NORTH Yorkshire members of the UK Youth Parliament are preparing for a new wave of campaigning.

Three 16-year-olds from the region, Matt Christodoulou from Selby, Max Dalton from Richmond and Liam Cutler from Northallerton, travelled to Leeds and joined 250 counterparts from across the country at a meeting to discuss future legislation and campaigns.

They met John Bercow MP, the Speaker of the House of Commons, and Tim Loughton, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Children and Families, as well as MP Natascha Engel, who chairs the backbench business committee, to debate current issues affecting young people.

Campaigns currently being developed by the North Yorkshire Youth Council include providing more first-aid training for young people, a card to raise awareness of the difficulties young carers face, healthy eating and better access to affordable transport.

“Being a youth councillor is a really good way of making your voice heard,” said Max.

“People think young people are not interested in politics, but those who attended the UK Youth Parliament were really passionate about the issues they face.”

Coun Arthur Barker, North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for youth services, said: “These young people really do make a difference to the communities in which they live, they do great work in North Yorkshire and we should be proud of them.”