Toggle menu

D&G Youth Council

An organisation with 35 young people elected from across Dumfries & Galloway to represent the voices and experiences of young people aged 12-25 to decision makers.

Events Icon

Dumfries & Galloway Youth Council (DGYC)

What is it?

DGYC is a youth organisation, supported by D&G Council's Youth Work Service, made up of 35 young people from across Dumfries and Galloway. 

  • Each area has 2 Ward Youth Councillors who are responsible for working with young people through schools, colleges and youth groups to find out what young people think and want to see in their community. They then work alongside local decision makers to try and make their local community better places for young people.
  • There's also 7 Nominated Youth Councillors who are responsible for working with young people across the region who have a minority identity. There is a Nominated Youth Councillor for each of the following groups; Young Carers, Care Experienced, Young Parents, Additional Support Needs & Disabilities, LGBT+ Identity, Ethnic Minority, Gypsy / Travellers.
  • Finally, there's 4 Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) who are responsible for representing Dumfries and Galloway on a national level, they work with MSPs and other young people across Scotland. 

What do they do?

The Youth Council is made up of volunteers who want to make their communities better places for young people. Decisions are made all the time that affect young people, and our goal is to make sure any decisions made about young people, or the services they use, include young people before making those decisions. 

Once per year the Youth Council meets with all of the Elected Members that run Dumfries and Galloway Council to talk about the issues affecting young people, and come up with ideas for how things can be different. 

The Youth Council is responsible for speaking up for young people, and raising awareness of the issues faced by young people - from transport to mental health services, education to school meals, youth services to accessibility. 

How can I get involved?

Members of the Youth Council (including MSYPs) volunteer for a couple of hours each week. If you are interested in volunteering and getting involved in DGYC, you can complete this expression of interest form and we'll get in touch if a vacancy or opportunity comes up in your area. 

The next elections for the DGYC will happen in November 2023, but if there is a vacancy before the end of this term, we'll hold a by-election to elect a new representative. 

Who is on the Youth Council?

There's a full list of who is on DGYC on this page here.

I want to ask the Youth Council something / find out what they are doing on an issue in my area, how do I contact them?

The full list of who is on DGYC and their e-mail addresses are on this page here if you want to contact someone individually. If you want to have action taken or something spoken about by the whole Youth Council, then you can submit a topic for discussion at a DGYC meeting on this form here. 

Who Runs It?

The Youth Council is led by the young people involved in it and it is supported by Dumfries and Galloway Council's Youth Work Service. Youth Workers work alongside young people to put together agenda's, training and events, however the how, who, what, and why is 100% up to the Youth Council to decide.

Each year the Youth Council elects 6 members to be on the Leadership Group (1 to represent each locality area i.e. Wigtownshire, Stewartry, Nithsdale and Annandale, 1 to represent the Nominated Youth Councillors, and 1 to represent the MSYPs). The Chairperson is Elli Wadsworth, and the Vice-Chairperson is Cameron Greer.

Contact Us 

You can get in touch with D&G Youth Council by: 

 

More information can be found on this webpage if you want to know more!