SEDGEMOOR Youth Parliament member Gemma Cain attended the annual sitting of the UK-wide organisation last month.

Gemma, 16, who attends King Alfred School in Highbridge, said: “The first day of the annual sitting was opened by John Bercow MP who was very engaging and reinforced that what we as MYPs do is very important and we should keep working really hard.

“The keynote speech was then made by Tim Loughton MP who highlighted that children are the future and deserved respect before reminding us that what we do as MYPs is not only important but vital.

“On the Saturday we had the chance to attend two workshops of our choice to learn new skills that we could then take back and use in our local areas. One of the workshops I decided to do was Advanced Democracy which taught us about political issues that affect young people within the UK and how we can go about making a difference and changing things for the better. After this workshop I felt that I had gained a better understanding of how to raise awareness democratically.

“Overall the sitting was great fun; I enjoyed making new friends and dancing with them at The Prom on Saturday night. I had a really good laugh and learnt a lot.”