The #1 newspaper for young people, by young people in Somerset

@SomersetYPNews Somerset Young Peoples Newspaper

March 2013

Give young people a say in the future of town

Young people in Radstock should be more engaged in decisions that affect them as well as the wider community, says a report by the Radstock Youth Partnership (RYP).
The document calls for a radical overhaul in youth engagement, in order for the town to be sustainable as a stronger community. They feel this is something which is important for everyone in the Radstock area due to increased tensions between different aspects of the community. Young people to be more involved in activities in the town, and many would like to feel more safe when out in the town. A lack of transport after 5pm is also a contributing factor, it says. In a poll conducted by the RYP, 71% of young people feel unsafe in parts of Radstock (Page 4)

Britain now has the second highest youth unemployment rate in Europe. Tell us how you would solve this crisis in you were the Chancellor for a chance to win 50 in Amazon vouchers Page 9

140,000 to be given to youth groups in Somerset

Somersets UK Youth Parliament Advisory Group will be awarding grants of up to 10,000 to youth clubs and services in Somerset as part of the Youth & Community Group Grant scheme from Somerset County Council. The scheme is designed to help communities adapt to changes in the way the council funds its youth services in light of pressures on the budge, with the intention of towns and parishes delivering their own youth work. Since previous funding rounds, the amount that groups can apply for has doubled from the original 5,000 set out when the YCGG was created in August 2011.
Also, changes in criteria have allowed groups which have previously received funding to reapply for contingency funds and the amount that can be spent on youth club building themselves has risen from 30% to 50% of the total bid application. SCC Cabinet member for Children & Young People said "I welcome the increased flexibility in the criteria, and the fact that groups can now apply more than once. Locally led youth work is invaluable right across the county. For more information about YCGGs visit the Somerset Youth website www.somersetyouth.org.uk.

I Am The Change
The NUS is looking for young people who have want to make a small difference to where they live. If thats you head to Page 7.

#lessons4life campaign launched by UKYP

A Curriculum to prepare us for life is this years campaign from the UK Youth Parliament. Find out more on Page 10.

Volunteering opportunities
Could you give up a few hours a month to support Tauntons new youth caf? Page 12.

Polls open for UK Youth Parliament elections

Those aged 11-18 are eligible to vote for their Members of Youth Parliament in Somerset
Young people will have the opportunity to elect their local Member of Youth Parliament (MYP) and Deputy (DMYP) from the 18th - 22nd February.
Voting will take place in schools, colleges and youth clubs who have signed up to hold elections. There are four constituencies in Somerset; Sedgmoor, Mendip, South Somerset and Taunton Deane & West Somerset. There are a maximum of four candidates contesting each seat. Ballots will be accompanied by manifesto booklets, outlining each candidates ideas in 300 words, pitching the reasons why you should vote for them. Of the four candidates in each area, the one with the most votes will go on to be the MYP and whichever gets the second highest number of votes takes the role of DMYP. MYPs and Deputies will work alongside others across the South West and the UK, through regional events and the Annual Sitting which will be held in Leeds this year. In addition, in November there will be the 5th UKYP House of Commons debate. The term of office lasts for 2 years and if an MYP were to resign, the DMYP would take their place and the candidate who came 3rd in the election would become the Deputy. Should a DMYP resign, the same process would take place. Results of the election will be announced on the 7th March at County Hall, Taunton. About UKYP UK Youth Parliament was set up in 1998 in order to promote the voice and representation of young people aged 11-18. As such, it is the only body that represents the views of young people in a national democratic forum. As a charity, its entirely free of party politics; meaning all Members of Youth Parliament are independent and only represent the views of their constituents. Thus, MYPs are not allowed to publicly endorse any UK political party. You can follow Youth Parliament on Twitter @ukyp or visit: www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk.

Order, order, the youth parliament is now in session: MYPs debate in the 4th annual UKYP House of Commons debate.

