BY CHARLOTTE MANSELL

OUR Fixers project aims to tackle the stereotypes currently surrounding young people and bus drivers.

The team at Dorset Youth Council (DYC), including myself, are working towards creating an educational pack to show an understanding of young people and bus driver's opinions, and break down the stereotypes surrounding both through a number of different workshops.

We got involved with ITV Fixers when a member of the DYC contacted the organisation about an alternative project.

After being involved in a youth transport forum for the area and discussing the issues about the difficulties both young people and bus drivers face due to these unresolved stereotypes, we put forward our project idea of 'Gus on the Bus' (Getting Us Safe).

Fixers loved the idea and the project got under way.

We recently took the project a step further and organised an event at Weymouth Fire Station with First Bus, where we worked together with other students, members of the DYC and bus drivers to create a variety of bus scenarios, that addressed a number of key issues.

The educational pack is aimed at young people aged five to seven.

It will be available for anyone to pick up, or download online, and discover how our workshops aim to get young people and local bus companies working together to discuss the issues in place and creative a positive outcome.

Therefore young people can use the educational pack to tackle similar issues at their school or on a local bus route.

It will also give people the confidence to have their voices heard and to be able to speak out against problems they feel need to be resolved.

It will further help young people to get in contact with local companies and organisations.

Overall we aim to help young people so that they are not stereotyped on the bus, whether it is a public bus journey or a school route.

The project aims to provide information about 'unspoken rules' on the bus and show what is appropriate and what is not on bus journeys and how situations can be resolved.