16 October 2007

Young people throughout Guildford Borough have a chance to grill a group of local councillors on issues that matter to them and vote online to choose their overall winner. 'I'm a councillor, get me out of here!' is a national web-based event taking place between 8 and 19 October and aims to give young people a voice and promote local democracy.

Six local schools are taking part for the Guildford area including Kings College, Guildford College, George Abbot School, the Pupil Referral Unit, Christ's College and Guildford High.

Jacqui Sellers, Coordinator of PSE and Citizenship at George Abbot School comments: "The project has made students more aware of the importance of democracy in our society, giving them hands on experience in a voting process. The work is designed to encourage students to become responsible citizens through joint ownership of decisions being made that affect them."

Young people can chat with councillors live online using the ‘I'm a councillor, get me out of here!’ website, leave questions for them to answer and read their portfolios. During the second week, young people will vote every day and the councillor with the least votes will be asked to leave the online forum.

The event is part of Local Democracy Week 2007, which runs from 15 to 19 October. Guildford Borough Council and the Guildford Youth Council run a range of events throughout the year to help connect with young people on local issues that matter to them. There will also be a 'Question Time' event in November where the winner of ‘I’m a councillor, get me out of here!’ will be announced and hopefully also be a member of the panel.