New youth mayor Megan Stone elected

A new youth mayor and deputy youth mayor of Bridgend Youth Council have been elected.

Following an online election, the new youth mayor for Bridgend is Megan Stone from Coleg Cymunedol Y Dderwen and the new youth deputy mayor is Tino Kaseke from Archbishop McGrath High School.

Megan who is also the UK Youth MP for Bridgend said: “In these difficult times I hope to help the youth of Bridgend to bring some normality back to their lives. I plan to bring the youth’s voice forward to the council and act on my main priorities – sustainability for the future, education on democracy and UK Politics, and tackling youth violence in Bridgend through educational prevention.”

Tino said his three main priorities for the term involve youth mental health awareness, bringing an end to racial injustice through education, and LGBTQ+ rights.

He said: “People don’t understand how much of an impact that they can have on other people so we should leave a positive impact on each other.”

Designed to give young people in Bridgend county borough a voice and help them to have their say on local issues, the youth council is a separate organisation to Bridgend County Borough Council. Set up and run by local young people with support from the local authority, it features a mayor, cabinet members and a number of youth councillors.

Bridgend County Borough Council mayor Stuart Baldwin said: “Congratulations to both our new youth mayor and deputy youth mayor.

“It’s encouraging to see young people take an active interest in local democracy and contributing to their local communities in this way.”

For more details on the youth council, its work or information on how to join email youthcouncil@bridgend.gov.uk