots of bumblebees which is great, and some beautiful purple violets on the dowons when I was out walking on Sunday before our meeting.

I'll be in touch soon.
Sarah

Who is coming to the next meeting?I can't wait can you!!

We have elected 15 new members to join us for our meetings and we look forward to meeting them!

Hi it's Tim
sorry for missing the meeting on sunday it was really rude of me but i'm going to have to ask if you can send me the minutes of the meting?
thats all really sorry again:(.

Just one other thing...

Oh yes... just one other thing, Sarah said that you'd also been talking about what to do about Calum. I think i agree with Ali that we should try and ask him to come back one more time! Maybe we could all send him something together, asking what's going on with him and why he decided not to come anymore...

Thats all for now, i promise! lol

Leah :)

Hello All :)

Ok first things first i have to immediately and deeply apologise for completely forgetting about our really important Sunday meeting:( It was really stupid and careless of me, and I'm kicking myself very hard now cos i was so looking forward to helping! :( I really hope all you guys didn't mind too much... and thank you for getting everything done anyway :) lol

And i promise to really make sure i remember about all future meetings, and also make sure i can attend if at all possible. :)

I just called Sarah up a few minutes ago, when i realised I'd forgotten, and apologised to her loads, and she told me about your meeting and it sounds like it went really well! :)

I really look forward to meeting all the new council members you chose, and i love the idea of a camping weekend or something similar! I LOVE camping... and it would also be such a great way to get to know each other and make plans/exchange ideas. :)

I had one other thought for if we decided to prepare a stall for this Spring Watch thing... it's true that it would probably be better to have a stall that wasn't just leaflets and photos, so how about as well as an opinion poll type thing, and whatever else we came up with too, maybe some kind of simple workshop type thing, with someone teaching how to mimic bird calls... or recognise hoof prints or signs of burrowing, that sort of thing. :) i don't know if it could actually work, cos we'd need to find someone to actually teach, but it might be a good idea to help with extending the range of people who'd get interested!

Could that work? Is it too hard to arrange?

Anyway, apart from that... Oh yes! Ali, Sarah mentioned something about wanting one or some of us to prepare a presentation type thing for the new members, about the wildlife trust or the youth council (not sure which she meant!). I just wanted to say I'd be happy to help with something like that :) ... but if you wanted to do it by yourself or with someone else, no worries :) lol

Peace Out and see you all soonish!

Leah :)

p.s. Soz for writing such a long entry again. :( hope no one minds! lol

Outdoor Adventure Week

Hey

I've just read about this: Outdoor Adventure Week, 16-23 May 2009. It's a national initiative which I think we should try and get involved with. Maybe we could organise something for the Youth Council as a 'try out' for a bigger similar event in the summer holidays. Please come to the meeting at the weekend with lots of ideas as I'm getting a list of events which we could possibly take part in.

We have quite a few more applications for the elections now, but will still have time at the weekend to discuss other things - Leah I think your idea for discussion is great and I can tell you about my experiences since not specializing!

Hope you're all enjoying this fabulous weather - it's so lovely to see the landscape changing as plants spring up and new leaves take bud. It almost makes it worth having winter!

See you all on Saturday.

Sarah

Hey All... Again! :)

Wow Sarah! That Neville the Toad story is so sweet :) thanks for posting it, that definitely helps me to understand what this Living Landscapes thing means to the Wildlife Trust! I totally agree, if just all do a bit of brainstorming sometime soon I'm sure it would be really easy to come up with some great connections between that project and ours! :)

The Spring Watch thing sounds great, but what exactly will it entail? lol

The Schools Heritage and Environment Festival sounds like an amazing opportunity as well, in many ways. :)

I've been trying to think of some good ideas for activities to include anyone who is interested at any of these events we could be going to, but i haven't had much luck so far! lol

Only one little idea, kind of inspired by Neville the Toad, what about just asking people what is the very first thing they think of when the imagine the wild world, and they could express their thoughts as a poem, or a short story, or a single word, or a noise, or a picture! That sort of thing :) lol

I thought maybe it would be a good starting point, and might run well alongside some more physical, action-orientated activities! :) I know it's been done before, but maybe it could work again! lol

Anyway, enough twittering! lol

Peace Out to All :)

Leah

p.s. just had a thought... what does everybody think about the idea of having a little discussion at some point about specialisation in the wildlife arena, and what it can lead to!?!?! :)

I really am done now, lol

Summer Events

Hey guys

I've recently heard about two events going on this summer that I think we should attend with a stall/display/activity or something:
- Spring Watch, 7th June, Stanmer Park
- The Schools Heritage and Environment Festival, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 16th, 17th and 18th June, Moulscomb Primary School

It would be a good opportunity to get some interest and maybe add names to a mailing list for when we start organising trips and events.

