BY HANNAH GRAHAM

AS a youth service, the Dorset Youth Council (DYCE) are facing cuts in our budget because the council are putting more money into other sectors.

The money we get is used for taxis to transport young people to and from meetings, and occasionally advertising materials so we can spread the word of what we do.

If this money gets cut, young people who hold key roles in Dorset’s youth voice, such as members and deputies of the youth parliament, might not be able to attend meetings.

This will have a disastrous effect on DYCE and will mean that certain projects won’t be able to go ahead.

Some people may think the cuts should happen as the youth services don’t benefit young people much.

If so, this is my story of how youth services have helped me.

When I was in year eight I overcame my fear of talking in front of people so I could run for election.

I joined DYCE and went to the monthly meetings, immediately loving the atmosphere that you get when you are in a room full of people just like you who want to get their voices heard.

Everyone welcomed me and I felt relieved that I had taken this opportunity.

I continued DYCE into year nine where I became bored.

I hadn’t been involved in many projects and I was one minute away from just quitting when I suddenly reminded myself of why I joined DYCE in the first place - because I wanted to prove to myself that I can do anything, and I wanted to get a good start to my longed-for career in journalism.

At that point I knew I had only just started my journey and that I had to carry on.

Since that time I have come into year ten and have been involved in many projects that have changed my perspective and made me a better person.

I feel like my involvement in these things have actually made a difference and that I have spoken out to the whole of Dorset.

One monumental step in this happened in the summer when I started to write for the youth page in the Dorset Echo.

Imagine achieving your lifetime goal when you are 14. From then on I continued to write every week about issues surrounding the county and different aspects of DYCE, without whom I would be sat in front of a TV wondering what to do with my life.

All these reasons and more are why youth services are one of the most important aspects of Dorset.

If the budget gets cut now, people will believe that we don’t care for the youth services, so they will cut them again, again, and again until there is no money left for our generation, and no money left for our future generation’s youth services.