Meet 14 year old Amelia Crorie: on Monday 4th March 2019 she became a new member of Youth Parliament, now set on representing the young people of Redbridge on a regional scale, at Youth Council sessions, and a national level.
Yet, how did it all begin? How did Amelia begin her political career and build it to the extent where she is now holding an influential political position in her community at such a young age?
Fortunately, I had the privilege to meet with Amelia and discuss her early exposure to and experience with youth politics.
Amelia Crorie has been attending and taking part in the activities of the Redbridge Youth Council for up to 3 years. Consequently, she has found herself so heavily engaged that she noted she had "done so many activities it’s hard to keep track". However, some of her most notable feats include the following: Distributing wristbands to spread awareness about managing one's mental health, Being an active member of the LSCB forum, acting as head of the Redbridge Youth Cabinet and participating in the Make Your Mark Campaign From consistency to time management to confidence, Amelia asserts that being a member of her local youth council has aided her character development and provided her with skills that are widely applicable beyond her role in youth politics. However, she most strickingly comments on her highly devloped poltical awareness and enagagement: "I am more aware of what’s going on in my borough and feel closer to it. I now know that I have a voice in the way my borough works, something that I once used to think was just up to the adults. "
After 3 years of experience, holding various roles of responsibilty, Amelia finally decided to stand as a candidate for the 2019 Redbridge Youth Election.
What inspired her? What gave her the confidence to take part in the highly competitive election process?
Well, Amelia's confidence has been formed through her time at her Youth Council as well as her burning desire to help the youth of her community: "Being a member of RYC is an amazing experience but I wanted to make a bigger change. I wanted to help my borough and what better position to do this than that of an MYP. This was my way of reaching out to all the youth of Redbridge. I thought this was the best position for me. I have seen several MYP’s throughout my time in RYC and felt inspired; I wanted to be like them and make a change."
One of Amelia's key mainfesto points while running as a candidate, revolves around an issue she feels personally affects her in addtion to numerous girls in her community: period poverty. Amelia has struggled to grasp at the notion that sanitary products, like tampons, are charged as a luxury while biscuits, are not, urging her to ask the outrageous question, "are biscuits more important than pads?".
From the fact that the average women spends over £18,450 on sanitary products in her lifetime, to the upsetting fact that 130,000 girls annually miss school due to a lack of access to sanitary products, Amelia has become determined to address this issue as the new Redbridge MYP, hopefully ensuring her borough becomes and remains period poverty free.
Amelia's Last Words of Advice: "Don’t be afraid of attending your local youth council. I was nervous in year 7 but everyone is so comforting that I felt right at home instantly. Your local youth council is a place where you're able to speak your thoughts and people don’t judge you, but instead actually listen and appreciate your input."
