ON the evening of Monday, January 30, Caithness Youth Forum members attended Wick Youth Club's AGM.
For most of us it was the first time going to an AGM, which made it quite exciting! The meeting got under way at 7pm and, as any meeting starts, names of all attending and apologies were written down, and then a briefing of the evening's agenda was given. We then went through the agenda item by item and then it came to appointing the new office bearers.
Voted on as chair was Louis Mackinnon. Andrew Sinclair was nominated as vice-chair and agreed to take on the post. Josey Donachie was nominated as treasurer and agreed, while Peter Dymond was nominated to take on the job of secretary which he agreed to.
Then the meeting moved on to the new committee and the two allocated spaces for voting members which may only be taken up by 16 to 25-year-olds. These were taken by Alexander MacLeod and Donnchadh Pellow.
Following on from that the rest of the new committee was appointed - these spaces may be taken up by anyone over the age of 16.
The new members appointed were Gillian Campbell, Connor Loughlin, John Coghill, Matthew Heaton, Tanya Howden, Cameron Reid. Maria Matheison, Arlene Steven and Karen Bremner were also appointed, and are parents of junior club members.
Owen Matheison will attend committee meetings as a junior member and express views on behalf of younger club members but, as he is under 16, he will not have voting rights. Niall Smith, who was the previous chair, will continue to attend committee meetings as an adviser and we hope to liaise with him about continuing projects he started and seeing them through.
Also at the AGM were Tom Briscoe, the manager of the youth club, and Keith Moncur, who is the youth development officer for the Wick High catchment area and responsible for monitoring the club. One of our youth forum members, Tomi Baikie, will attend the committees meetings as an observer and has offered to help maintain the club's website. It's still a work in progress, but keep an eye on www.wickyouthclub.com for news about what's going on at the club, and blogs by the committee and staff.
AFTER the new committee was formed, the meeting drew to a close and the date of the first meeting of the committee was arranged. It will be on Monday, February 20, and everyone is welcome to come along and suggest anything which could be added to the youth club.
We are looking forward to working with The JAM Club and other user groups, and we plan on extending features and activities for teenagers. The new committee is a historic moment for Wick Youth Club as 12 of the 15 members are young people!
Wick now has a youth club run by young people, for young people, which is brilliant! This will also help us change the perception that people have of young people in Caithness, as we are a group of young people doing good in the community. We all look forward to working with everyone in the committee and aim to try and get more young people like ourselves to use the club on a more regular basis as it's not used enough by people our age. Caithness Youth Forum has reached another high point!
If you're a young person looking for something to do in the evening there is going to be a series of "Fusion" nights coming up very soon. Get your dancing gear on for a Battle of the Bands and DJ Duel at Wick Youth Club on Thursday, February 23, from 7pm to 11pm.
If you're in a band wanting to make a name for yourself, or a DJ who thinks he's the next David Guetta, you could be in with a chance of winning a paid gig the following month - £50 for the DJ and £150 for the best band.
The money is paid in vouchers of your choice. Drop Keith an e-mail if you're up for it at keith.moncur@highlifehighland.com And the best bit is it's free to get in!
Alexander MacLeod
