A £1,000 grant and a certificate have been awarded to the district’s youth councillors for their dedication to community safety.

Epping Forest Youth Councillors received their certificate from the High Sheriff of Essex in a ceremony in Chelmsford last week.

Youth councillors Florence New, Jasmine James and Zak Smith, all from Roding Valley High School, in Loughton, attended the event to collect their prizes.

“It was a wonderful evening and it was lovely to hear of all the other projects and services that organisations are delivering across Essex.” said Miss New.

The grant will go towards their project, We R Safe, to improve the resilience of young people and help them avoid anti-social behaviour or criminal activity.

Set up in 2017, the project will feature five new short films on YouTube with key safety messages and implementing the Run, Report, Resist and Resilience strategy.

Cllr Sam Kane, community and partnership services portfolio holder, empathised the need to encourage youngsters to make the right decisions in life amongst increasing social media pressure.

“Epping Forest district councillors are very supportive of the efforts of the Youth Council in raising awareness of the problem and the devastating consequences for individuals and society.”

“All too frequently plans and decisions are made that impact and affect young people with no actual consultation or involvement of young people. EFYC produce projects that are designed by young people for young people.”