MEMBERS of Stroud District Youth Council (SDYC) have been presented with awards to mark the length of time they have served.

Retiring chairperson Rebecca Hunt highlighted the youth council’s achievements over the previous 12 months at their recent annual general meeting.

These include creating a new Youth Voice website and raising awareness of mental health issues through ongoing discussions with local health commissioners and practitioners.

She also highlighted members’ involvement in local and national campaigns such as gender equality and the availability of free sanitary products for those in poverty.

Stroud District Council’s leader Cllr Doina Cornell, who attended the meeting to make the presentations, said: “It’s always a pleasure to hear about the work of young people as active citizens and the achievements of Stroud District Youth Council this year are just that.

“Young people’s involvement in local democracy is hugely important to the future of our society and as a district council we must acknowledge this through our support for this type of youth engagement.”

Rebecca Hunt was succeeded by George Adamson, who will chair the youth council for the next 12 months.

George is the voting representative from Berkeley Vale Youth Forum and will be supported by Amy Jones, a voting representative from Katharine Lady Berkeley School (KLB).

Jonty Fuller, also a voting representative from KLB was elected as SDYC leader.

Guest speaker Robin Ellis-Cockroft gave a presentation to the group about his experiences since he chaired the youth council from 2010-2012.

This included involvement in Stroud’s Access Bike Project and Our World project having spent time at university and doing development work overseas.