Young citizens’ inquiry into Birmingham disorders

Future Melting Pot

The following press release was written by young people from Birmingham’s Future melting Pot with training from Secret Agent Marketing:

A panel of young people will get the opportunity to quiz senior officials on the disorders at a ‘Young Citizens’ Inquiry into the events of last summer.

The Future Melting Pot’s Outreach Citizens’ Inquiry will be held at Birmingham Council House on Thursday, April 5 from 9am.

The Future Melting Pot, based in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, is running the Outreach project to give young people the chance to conduct research and develop recommendations following last year’s August disorders.

Young people have already had their chance to respond to a questionnaire on the disorder, and the results of that survey will play an important role in the 5th April inquiry.

At the inquiry, a panel of young people will get the opportunity to quiz senior officials on the disorder.

The list of confirmed witnesses includes: Ms Shabana Mahmood, MP for Birmingham Ladywood; Councillor Paul Tilsley, who is deputy leader of Birmingham City Council; Chief Constable Chris Sims from West Midlands Police; Ms Dawn Roberts, the Head of Birmingham’s Youth Offending Service; Vij Randeniya, Chief Fire Officer for West Midlands Fire Service; and Mr Kirk Dawes from The Centre For Conflict Transformation.

The day begins at 9am, where 15-year-old Alex Brown, Outreach project manager, will make a speech to open the inquiry. Witnesses will be questioned in half hour slots throughout the day, with the inquiry due to finish at 4pm.

The findings of the day will then be collated into a report, along with the findings of TFMP’s Outreach questionnaire. The report will be presented at an event in early summer, provisionally scheduled for May 10.

The Outreach Young Citizens’ Inquiry is set to be an important event and the first opportunity of its kind for young people looking to investigate the disorder.

For more information about the Future Melting Pot and the Outreach project, please log on to www.thefuturemeltingpot.co.uk or www.outreachprojecttfmp.wordpress.com