Maybe you could all have a think about what kind of thing we could do there.

Will email soon with a rough agenda for Sat 22nd - let me know if there's anything you would like to be discussed at the meeting and I'll add it to the agenda.

Thanks
Sarah

Living Landscapes

I know I keep going on about the Living Landscapes, but I think it's something we could really do something with.

Neville the Toad explains it quite nicely...

Neville lives under an old shed in a garden and eats moths. The gardener likes Neville and sometimes throws him a worm. But Neville’s lonely. Sometimes he wonders if he’s the last of his kind.

When his grandfather was alive there use to be thousands of toads, hopping across the meadows to breed in spring time. Making the nearby lane into a big new road stopped that. Then a new housing estate filled in the main pond.

Bit by bit the woods and meadows where the toads lived and spawned disappeared and Neville was cut off. But one day men came to build a special toad tunnel under the new road. One of the farmers dug a new pond to store water for his fields.

Local school children helped plant a hedgerow to shelter small animals. People built ponds in their gardens in the new housing estate. For the first time in his life, Neville found he could wander and meet other toads. Soon there were more toads in the neighbourhood. And other wildlife too.

People and wildlife found they could live side by side after all.

Living Landscapes is basically about joining our landscapes up by creating habitat wherever we can (gardens, school grounds, verges, hedges etc) and making it possible for animals and people to live in the same place. Do any of you have any ideas for a project we could do to get this message and some actions across to young people in Sussex?

Sarah

:)

Wow, a bearded lizard is cool :) I love all reptiles- I really wanted a corn snake last year!

One of my friends was really interested in applying, but was put off by the fact it had to be for 2 years- hopefully she will though, so I won't be the oldest xD

Ali x
d

Righty Ho!

Leah Here!

Ok Tim, thats a very good reason you can't bring him along, lol :) no worries!

You could maybe bring a photo though, if Jeffrey (Great name, by the way!) doesn't mind :)

Bummer about the computer Sarah! I really hope it's sorted soon!

Anyway, just to let you know, i'm planning to help liven up the blog a little soon with some new photo's... just as soon as i've taken them, lol :)

Peace Out

It's Tim again
answering your question Leah I would love to bring Jeffrey, did I say I called him Jeffrey but anyway he's cold blooded and the habistat (specially made heating machine) is in his Vivarium, so I can only really have him out for about an hour at maximum :(. But I can tell you were he comes from, it's Australia. He lives in desert like places so you can imagine in his habitat he would be very warm.

p.s So sorry to hear that you can't star your laptop Sarah.

What to do?

My laptop is boken. Which is why I haven't been in touch for ages. Or it feels like ages anyway.
Leah, in answer to your question, the only way we can have an idea of how well the elections are going is by the number of applications that I've received. The total so far is five! Not great, but I don't know what else to do. Information has been sent to ALL schools in Sussex, 7 home education groups, more than 20 Youth Forum/Youth Centre contacts, over 2000 letters have been sent to WATCH members, it's on the SWT website, and the marketing team are doing a great job of sending out press releases. I'm hoping that over the following three weeks the applications will come flooding in, but in the meantime if any of you can think of anywhere else we could advertise please let me know!
I'm currently trying to work out what's wrong with my computer. There's an internet cafe round the corner from my house, luckily. But if I don't post for another couple of days, you know why :)

Sarah

Awesome!

Wow!!!! That sounds like one of the most interesting animal friends i've every heard of!! lol :)

Is there any chance of you bringing him (or her) to a meeting? No worries if you'd rather not!

What country do they originate from? :)

Peace Out :)

Leah

New pet

it's Tim speaking
guess what, it was my birthday on the 24 Feb and I got something I really wanted for ages, a bearded dragon (lizard) :).
its really easy to feed him he only eats mill worms, crickets, veg and water.
I've got a special vivarium for him and a special container for the crickets.
I got to see him gobble down some mill worms which was really cool.

