CYC & TheSprout Meet Jon House
Jon House runs Cardiff County Council. He is the main man and the boss of over 18,000 people in Cardiff. He’s the second biggest employer in Wales and last month the Cardiff Youth Council and theSprout got to meet him (again).
We discussed a few main issues with him the first of which was structure. We spoke to Mr House about the new area forums (which you can get involved in!) in Cardiff and how they fit into the structure of the Cardiff Youth Council and how that itself fits into the larger structure, finally running into Funky Dragon. We wanted to speak to the decision-makers within the council so we could really influence the decisions made within it. Jon kindly (and efficiently) gave us a quick overview of the Cardiff County Council structure and gave us a few names to add to our hit list. We plan on speaking to these people, so we can get to know them.
Jon also invited us (and indeed any Cardiff citizen who would like to) to sit in on various meetings as the majority are apparently open to the public. The things you learn when you speak to the main man, eh? This means you can always be kept in the loop on what decisions are being made, as you can be there when they are!
The next point we wanted to talk about was relationships. We discussed the possibility of CYC getting in contact with the private sector of Cardiff (like, private organisations like John Lewis or M&S, and stuffs like that). Monsieur House thought it an excellent idea and told us how some private organisations, and indeed the Council themselves, send staff into primary schools to help literacy levels. He told us that private organisations are always keen to get in contact with young people, as it not only allows them to give something back to the community, but it also makes them look fantastic! So we will be looking into the possibility of talking to the private sector as well as the voluntary sector (now called the Third sector) whom we have already made contact with! Bonus points!
Our third point was communication. We then discussed something which I’m sure will be of interest to all of you: the use of social media within the council! We discussed the purpose of social media (such as Facebook and Twitter) with the society of young people. Jon confessed that his knowledge of social media wasn’t the greatest due to it not being “of his generation”. He did however call upon his trusty P.A. Sarah who informed us that Cardiff Council has a Twitter account (@cardiffcouncil) and have various pages for different aspects of the council, such as Bute Park and Winter Wonderland.
Jon was, however, aware that there was a gap in the use of social media and said he would help us out with a solution. Since we talked to him about this, CYC has contacted ProMo-Cymru about a becoming a pilot project for social media within Cardiff and we’re hoping to make communication easier for everyone! Go us!
So as you can see it was a fairly productive meeting and it was a pleasure to see Mr Jon House again. We hope to see him again if we’re lucky and we’ve been told his next Sprout article shall be coming in the next few weeks so keep your eyes peeled!
Info » World, Europe, UK & Wales » Politics
IMAGE: The Pagoda in the Docks by alex drennan
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1 Comment – Postiwch sylw
Tyezer
Rhoddwyd sylw 4 mis yn ôl - 19th January 2012 - 21:45pm
Great article. So good to see someone doing something so positive for us in Cardiff.
Also, I love the picture- is County Hall in the middle of a moat?