Education minister Michael Gove backtracks on plans to reform GCSE system

Proposed reforms to the exam system have been shelved by the government.
Controversial plans to change the way 16 year olds are examined at the end of secondary education have been dropped, but Gove still intends on pushing on with reforms.
Previously, the government had intended to introduce a new English Baccalaureate Certificate (EBC) or Ebacc, a much tougher exam, sat at the end of two years and with a single exam board for each subject. This had caused tensions in the cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg had openly opposed such a change to the exam system which he said was unfair to less academic students. Subjects such as Art were left out of the EBC, leading to strong criticism from the National Union of Teachers and other education bodies. Speaking in the Commons, Mr Gove said: "Last September we outlined plans to change GCSE qualifications and address grade inflation, dumbing
In October, SYPN said that Gove was set to change the GCSEs in England.

Editors foreword
I think it is fair to say that the last few weeks have been reasonably positive and certainly progressive for young people as well as the wider community. On the 24th January, MPs voted in favour of lowering the voting age to 16, 119 to 46, a solid majority. The motion was put forward by a Bristol MP, Stephen Williams; it even had the support of my editor at the Wells Journal who replied to an article I wrote in his own column: they say 50 is the new 40. I say 16 is the new 18. The campaign for equal marriage for gay people also received a huge boost with a clear passage through the Commons; though it is not a law just yet. Sam FoulderHughes wrote a great article about this on page 14. Closer to home, UK Youth Parliament also got underway, a great opportunity for you to have your say on youth issues (more about this after the 7th). Anyway, thank you for reading, have a happy February. Jake Pitt, Editor @jakepitt_ Former Conservative minister, Stephen Dorrell MP, said that most 17- and 18-year-olds are perfectly able to see that line of argument for what it is. The textbook, which is written by respected historian Michael Lynch, is popular in schools the Department for Education has said it isnt on the syllabus.

down and loss of rigour in those examinations. We have consulted on those proposals and there is now a consensus that the system needs to change. "But one of the proposals I put forward was a bridge too far." Read more about the reaction to the Ebbactrack and what this means for young people on Page

History textbook Eurosceptic, says MPs

joined the European Economic Community, with as few as 5 lines detailing arguments in favour. The book also says that "the British people were never given the full story, kept in the dark and they were constantly told there were no political implications attaching to Britain's joining; that it was purely an economic arrangement, going on to describe it as a deception. Julian Huppert, Lib Dem MP for Cambridge, described the book as deeply worrying.

An A-level history textbook has been described as over-bias and Eurosceptic by a group of MPs.
Hodder Educations Britain 1945 2007 contained 26 lines with reasons why Britain shouldnt have

Radstock Youth Partnership calls on council to better engage with youth service
(cont. Page 1) with a further 84% of girls saying that they avoid going out alone when it is dark, a barrier to being engaged in positive activities. However, 69% of those surveyed said that they would like to be involved in activities, as long as they are tailored to what young people want. Having faced funding cuts from Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) Council, which have severely delayed the opening of services. Despite this, the Radstock Youth Hub has worked with around 170 young people. This is a substantial increase from 2007, when just 64 young people attended the club. The RYP attribute this success to better prepared programmes and asking the young people what they want from the Hub. Radstock councillor Eleanor Jackson told her fellow B&NES councillors there are a lot of unexceptional children, who haven't had any problems, but it only takes a divorce to tip a family into darkness. There has really been an awful lot of substantial achievements. We hope you are going to further support this work. The Radstock Youth Partnership was formed three years ago to manage the affects of cuts in funding available for youth services across the area. It has representatives of different communities who work with the youth hub in order to sustain provision. The RYP is non-political, but received a grant of 15,000 from the new Lib Dem administration in 2011 to develop activities for the towns youth services and activities in order to support their social and economic needs. Support for the Hub has come from church leaders of different denominations, B&NES and Radstock town councillors in addition to Will Bridge, Member of Youth Parliament for North East Somerset.