Heyo Again All :)
I just though of something and i wanted to ask you straight away Sarah...
Is there any way of checking how well the advertisments for Council members is going? is there any kind of database or something?
No worries if not i just wanted to check! :)
Thanks, and I'll be posting again soon with something more interesting to say! lol
Peace Out
Leah xx

p.s. i just remembered that i forgot to congratulate Ali when she said ages ago that she's going to be going to the Amazon Rainforest! I think it's an absolutely amazing opportunity and lucky you, well done and good luck! :)

?

I'm a bit confused about the living landscapes thing- Did I miss something in an old post? :/
Ali x

Spring in the air! ♥

Got loads of daffodils and crocuses near school and my garden :)
Very pretty ♥

d

What we can do...

I got confused by the last comment, but thought I should explain. I put the link to the Barnados campaign there because in our first meeting when we were brainstorming ideas about the aims of the youth council one of you said 'To change attitudes towards young people'. By you all being involved in the Wildlife Trust, organising events for young people etc and being seen in the public eye (newspapers, magazines) doing this we can help create a positive image of youth in Sussex.
On a different note, what beautiful spring weather we're having at the moment. I've seen crocuses and snowdrops in flower and it feels like spring is on its way. Have any of you seen any signs of new spring growth?

Sarah

Wow Sarah that's great that you found that sight for disorderly children
I was looking at the hyperlink and I'm so amazed at what those people do.
its a great idea and really is a problem in the UK.

It's almost Spring

On this lovely spring - like day I think having 'Springtime' as the theme for our first meeting with the new Youth Council is a great idea. It fits really nicely with Wildlife Gardening and Living Landscapes too as it's a time when so much is happening in terms of Wildlife. There's a really big garden at our new house and a big kitchen window which looks out on it which I'm very happy about - I've already put some feed out for the birds and am going to do some more work this week over half term. We have an injured fox which hangs out on top of the shed and he was sun bathing at the weekend. I'l try and post a picture sometime when my camera is fixed.
Leia I agree with you on Living Landscapes - the idea is still a bit fluffy in my own head so I'm not very good at explaining it. I've asked Laura Brook who is a Conservation Officer at the WIldlife Trust to come to our first meeting. She knows loads about conservation in Sussex but also about the new Wildlife Gardening Project and Living Landscapes.
Thanks to you all for putting so much work into displaying the posters - that's really great, and Ali, well done in gaining a place on the BSES expedition.
Leia - I understand what you mean about the name, I was just seeing it from someone elses point of view after talking to Henri about it.
Sure I'll have more to add later.
Sarah

Believe in Children

Hey hey hey

Great to see the dicussion here growing - I'll be posting again later about a couple of things, but just wanted to add a link: http://www.barnardos.org.uk/what_we_do/children_in_trouble_campaign.htm
It's some info about a campaign by Barnados to try and make people believe in children and to stop demonising them - thought you might be interested as this is something we discussed at our first meeting - how the Youth Council could help address this.

Will write again soon.
Sarah

hi everyone its Tim
I'm going to put one of those posters in the library at school and persuade the headteacher to put it in some more places at school.
I'm also going to get it in the public library if possible and at my older brothers school st Andrews.
It's great that you are getting loads of the posters in your school Hope it goes well every one seeya.

I'm Back! :)

Heyo all :)

Hope your all doing great! I've been in Brighton for a while and haven't been checking the blog so i missed some stuff... but ah well. :)

Well done Sarah for actually surviving moving to a new home through all the crazy (but lovely) whiteness!

And Happy Birthday (soon) Ali! :)

I reckon the Living Landscapes project would be a great thing to discuss for a bit, especially for me as there are a few things i don't really understand about it...

And i definitely agree with you that it would be good to get it out of peoples heads that gardening and that are old people things! I love gardening... and knitting, and embroidery and the list goes on!

On the subject of the name though, personally i think that what we all came up with was pretty perfect. I liked it particularly because it wasn't just an explanatory sentence, but it seemed it would really catch the eye and the interest, causing people to want to find out more. But thats just me! :)

Also, i love the idea of a Springtime theme for our first meeting Ali! It's simple and always an extremely engrossing and uplifting subject! 

