Celebrating Young People’s Achievement

I attended the annual presentation evening for Kirklees Young People’s Service at Batley Town Hall this evening. The title ‘Celebrating Young People’s Achievement’ was chosen because the aim was for young people to not only be presented with accreditation and certificates for their success but also to give them the opportunity to present, perform and showcase their talents and achievement.

 We enjoyed  dance, music, presentations and drama from a sample of YPS projects. It was great to celebrate and be proud of our young people, the vast majority of whom do
many  good things which are scarcely recognised. The media always seem ready to highlight the bad behaviour of a tiny majority as if it is typical of all young people.

The high point of the evening for me was a drama by the Yorkshire Mixtures (LGBT) young people’s group. They depicted how homophobic bullying drove a boy to attempt suicide. It was a moving and thought provoking drama.

It was also great to meet a sporting legend, Robbie Paul, the rugby league legend. He spoke about his time in Batley, coaching boys from Wilton and Fieldhead not knowing they were rival estates. Both groups got on extremely well. He also told us what he thinks are the four important qualities that are required to excel in any field. The first letter of each spell CRAP.

Rugby legend Robbie Paul with the Batley West councillors