North Somerset Council taken to High Court over cuts to youth services
Planned savings of 72% to the youth budget could be overturned by a High Court appeal.
The High Court have granted an appeal by a young person with learning disabilities over cuts to a provision for disabled young people in Weston-super-Mare.
Aaron Hunt, 21, from Banwell, used to attend the Escape Club for young people aged 11-24 with disabilities and has been campaigning for over a year to overturn the council cuts to youth services. Last July, Mr Justice Wyn Williams dismissed his suit against the council, despite u-turns in cuts to youth services having taken place in Derbyshire in June of last year. However, last month David Wolfe QC of Public Interest Lawyers managed to convince Londons Civil Appeals Court that the case should be re-examined. This means that Mr Hunt will be able to continue his battle to save services in North Somerset

Public sector union, UNISON, is campaigning against the cuts

his battle to save services in North Somerset. Somerset Young Peoples Newspaper has submitted a Freedom of Information request about the cost of legal fees for the council. A spokesperson for Public Interest Lawyers said in a statement that: The reconfiguration of his club left Mr Hunt feeling confused and isolated and the uncertainty

MPs makes history by supporting votes at 16

Backbench motion to enfranchise 16 year olds passed
The campaign to give 1.5 million 16 and 17 year olds in England and Wales the right to vote has been given a huge boost by a successful motion by Stephen Williams, MP for Bristol West.
MPs vote 119 to 46 in favour of the motion, which was supported by the Liberal Democrats, Labour, SNP and some Conservative backbenchers. Mr Williams said that votes at 16 was an issue which was a "vital step in the renewal of Britain's democracy" and would help to engage more young people in the political system. However, the result is not binding on the government as it is a backbench motion which can only express the support of MPs for particular issues. A spokesperson for Number 10 said that the Prime Minister has no plans whatsoever to lower the voting age and said they would prefer to focus on increasing voter turnout. The Votes at 16 Coalition, run by the British Youth Council, described the vote by Parliament as a very positive step. It reflects the boost to the cause from the momentous decision on the Scottish independence referendum, and a growing momentum towards recognising that 16 is the right age to become a full member of our political community. Williams has now started drafting legislation for the bill.

about the clubs long term sustainability has been the source of considerable upset. The Councils decision has already had profound effects across the whole of North Somerset with six youth groups already confirmed as having closed or being due to close. Surviving youth groups face a period of uncertainty as the Council provides only a limited funding grant. The proposals prompted an angry response from Weston-super-Mare town councillor, Tony Probert. Writing in the Weston Mercury, Cllr Probert said: "I am absolutely disgusted at the latest sickening cuts policy of North Somerset District Council who has decided to withdraw the sum of 250,000 from an earmarked budget for the establishment of a youth network across the county. He called on district councillors to take a cut in their allowances - which total around 750,000 a year - in order to finance the extra 250,000 for services. However, Mr Hunts appeal will be heard by Lord Justice Toulson who believes that the council may not have conducted their consultation process properly. The case will now be heard before three Appeal Court judges.

A history of Votes at 16
1999 Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes proposes an amendment to the Representation of the People Bill that would give 16 year olds the vote. It was defeated 434 to 36. 2003 Matthew Green MP puts forward an Early Day Motion (a motion to raise an issue in the House of Commons) to mark the creation of the Votes at 16 coalition.
The Conservative Peer, Lord Lucas,

introduces a Private Members Bill, the Voting Age (Reduction to 16) Bill. Passed in the Lords, but not put to Commons. 2005 Stephen Williams MP introduces a Private Members Bill to give 16 year old suffrage, which is narrowly defeated 136 to 128. 2008 Young people aged 16 and 17 can now vote in Jersey and Austria. 2013 Stephen Williams successfully passed a motion supporting votes at 16 with a majority of 73.

Students, lazy? Not at all, they're changing lives.

