Whats your name, age and how long have you been a YA?

My name is Taliha Gazi, I am fifteen years old, and I have been a Young Advisor since September 2009.

What do you enjoy most about being a YA

What is, without a doubt, the most satisfying about being a Young Advisor is the idea that we, as a team, set the benchmark for a strong youth voice across the country. Young Advisors is living proof that with the right support and guidance to drive us forward, young people can achieve the most inspirational of achievements, and in turn, inspire others to forget the prejudices others may have of them, stand up, regardless of who and what they are, and voice their voice to the rest of the world.

What things/projects have you been working on lately?

The two most recent projects I have been involved in include a Youth Debate attended by London mayor hopeful, Ken Livingstone. This was where a selection of young people from the three Youth Engagement groups in the borough, (the YA Team, Forest Flava and the YIAG), aimed to speak about the type of work we do, as well as highlight the impact we have within the community. Another piece of work I took part in was the 'mystery shop' of a local sexual health clinic, and while being one of the most difficult projects I had ever participated in, it was definitely worth the time and energy we spent into making it happen, as the results we compiled show. The purpose of mystery shopping is to measure the quality of a service without its staff actually knowing that they are being examined. In order to do this, it is our role to act as a customer wanting a service, and during the time one is being provided, we mentally tick off the criteria we expect to be fulfilled. After this process, we complete a form, making note of its strengths and areas of development. This acts as evidence, which we then pass on to an audit, who distributes this information back to the service provider.

What do you think has been your projects biggest impact on your community?

In my opinion, the largest, most notable achievement we have made in our borough are the many bridges we have managed to build between adults and young people over the past few years. Despite the differences we share with one another, our ability as open-minded young people to cast these aside, and narrow the gap that divides the young and the old (and all those in between!) is what makes us so unique, and helps us do our bit towards our goal for stronger community cohesion.

Whats next for you and your YA team?

The future has a lot in store for the Young Advisor team, in particular the growth in publicity and promotion we are expecting to receive from the Forest Flava Press Gang, who we are currently undergoing a merge with. It is our belief that this group of talented young journalists in the borough will help push Young Advisors further into the limelight, and with this mind, create a 'snowball' effect of increasing demand and greater work opportunities for us all.