HI my name is Rebecca Ross. I have recently been elected as the Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYP) for the Clydebank constituency.

The Scottish Youth Parliament is the democratically parliament of young people, representing young people aged 11-25 in Scotland. 

West Dunbartonshire’s Scottish Youth Parliament election ran from January 17-31 and I am very thankful that I was elected as the new MSYP for Clydebank.

An MSYP is elected by young people, for young people. 

The role of a MSYP is to take the young people’s from their constituency’s thoughts and concerns and make sure they are heard by the Scottish Youth Parliament.

During my term as an MSYP I hope to better the lives of young people in Clydebank. I will work to have the voices of young people heard. 

In my manifesto I expressed that I want to focus on poverty, income inequality, education and youth work. I chose these areas as I feel like they affect young people in West Dunbartonshire the most and were also the issues I was hearing young people in Clydebank were concerned about.

Last year myself and other young people conducted a consultation.

In the consultation the main concerns of young people were substance misuse, education, economy and jobs. Taking in this information I will put together plans on ways I could tackle these problems.

I am currently working with the Pupil Parliament within my school to get well-being stations brought into schools.

These well-being stations will be accessible to anyone and will include a variety of things like wipes, deodorant, spare underwear and stationary.

In regards to any questions or issues surrounding the Clydebank constituency, please don’t hesitate to contact me on the below platforms. I hope to update you all in my next column with the work I’ve been doing in my first few months as Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament!

Email - @rebecca.ross.msyp@sypmail.org.uk

Twitter - @b3ccz