It's a running joke with my mates how long I was involved in scouting. But without it, there is no way I would have had the confidence to get involved in community work, join my students' union, and eventually run for president of National Union of Students.
I didn't think of the work we scouts did in the community to restore green spaces and coach young people as "campaigning" or "activism", but that's exactly what it was. Volunteering is all about giving back and helping to create confident citizens and no better examples can be found than the student volunteers we are highlighting during Student Volunteering Week 2013. To me, volunteering and campaigning actually overlap. Sometimes people start volunteering in a soup kitchen and end up being the most informed policy advocates around issues such as poverty and hunger, becoming integral to a campaign. I think that this is the approach today's student volunteers should take. While you have time to do so, seize the opportunity to contribute the full working day of employment is not so kind.

by Liam Burns
President, National Union of Students

the most inspiring group of people in the country. If you don't believe me, then allow me to illustrate with some of the finalists shortlisted for Student Volunteer of the Year award. Anna Ray has led an English conversation and support class for refugees and asylum seekers in Leeds for the past three years (oh, and did I mention she's also a medical student). She tells me: "I spend a lot of my life with asylum seekers and refugees now at English class, at my house, at their homes. "It's just life. Nothing I can put on my CV. But it's all because, when you volunteer, when you really see and connect with others, they change you, and you can't say no." Thomas Holt has devoted 166 hours in the past two years to working as a telephone counsellor to over 400 children for Childline. He also mentors a little boy and is a scout leader. "People often ask why I do what I do," he says, "and how I can get up in the morning knowing I have 12 hours of children's activities to plan and run along with assignments and uni work. The truth is, I enjoy every second of it." Our finalists may have been singled out for recognition, but there is more going on, all the time, that people don't know about. The time students spend volunteering often goes unsung and unnoticed.

Students from De Montfort University learn to knit at a social event for older people (c) guardian.co.uk/students

This week, the NUS, Student Hubs and Barclays are celebrating the achievements of student volunteers. There are more than 5,000 students involved in over 300 events around the country that contradict the stereotypes of students as being self-centred and disengaged. Actually they're helping local communities, contributing positively to campuses, and even travelling abroad to help. I've been incredibly lucky as NUS president over thepast two years to represent what I consider to be

Students Eats, for example, brings universities and communities together to grow locally sustainable produce. Schemes such as Green Impact promote energy save and greener work practices. And thousands of students and students' unions raised money for Children in Need last year. Thomas and Anna are right: volunteering is a human story. It's about connecting with people in a real, tangible way. You can see the difference you are making. It's something in which I passionately believe. Because it's actually not overly idealistic or zealously liberal to believe you can make that

I Am The Change is a campaign by the National Union of Students designed to encourage college and university students to make a positive difference in their communities, no matter how big or small. This change could be about education, the community, the environment, personal development, health and wellbeing, society, careers or politics. It can take place in a college campus, or in the wider community and can be done by individuals or groups of students. Last year, I Am The Change was won by Courtney Giles who wanted to save Epsom Phab, an inclusive club in South West London for physically disabled or able-bodied children, which faced closure by local council. Epsom Phab volunteers and users received bespoke training from NUS and funding to help them deliver their campaign. Theyve already secured an extra year in their current premises from Surrey County Council, and will continue to use the skills and experience theyve gained to fight for the clubs future. Voting will then take place on the NUS website, with the most popular receiving training and a campaign budget to help deliver their campaign. For more information, and to apply visit www.nus.org.uk/en/campaigns/i-am-the-change/

Courtney Giles: I am the change saving Epsom Phab

Last year, the NUS helped Courtney Giles, from Warwick University, to save the Epsom Phab youth centre in Surrey from closure. The concluding Council review meeting on Thursday 22 November saw a remarkable number of local sixth formers present and argue their final case for Epsom Phab. They won. The Council has relented and will now fund a new building. Through six months of lobbying and campaigning Courtney, NUS and Epsom Phab secured an extra year in their current premises from Surrey County Council. However Courtney and her mother Julia, a supervisor at the Phab, would not give up. Their perseverance resulted in the agreement for their final victorious meeting at the end of last year. Courtney said "after students submitted their proposals for change, people could vote on them online. My change got 5,000 votes. Its been an absolutely amazing opportunity - its helped Phab and more widely it shows you can make a difference even if you think its for something small".

