Hemel Young People Tell Grayson Environment is their Great Fear

Contact:	Richard Grayson
Release Date:	7th June 2008
Embargo:	Immediate

Young people in Hemel have told Richard Grayson that the future of the environment is a great fear for them. They have said that if they were running the country, this would be at the top of their list of priorities – and they want politicians to take it more seriously.

Dr Richard Grayson was told this last week by World Shapers in Woodhall Farm. Dr Grayson helped to run a "Politics: What's the Point?" activity day with young people from across Dacorum organize an event at World Shapers on Saturday 17th May. He was given written feedback last week. He then attended World Shapers today to discuss the feedback with the young people.

The original six-hour session consisted of a wide range of activities which encouraged around twenty young people to say what they think about politics, what issues concern them, and how they think politicians should communicate with young people. The tasks in which they were involved included designing an election poster, and presenting a 'party political broadcast' in the form of a short drama.

Hemel-resident Dr Grayson commented on that full-day activity:

"In my full-time job as Head of Politics at Goldsmiths, University of London, I do a lot of work trying to encourage young people in south London to think about studying politics at university. So I was delighted to be asked by World Shapers to help organise this event and it was great to use some of the tasks that I have used elsewhere to good effect in Hemel. I was very encouraged by what the young people said about the political issues that concern them - especially the environment - because it shows that young people today are taking a real interest in the world around them."

In the feedback from four groups, two groups put the environment top or joint-top of their concerns, and the other groups also had it high up, along with issues like education spending, bullying, poverty, crime and international aid.

Speaking today, Dr Grayson said to the young people:

"When I was your age in Hemel twenty-five years ago in the 1980s, the biggest issue of concern to young people was probably the threat of nuclear war. The future of the planet clearly still concerns you all, but obviously in a different way. It is encouraging to see that young people recognise the scale of the challenges we all face. Politicians still have a long way to go to meet these concerns."

Dr Grayson has a strong record as an environmental campaigner. A member of Friends of the Earth for twenty years, he first campaigned in the issue when he led the students' union at the University of East Anglia (UEA) as it's General Secretary in 1989-90. Then, he produced a report on how UEA could become the country's first green university, and many of the proposals were adopted by the university. Meanwhile, as the Liberal Democrats' national Director of Policy in 1999-2004, he pioneered the inclusion of 'Green Action' points in every part of the party’s election manifesto to show how the environment affects every part of policy.

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