Run for Council | May Newsletter
We're sad. No, not just because Croatia was ROBBED in Eurovision, but because this is the last time we'll write you a newsletter. The entire Council will step down on the last weekend of June - some of us will rerun, some won’t.
But here's the thing, YOU could replace us! Yes, you could have the opportunity to write this newsletter, or organise events, or look after the welfare of our members. Go on, read the details below.
RUN FOR COUNCIL!
✅ Nominations now open
Do you want to help build a youth movement that can change Scotland? Do you want to learn new skills that will help you elsewhere in your life? Do you want to fight for what you believe in alongside a group of truly lovely people?
Well, you should run for SYG Council. We have 15 diverse roles up for grabs, and there is no prior experience required - we’ll aim to provide training opportunities! The most important thing is that you have a passion for green values, and some availability to be regularly involved.
Put yourself forward now! You can read more about the roles and how to nominate yourself in the link below.
WHAT WE’VE BEEN DOING
🚇 Moving Forward Project Report
Recently we told you about a citizens' assembly on public transport we were hosting. This was combined with a quantitative poll (did I spell that right??) involving 509 young people in Scotland.
And now, we have the results! Alyson, Blair, Chris, Ewan, and Marie have put together a beautiful report summarising what young people think about public transport. Read it on our website or come to our AGM to find out more!
GET INVOLVED
💕 SYG Speed-meeting Social
We’ve got lots of (presumably) lovely new members, so let's have some organised fun together! Join us Friday 11th June for a speed-meeting social that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
INTERNAL ELECTIONS (SGP)
🗳 Committee elections now open
The Scottish Green Party needs radical young folk with a fresh perspective. In the last year, we’ve achieved a lot as young people in the party, and we can do more. If you're interested in running, join the #nominations-pool channel on the SYG Slack. We're really keen to support young people running for positions.
(Pssst, if you're elected to SYG Council, you can also sit on a corresponding party committee. Best of both worlds, no??)
OPPORTUNITIES ‘N THAT
🌻 Green Posts in Brussels
This month, we have 13 different positions in Brussels with the Green family!
2 of FYEG's 7 office members are from SYG.* If we can get 1 more, then they'll practically be a member organisation of us, rather than the other way round. So go on, give it a bash!
FYEG - (Paid) Internships
Greens/EFA Group - 11 posts of Political Attachés
THE GOOD NEWS
✊ "Black Wednesday" is a dark day for big oil
Wednesday May 26th was a historic day in the fight against fossil fuel consumption. In the space of 24 hours, a court in the Hague ordered climate criminals Shell to cut carbon emissions by 45% by 2030, and climate denial-funding ExxonMobil and Chevron both faced "shareholder rebellions" led by climate activists.
We won't win the war against climate breakdown in a day, but long-fought victories like these take us one step closer.
WE HEREBY STAN…
💚 Outgoing Council
From organising an amazing series of pan-European webinars to helping deliver record Green election results, your Council has done A LOT in a very difficult year. We've had 24 full-team meetings, A LOT of discussions on Slack, and recruited dozens of people into working groups.
So we're proud, and we want to thank every Council member individually.
To everyone who’s been on Council this year, thank you!
Thank you Alyson for being an event organiser extraordinaire, for always breaking awkward silences with your self-deprecating humour, and always making things easy-going.
Thank you Blair A for always bringing so much insight and passion, for being an unrivalled campaigning force, and for being one half of SYG’s most iconic power couple.
Thank you Bea for stepping up to the plate in SYG’s moment of need, for bringing a “no bullshit” approach to everything you do, and for standing up for your (and our) values at the MO Forum.
Thank you Chris for coordinating the best Council that Scotland (yes, Scotland) has ever seen, with your participatory, inclusive, and open-minded approach, and for always bringing big picture insight to our collective and disparate ramblings.
Thank you Christian for bringing your exclusively astute inputs to Council meetings, your frustratingly good attention to detail, and the most lovely, positive and human approach to disagreeing with ideas that the world has ever seen.
Thank you Edan for bringing unrivalled patter into every intervention you make, for bringing your passionate and articulate speech to SGP Council, and for always bringing creative ideas that have helped us to think outside of the box.
Thank you Ellie for bringing boundless enthusiasm and passion for what you believe in, for always challenging things you don’t believe in, and for somehow putting yourself everywhere.
Thank you Ewan for pushing SYG to play such a major role in the Party’s historic election win, for bringing your unique patter & energy to everything you do (which is a hell of a lot), and for being the other half of SYG’s most iconic power couple.
Thank you Finn for being the caring, supporting heart of SYG, keeping us all emotionally stable behind the scenes, and always clarifying our niche misunderstandings of social science.
Thank you Heather for patiently overseeing the most difficult task in our history (a collective agreement on branding), for leading the enormous growth in SYG’s social media platform (also big-up Ewan and Blair), and for always being a voice of reason.
Thank you Keri for designing breathtakingly beautiful Instagram stories, for bringing such a spark of creativity, and for being honest with yourself when you needed to (we miss you!).
Thank you Lana for building the best website we’ve ever had, for always bringing so many ideas and such creativity to what we do, and for being your lovely, warm self.
Thank you Marie for bringing a sense of organisation and realism to our chaos and utopianism, for organising a wildly successful series of webinars, and for giving the most impassioned speech that SYG Council has ever seen.
Thank you Sean for not being self-absorbed enough to thank yourself. (Except I just did. Fuck. My head hurts.)
Thank you Sophie for always bringing a soft and warm enthusiasm to our discussions and for always just Getting Stuff Done while the rest of us (i.e. exclusively me) get carried away with dreams and ideas.
*FYEG = Federation of Young European Greens. A pan-European umbrella organisation that we are a part of.
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