No-pay placements branded as slave labour after appeal

Huge blow to the Department for Work & Pensions back to work scheme after ruling
The government has been left in a state of disarray after the High Court has ruled that its work experience scheme for young people out of work it unlawful.
The scheme forced unemployed to carry out unpaid work experience, or risk losing benefits. University graduate Cait Reilly (right) was made to give up her internship at a museum in order to take a placement at Poundland. She can now claim back money lost from the government. Public Interest Lawyers, who represented Miss Reilly, said: The result is that over the past two years the Government has unlawfully required tens of thousands of unemployed people to work without pay and unlawfully stripped thousands more of their subsistence benefits. Employment minister Mark Hoban said he was disappointed and surprised at the court's decision on the regulations. New legislation was expected to be brought in which would strengthen the back to work programme.

so-called welfare revolution is in a state of advanced chaos. Cait Reilly said in an interview with the Guardian newspaper she refuted accusations that she was a job snob and that working at the discount store prevented her from finding sustainable employment or doing volunteer work. In a statement, she said: I hope the government will now take this opportunity to rethink its strategy and do something which actually builds on young unemployed peoples' skills and tackles the issue of what causes such long-term unemployment. I agree we need to get people back to work but the best way of doing that is by helping them, not punishing them. The government is expected to rethink its strategy on work placement schemes.

Court ruling a victory for common sense

Liam Byrne, shadow work and pensions minister, added his voice to the criticism. "It beggars belief that David Cameron's Government is now so incompetent it can't even organise work experience. "Work experience is crucial in helping many young people get ready for work. Two years in, David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith's

Thinking about going to uni? This might help...

National Student Survey (NSS) is published, revealing university rankings for 2013

University

NSS (%)

6 7

University College London Durham Lancaster Bath Exeter Loughborough Surrey

80.7 78.4 78.4 75.8 75.3 74.6 73.5

1 2 3 4 5

Cambridge Oxford London School of Economics St. Andrews Warwick

100.0 94.4 93.9 86.1 82.1

7 9 10 11 12

Britain has the second highest youth unemployment rate in Europe. (first is Spain, third is Greece)
What would you do to solve youth unemployment?
Enter our competition and you could win 50 in Amazon vouchers. To apply, tell us what you think the government should be doing to reduce the levels of young people not in education, employment or training. You could present your ideas in a variety of ways:

Essay (up to 600 words) Video (no longer than 2 minutes) A4-size Poster/leaflet Any other medium - speak to us for clearance

Send us your entry via email to youthunemployment@sypn.org. Entries will be shortlisted by the SYPN journalist team. They will then be published on the SYPN website, and a public vote will determine which entry would best the best solution to youth unemployment. You might want to consider in your

If Labour were in power, they would create a system where all young people are guaranteed a job, funded by a tax on banks. In government, the Conservative Party is creating a 1 bn youth contract to incentivise businesses to take on young people The Liberal Democrats want to increase apprenticeships for 18-24 year olds.

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UK Youth Parliament launches #lessons4life campaign

A curriculum to prepare us for life is chosen as UKYPs main priority in House of Commons
In November, 154 of 295 MYPs voted to support the motion a curriculum to prepare us for life, a nd no w th e U K Yo u th Parliament is calling on politicians of all parties to support the pledge.
The campaign says that the national curriculum should be radically overhauled through a youth-led review that helps develop young peoples political knowledge, better SRE (sex and relationship education), cultural awareness, community cohesion, finance skills and sustainable living. Young people can get involved in the debate by tweeting using the hashtag #lessons4life, contacting MPs and writing to the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove saying why the government should introduce aspects of the curriculum which better prepare young people for the real world. The Labour leader Ed Miliband (left), pledged his full support for the curriculum for life campaign whilst on a trip to Sandwell College in the West Midlands.
Ed Miliband, with shadow Education Minister Stephen Twigg MP and Jugan Kaur Sahota MYP

In an article in the Wells Journal and Somerset Standard, Jake Pitt, editor of SYPN and Member of Youth Parliament for Mendip said that young people need to be taught life skills in schools.

Young people need to know the basics - how to write a CV and how to do well in a job interview - in order to be successful be full participants in their communities. In response, 73 MPs [at the time of printing] have signed an Early Day Motion in support of the campaign and pressure is now being put on the Education Secretary Michael Gove to include subjects such as political education in his reforms to the GCSE and A-level exams system in England.

