MP recruiting for summer school

A group of young volunteers is being recruited by Labour MP Debbie Abrahams for her second Get Oldham Working summer school.

A group of young volunteers is being recruited by Labour MP Debbie Abrahams for her second Get Oldham Working summer school.

Following the success of her inaugural summer school in 2014, Mrs Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, is looking for people aged 18-24 to take part in the Working for Your Community Summer School, from July 20-31.

Mrs Abrahams said: “My idea behind the summer school is to help local young people develop their community action skills and gain useful experience by working on real community projects in Oldham.

“I also want to give them a behind-the-scenes look at how politics affects everyone’s daily life.

“Too many people say to me ‘politics has nothing to do with me’ or ‘I don’t vote because politics doesn’t affect me’.

“But politics affects almost every aspect of our lives. This is why I want to give local young people the chance to see the links between every day issues that affect us all and the role elected councillors and MPs play in addressing them.

“The group will also gain some real work experience about how to organise community-based campaigns with local organisations.”

On July 21 the group will visit Westminster where they will have a tour of Parliament and meet various politicians, researchers and advisors.

The young people will then be based in Oldham, spending their first week developing knowledge and understanding of community development theory and practice, campaigning skills and tools.

They will work to define a campaign and a community project to work on in week two.

The second week will be spent working with Oldham-based community organisations and charities to develop and refine the campaign they have identified.

Sessions will be run by various experts and leaders in community development, campaigning, communications and politics.

Anyone wishing to register interest in the summer school should send a letter of application with a CV by email to abrahamsd@parliament.uk.

The closing date for applications is 5pm on Monday, June 15.

A person specification can be found on Mrs Abraham’s website at www.debbieabrahams.org.uk.

All candidates must be available for every weekday for the duration of the scheme.