And it's awesome of you to do so much to distribute the posters Ali :)

I'm going to put one in my local library and give one to my Home-Ed friend in Brighton... and i'll think of some other spots :)

Thanks for everything, everybody, your all awesome and i'm really happy to be part of this council! :)

Peace out :)

Leia

:)

Hi :)
Just about posters you gave us- I've had them photocopied at my school and they are going in the communication sheet after half-term- its an email that goes round the whole school :)
I'll also be able to put it up on boards and stuff and take it to the lower school bit

Ali x
d

post from Tim

hi peeps its Tim sorry for not being on for a while iv lost my library book and i have been looking for it non stop but thats still no excuse to not be on for a while. iv been looking at the posts and all the ideas are really good espacially the logo from Leah maybe whith the Y you can hav leaves coming of it to make it a tree.

p.s Thanks Sarah for the advertisements you sent us im sure looooooooooooads of people will be interested.

GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi, I think for a theme, maybe something relate to springtime- you know- new growth and looking forward to stuff :)

Some great news too! I think I told you about the BSES Expedition to the Amazon, Peru that I applied for? Well, I had an interview and they accepted me!!!!! :)
Will be going mid-July to mid-August this year and I am so excited :)

Ali x
d

p.s. sorry fir any typos- my cat is sleeping on me :)

Busy bee

Greetings all
Apologies for not posting for so long - I was busy moving house in the snow, and then had problems with the internet at our new place.
Ali - I hope your exams all went fine - you must be happy now they're all finished.
Leah - thanks for all your work on the name and logo. I was chatting to Henri in the kitchen about it at lunchtime and she wasn't sure about it - it made me see that without an explanation it might confuse people. What do you all feel about putting it on hold until we have our new members and then trying again to come up with something? It seems a shame to settle on something that's not perfect for the sake of having a name. I don't know what the rest of you think about this though?
I was also, like Leah, thinking about a topic for discussion here and couldn't get past Living Landscapes because I think that is a really interesting idea and something which I think the Youth Council could be involved in promoting. Sussex Wildlife Trust is probably going to use Wildlife Gardening as a way to promote the Living Landscape and I wondered what you all thought about getting involved in that. How could we involve young people in it - gardening has the unfortunate stigma of being an old persons activity.
Also, do any of you have any ideas of a theme for our first meeting with the new members? There are some Council members and Trust staff who would be keen to attend as guest speakers if we wanted them to.
Ciao for now
Sarah

xD

Yeah that's really great Leah :)
I'll be 17 this month (27th!), so if there is a later date for the environmental thing, I will look into it :)

Ali x
d

Wow

Leah, it's great. The colours and the layout make me see how it will work as a logo. I'll have a play around with the O this week o in Photoshop and see what I can do. We'll definitely have to get it onto the main bit of the blog when it's finished so that our name becomes familiar with people.

Well done girl!

How's this look?

Wow! that sounds like such an amazing course to be part of! And my best friend/next-door-neighbor just turned 17 today so i'll definitely tell her about it! :)

Anyway, I've been playing around on Word (it the only thing i really know how to use properly, lol) and i wanted to see what you all though of this as a first draft logo?

There is still space in the O for an owl! I really loved the owl idea, so unless anyone is really against it, i need some help as i have no idea how to put an owl in an O, lol. And I tried drawing an owl in, but it kept turning into a pig/sheep! :) So could someone draw a really beautiful owly because i just don't think i'm up to it, lol. Also if people still want a hedgehog-dot you can sort that out, i did really like that idea to, i just didn't know how to do that either! :)

Peace Out

Leah :)

A great opportunity

Sadly, none of the current Youth Council members are in the right age group for this, but maybe you know people who are. It sounds great.

Green Programme for young people
Circle of Life Rediscovery are running a Youth Training Programme from 17 to 21 year
olds interested in the environment. The programme consists of 2 weekends starting at
the end of January 2009 near Hastings and one four day camping module. Participants
will learn wilderness and nature awareness skills, develop qualities of leadership, be
introduced to different world views and learn about the natural world. This programme
offers the John Muir Award at Explorer level. There are concessionary and free places.
Date: 23rd January 2009 – 25th January 2009/ 6th March 2009 – 8th March 2009/ 11th May 2009
– 15th May 2009
Venue: Pestalozzi International Village, East Sussex
Further
Information:
For more information please visit: www.circleofliferediscovery.com or contact Marina
Robb on 01273-814226 or 07966514469.

