On June 28 2022, Poppy Evans (Ysgol Gyfun Aberaeron) and Lloyd Warburton (Ysgol Penglais) travelled to London to meet Ceredigion MP Ben Lake.

Poppy represents Ceredigion in the UK Youth Parliament and Lloyd is Ceredigion’s Member of Youth Parliament for Senedd Cymru. Both Members of Youth Parliament are part of Ceredigion Youth Council.

The visit included a tour around Westminster by Ben Lake, a question and answer session, meeting staff and other MPs, and an opportunity to sit in the viewing gallery and listen to debates happening in the chamber. The opportunity allowed for young people to learn about the history of the Palace of Westminster, the work of UK Parliament, how the various working spaces visited are used and ways that young people can get involved and engage with the democratic process.

Poppy Evans, UK MYP said: “I am grateful for such an amazing and inspiring opportunity to gain an insight into the work life of a Member of Parliament as well as to learn about the history of Westminster and to see a debate first hand.”

Lloyd Warburton, Senedd Cymru MYP said: “It was a pleasure to meet with Ben in Parliament whilst it was in session. It gave a great insight into how parliamentary business works behind the scenes and what MPs do with their time when they’re outside the chamber.”

Gwion Bowen, Ceredigion Youth Service’s Children and Young People’s Participation Officer said: “We are extremely grateful to Ben Lake and his office for allowing us such a great opportunity. We enjoyed travelling to London and spent the afternoon with Ben, exploring ‘behind the scenes’ of the Westminster Parliamentary estate, and learning more about the role of MPs and their work. It is vitally important that young people are given the opportunity to engage and take part in the political process, and this is one of many ways that we can support that engagement, and we are grateful to our local MP Ben Lake for enabling young people to have these opportunities. The young people were inspired by the opportunity and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.”

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14/07/2022