Eleanor Burnham meets Partners in Politics project students at Yale College

6.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 15th Jun 2009

Students at Yale College today, questioned their North Wales Assembly Member, Eleanor Burnham as part of Mencap Cymru's Partners in Politics project. The Question and Answer session was organised by students at Yale college who have benefited from Mencap Cymru's political training session which gave students a chance to identify their concerns and aspirations before their meeting with Eleanor.

Commenting on the above Eleanor said "The Partner in Politics project is an important initiative as it supports young people with learning disabilities to exercise their full civil and political rights. I am delighted to participate in a project that makes such a difference to the lives of so many people in communities and promotes long-term positive social change"

The Partners in Politics team has already visited over 100 schools and colleges across Wales and employs four officers with a learning disability, which is key to the success of the training sessions.

The project manager Sian Davies said: " Both the political training session and question and answer session are led by young people with a learning disability. So not only are we empowering students and pupils to take control of their lives we're also sending a very clear message of what is possible when people are given the opportunities they deserve."

Eleanor Burnham continued "It's really important that young people with a learning disability don't just accept things that they aren't happy with and this dynamic project gives young people with learning disabilities a chance to get their voice heard."