Here at Redbridge Youth Council we volunteered time out of our busy summer holiday to give local young people a chance to voice their opinion on today’s pressing issues that youths are constantly confronted with.

We’ve been out to multiple locations around Redbridge and gathered votes from people aged 11-18.

The MYM issues consist of; mental health, end period poverty, votes at 16, put an end to knife crime, a curriculum to prepare us for life, support youth services, equal pay for equal work, let’s tackle homelessness, transport and welcome refugees.

This is every young person’s chance to make one of these issues our national campaign. MYM is important because a lot of young people in other countries aren’t as fortunate as us and are deprived of expressing their opinions, whereas we are given the chance to have a say so we should grab the opportunity.

The ballots will be coming to all Redbridge schools or you can vote online at ukyouthparliament.org.uk/makeyourmark until October 10.

The Young Cabinet was elected in May.

A recent visit to the House of Commons allowed us to get to know each other better. It involved an exclusive tour around the building, an exhibition on Women’s Place in Parliament and a video on the history of Parliament.

Following the trip two members attended the initial meeting of the London Youth Assembly. It was great to see the beginning of a new forum bringing all the London boroughs together to work for better outcomes for young Londoners.