Maybe an organisation we can link with somehow, or use to recruit some members?!

Sarah

Idea!

I Just thought of another place we could arrange a visit to when we get to that point! :)

What does everyone think of a trip to Kew Gardens? Yes? No?

Leah

Heathrow...

We had another very productive meeting at the weekend and are ready to start recruiting for the elections now. I'm going to try and find out how to put info about them on here as a separate bit rather than in a post.
Leah also mentioned the new plans for Heathrow - the Government has approved the development of a 3rd runway and 6th terminal at Heathrow.Heathrow is not in Sussex, but this is something which could affect us all and there is a petition and a very useful website here: http://www.stopheathrowexpansion.com/
On a more positive note, an article about us was published in the Wildlife magazine in January and as a result the West Sussex County Times are interested in hearing more about what we're doing.

Keep up the hard work
Sarah

...........

It was AS-level Chemistry :) It went alright, but some wierd questions!- Had Critical Thinking and Biology too- think Biology went OK and Critical hard anyway :(
Fingers crossed anyway :)
Heathrow's not in Sussex, but there's probably a petition or something?
At home today- inset day YAY! Nice breakl after exams :)

Look forward to seeing you all tomorrow!
Ali x
d

Heathrow!! Aaahh!! Noooo!!

Me again :) I'm sure everyone has already seen something about this one way or another but i wanted to post about it on here anyway as it seems to me to be at least a little bit connected to protecting wildlife!

Good ol' Gordon Brown has decided to approve the construction of a 5th (or 6th, not sure which) terminal and a 3rd runway (i think thats right, correct me if my facts are wrong, lol) for Heathrow. Apparently, for this to go ahead, a whole little village will have to be brought down! :( and also, presumably, all the surrounding wild places! :(

Is the wildlife trust thinking of joining in with the campaigns against this in some way? Is Heathrow technically in Sussex?

What do people think on the subject?

Leah :)

What's going on tomorrow?

Heya everyone! :)

Just asking what kinda time we'll be meeting tomorrow and for how long, if it's still on? 

And also checking whether there's any emails i've missed for some reason (my email goes a bit weird sometimes! lol).

How did your AS-Level Chemistry go, Ali?

See you Saturday! :)

Leah  

Awww, your dogs are so sweet :) I love dogs, but not allowed one :(
Ahhhh, my Chemistry AS-Level tomorrow!!!!
Hope it goes OK ^^
Ali x
d

Hey Sarah and Ali :)

Wonderful to here you both had a great end-of-year time! :)

And i really love your cat Ali, she's really beautiful and the name Marble is great!

And i also like 'Wild Inspire'! It's much more catchy and easy to remember :)

See you all even sooner :)

Leah :D

p.s. Our canine friends say hi to Marble (don't worry they don't chase cats!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR
Let's hope it will bring lots of wonderful and exciting things for all of us.
It's really nice to see that you're still using the blog to chat. Must admit I've been a bit lazy - I've had a very relaxing christmas holiday and haven't been doing any of the things I should have been!
Leah, you've got some great ideas for names. I especially like 'Young Hands, Minds & Hearts, Inspired by Sussex' but it's a bit long for a name, more of a tag line. Shame though because it just about encompasses everything that I feel we are about. Or what about another of your suggestions, shortened to 'Wild Inspired'?
I'll be in work tomorrow so will probably be in touch with you when I'm in work mode and have worked out what I need to say.
Speak soon.
Sarah

NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Yeah, it was me, Ali- sorry, I was writing it just quickly

A Christmas message from my cat, Marble :)

(sorry if its a little late)

Ali x

d

Heyo :)

Is that you Ali? Sorry, I wasn't sure cos you didn't put a name :)

And no worries, that was my least favourite one anyway! I agree with you, it isn't the best idea to be giving that kind of persona to this group, my bad.

Well done and Good luck with revising! :) i know it can be really tough sometimes (or all the time... for me anyway lol)

See you all soon in 2009!

Leah :)