To get involved in the campaign visit www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/ curriculum

Young people tell Gove to invest in youth services

Youth charities and organisations representing 8 million young people condemn Education Minister for comments describing youth policy as not a national priority to Education select committee.
In an open letter to the Education Minister, Michael Gove, 15 youth organisations have called on the Department for Education to put greater resources into youth policy. This comes after Gove said to the Education select committee that he felt that youth policy should be the responsibility of local, rather than central, government. In a survey carried out by the organisations, 92% of young people said that government ministers do not care or show very little that they care about young people. The letter described Goves comments as alarming, adding that the thinking could put the future of young people in the UK at risk. We agree that all sections of society need to work together to support young people to achieve, but for this to happen we need the government to recognise the importance of youth services, the letter said. Removing responsibility from central government would be hugely damaging to both the quality and quantity of youth support on offer. It added that, although schools are important, many young people benefit from learning outside formal education settings. We want more investment in and outside of the classroom for young people so that we can all get the best chances in life, the letter said. The open letter from young people follows concerns raised by leading figures in the sector, who warned that a lack of government interest in youth services is marginalising young people and risks triggering social unrest. The letter was signed by 15 young people representing London Youth, YouthNet, Prymface, UK Youth, the Jewish Lads and Girls Brigade National Youth Forum, the Scout Association, the Street League Academy, the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS), vInspired, Brook, Leap, the National Youth Agency, Artswork, the British Youth Council, and StreetGames.

Were recruiting.
Somerset Young Peoples Newspaper is recruiting for young people aged 13 -18 to become part of a bigger team of a young journalists from across the county that produce SYPN.

Interested?
If youre thinking about getting involved, there are a variety of opportunities available to you. Were currently recruiting:

Journalists & reporters Graphics designers Photographers

To apply visit www.sypn.org/apply or email jake.pitt@sypn.org

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Childrens Society calls on government to extend free school meals to all families in poverty
By Scott Kilday, News Editor scott.kilday@sypn.org

believed all children living in poverty, including those in working families, should receive a free school meal. At the moment, around 700,000 of 2.2 million who live in relative poverty in England miss the chance to receive free school meals as parents who are in work, or single parents who work less than 16 hours are not able to qualify. Laura Rodrigues, policy officer at The Childrens Society, says that theyre really concerned about those families that may be living in poverty but dont qualify for free school meals because some of their children may be having difficulties and may be hungry in school. Its being argued that a healthy school lunch impacts not only the childs hunger levels, but their concentration, attainment and
Two weeks ago, I went to Downing Street for the launch of the Youth Budget, an event to promote what young people would do with the public purse, and I spoke to the Chancellor about what to do about this issue. I reiterated to him a view held by many economists: that we need to temporarily increase spending in capital investment projects in order to kick start the economy. I emphasised that his next budget needed to be about jobs more than anything, to which Osborne retorted and how do you expect to do that?. The youth budget itself surveyed over 1,400 young people on the budget. It

behavior. Health and educational benefits are a few of many reasons, not to mention the much needed financial support for parents, as to why meals must be distributed more widely. It will give the Government an opportunity to improve the system and ensure that every child is accounted for. Every child in poverty should be given a free school meal. Free school meals are key to moving children out of poverty and vital to helping them flourish, said Matthew Reed, chief executive of The Childrens Society. The report has inevitably attracted much needed attention to the matter, especially for the ATL, who state that theyve been introduced to the importance of free school meals in tackling child poverty and that theyre in full support. What do you think about the matter? Email us at letters@sypn.org
said that the government should tax higher earners more, but spend less. This equated to a deficit of just 66 billion, compared with the 120 billion that the exchequer is expected to run up. We should scrap Trident - which costs us 3bn a year amongst other irrelevant spending. We need a progressive attitude to public finance and services, as well as real people. Unfortunately, this government has given up on youth unemployment. The result will be a lost generation, forgotten by policy makers and the Treasury, and reminiscent of the 1980s.

