A SURVEY of young people’s experiences in Wotton-under-Edge was completed as part of a new youth project.

The Wott-ON project aims to give young people living in the town the opportunity to improve their community.

The survey asked questions about young people's experiences of life in Wotton-under-Edge and invited them to come up with ideas to improve life in the town.

More than 200 people between the ages of 11 and 21 took part in the survey, which was run as a competition sponsored by Goose & Gander Ltd, Nibley Festival, Wotton Electric Picture House and Treats UK sweetshop.

The results show that the majority of young people in the area feel that Wotton is a safe place to live where they are treated fairly both by their peers and by older members of the community.

However, the results also reveal a widespread feeling that young people are not playing as active a role in community life as they would like.

A large majority of the respondents said that they did not feel they had a say in local decisions that affected them and were keen for that to change.

Wotton Youth Forum, a partner organisation of this project, has welcomed the initial outcomes from the survey.

Member of the local youth forum group Jess Fisher commented: “Wott-ON is an excellent project and compliments what we are already doing to get young voices heard on the issues that affect us.

“Enabling young people to have a greater say in decision making not only changes negative perceptions, but is vital for a positive future in rural towns like Wotton under Edge”.

The competition was a prize draw for young people who took part in the survey. By completing the survey they were automatically entered into the draw and had the chance to win four prizes: a pair of tickets to Nibley Festival 2015, a pair of tickets to Wotton Electric Picture House, a £25 gift voucher from Goose & Gander Ltd and a £10 voucher from Treats UK sweetshop.

Wott-ON has been made possible thanks to a Gloucestershire Community Foundation Main Grant and support from Renishaw’s Charity Committee, Stroud District Youth Council’s Youth Activities Fund and local social enterprise, Fizzypig Ltd. It is being run in partnership with a range of local youth and sporting groups, schools, churches and the members of Wotton Youth Forum.

Any local young person aged between 11 and 21 is invited to get involved in Wott-ON.

To find out more about the project or to get involved, please visit www.wott-on.org or drop in to an information session at the Town Hall, Wotton-under-Edge between 3 and 6pm on Friday, November 7.