AN award-winning youth media charity is bringing its Point of View project to Ross-on -Wye and it wants to hear from local young people.

Rural Media’s Point of View project is on a mission to listen to, and platform, the real voices of young people living in and around the town.

The creative youth empowerment programme invites young people to get involved in creative workshops, film making, podcasting, creative writing, and community conversations to help rural young people speak their minds and get heard.

The views of young people will be shared with town councillors, local police and other bodies to help shape services activities and opportunities in Ross.

Lauren Rogers explained that this is done by using creativity and through media and added: “As part of the process we speak to the young people so as to better understand what their needs were.

“Our mission locally is to find out the needs of people in Ross which will be different to the communities we’ve already spoken with.

“Our aim in Ross is for teenagers to form relationships with decision makers in the area and this would include the town council.

Toni Cook said: “Previous connections with rural communities have had an impact on that local area. It’s not a negative programme about what people hate about where they live but a balance of what can be achieved by combining the positive and celebrate the reality.

Rural Media’s consultation project in Ross starts with a survey to discover what teenagers love about where they live, what challenges they face, and what changes they’d like to see. It is available via its website; the deadline is Friday 17 April.

Creative writing workshops for young people, aged between 11 and 16 are being held at the Larruperz Centre on April 22 and 29 and on May 13. Email [email protected] to reserve your place.