The Highlands Youth Convener
Youth Convener
Gillian Slider is the full time Youth Convenor, the first of its kind in Scotland and is based in the Youth Development Team of Education, Culture and Sport. Gillian is a key representative of young people in Highland at various committee, staff and youth meetings.
Though She is only 18, Gillian has had a relatively long career in politics, living in the Highlands all her life, originally from Ullapool she has been actively involved in Highland Youth Voice, her local youth forum and laterly she is a Director of the Scottish Youth Parliament.
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Over the last 7 Months Gillian has helped organise run and attend the Highland Youth Voice meetings and conferences.
Gillian have become a member with full voting rights in the Education, Culture and Sport committee and also Joint Committee for Children and Young People. She has attended Ward Forums, Full Council meetings and even been to Orkney with the Scottish Youth Parliament.
Gillian has worked with Highland Children’s Forum, been to 3 UK youth parliament residential and even interviewed Fiona Hislop the Education and Lifelong Learning Minister. She spoke at the women at work seminar and was told she was inspirational. She also attended the National Conversation on Scotland’s future without nuclear weapons and has now been invited on to the Scottish Government working group.
In November Gillian helped run a training session on Youth participation at the Association for the Directors of Education and spoke at the Brooke AGM, the Sexual Health Advisory service. She was keynote speaker along with John Loughton, the chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, at the Make Waste History Summit and was down in Paisley for World Aids Day and then Manchester with the Ullapool and District Youth Group researching a youth bus project.
Already in 2008, Gillian has been in the Scotsman Magazine being interviewed about Green fatigue, has run an information stall on Highland Youth Voice at a fresher fair in Inverness high School and continued to attend ECS and JCCYP meetings along with her work with the lifestyle questionnaire.
Gillian has met with Angus Council, launched the Aberdeen Youth Manifesto and even attended the Equality forum. She has organised the first meeting the SNO patrol and is setting up regular meetings with Hugh Fraser the Director of Education.
In the past week she has been working in Edinburgh, Stornoway and even Oxford. She is extremely busy but as she says “loving it!”
Gillian isn’t ready to start slowing down yet and has much planned. She hopes to get around all high schools and youth forums in the highlands, consult with young people and make sure decision makers are listening. She has been selected from 5000 applicants from 120+ countries to go to the World Youth Congress in Canada in August, being Scotland’s sole representative on the CIVICUS Youth Assembly international steering group will mean she will be attending that in June and she has also just been selected to be part of the Scotland group working with young people from Malawi to help set up a youth parliament over there.
Gillian Slider
Youth Convener
e-mail: gillian.slider@highland.gov.uk
Education Culture & Sport, Highland Council
The Attic, Glenurquhart Road
Inverness IV3 5NX
Tel: O1463 711884
Fax: 01463 711177