According to a recent study held by The Childrens Society, three quarters of teachers have said that students at their school often arrive each day to school without anything to eat, or money in which to buy it. From further research, its been reported that around two thirds of teachers have provided food to school children. So, whats to be done about this discovery?
The Childrens Society are recommending to the Government that they extend free school meals to every child who currently lives below the line of poverty; they hope to find a way in which to fund the children who make up the statistics. In the survey held by the charity, results have shown that 570 UK teachers revealed 98 per cent

From the editor

One of the biggest social catastrophes of the dire economic situation is youth unemployment. Britain has the second highest rate of young people out of work in Europe even more than Greece and Portugal; only Spain, an economic mess, has a higher rate. Its unacceptable that 25% of young people aged 18-24 cant find work after they leave college or graduate from university, and it is an issue that should be one of our top priorities. This is an issue that I have raised personally with George Osborne, and I had a somewhat negative response.

What will happen to the Church of England?

Organised religion is dying. Church numbers are ridiculously low, I recently went looking around a church near where I live in deeply conservative rural Somerset only to f ind that shockingly the congregation of the church consisted of only half a dozen regular church goers in their early sixties. You might say that this is indicative of how small the village is, and you're probably on to something there, but surely these small village parishes are where the Church of England thrives, surely at least these rural idylls still hold the traditional church going values of yesteryear. If the Church of England is flailing even in Somerset, what does that mean for the rest of the country? Well, the English Church census of 2006 showed that ,shockingly, only 6.3% of the whole population attend church regularly. Even so 72% of people in UK still identify as Christians. The disparity between these two figures is tremendous, but does the fact that these Christians are not regular church goers mean our moral values have declined? No, to me it says completely the opposite. It's so easy to rose tint the past and the more conservative values that were held by the God fearing people who lived then, but were our ancestors really all that great? I think you know the answer to that. The moral values of the UK are ,despite, what the Daily Mail may have you believe, much better than they were fifty years ago. Look at all those people who do ludicrous things for the sake of charity, that annoyingly lovely Christian virtue in particular is stronger than ever. Organisations like the British Youth Council show that while today's youth may not be especially concerned with religion, they do have a political conscience and TV shows like The Secret Millionaire show a wonderful undercurrent of kindness that the right wing media would have you believe died in the sixties.

14

It strikes me that the nature of kindness in this country has become less selfish. People are not going out of their way to be charitable because a vicar told them they should, they are doing it from their own selflessness and goodness of heart. These brilliant volunteers are the most Christian people on Earth, they do good things of their own volition and like the many equally virtuous Christian groups like the Salvation Army they make a positive change to the society in which they live. So, yes, our country does have these altruistic modern day alms-givers. Most of us however, would rather worship at the font of Britney and Gaga wouldn't we? Yes, probably, I know I would, Britney's one my idols, but is that such a bad thing? The Chr is tian, benef ice nt banke rs of classical England may have been replaced with callous, inferior and fatuous modern day equivalents, but the one and only Miss Britney Spears is exemplary to all people in power. A little known fact is that the groin wielding, head s h a v i ng c a r i c a t u re of t he p r e s s ha s m a d e considerable donations to charity during her lifetime with $350,000 donated to victims of Hurricane Katrina and $1,000,000 to the families of the uniformed service hero victims of 9/11. The modern day faces of goodness are not just the many wonderful devout church goers. They're that girl at school who's dressing up as the Queen for Help for Heroes, celebrities like Britney Spears who put their money and influence to good use and the hundreds of young people who spend their Saturdays meeting with politicians trying to save our youth clubs. Religion and piety are important parts of our moral conscience, but we must never forget the atheists, agnostics and humanists who are so instrumental in contemporary charity.

Sam Foulder-Hughes

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Quote of the Month

It is ridiculous that young people are baring the brunt of the economic problems; with tuition fees; scraping of EMA; abolition of housing benefit and potential changes to working tax credit [] and the irony is that it is not these young peoples carelessness who got us into the economic problems that we are facing in the first place.
BBC Question Time

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