It’s not just political parties that hold conferences – the young people of Medway have just done so too. Medway Youth Parliament chair Luke Morgan, left, reports:

Racism and religious discrimination were among the key topics at the Medway Youth Parliament’s annual conference.

With the title of Race, Religion, and You(th), the conference at Rochester Corn Exchange was attended by more than 100 local young people.

The day started with a brief introduction from myself, before vice-chair Chichi Nwodoh introduced the workshops for the day. The workshops were designed for young people by young people.

They tackled issues that had been raised through youth-centre visits and a ballot of around 5,000 young people.

The first workshop used role play to explore the line between banter and offence.

The participants enjoyed it, with one saying: “It was interesting being a fly on the wall during the scenario that could happen with my friends.”

A second workshop examined how recent political events might influence people’s perceptions of race and religion.

This was achieved through an interactive presentation that included audio and visual clips of behaviour since the Brexit vote, and politicians’ responses and views. It produced many heated and interesting debates.

The final workshop addressed religious and racial prejudice through a fun and interactive quiz and discussion.

To round off a successful day, there was a Q&A session with religious and cultural leaders from different faith groups and ethnicities.

It was amazing to see such a diverse group of young people learning about each other’s beliefs and practices, and how to respect them.

Medway Youth Parliament is a forum for young people run by young people. We have representatives from all around Medway, with other youth groups and young people from our youth centres, and we work on issues that are important to all young people in Medway.

For more pictures, see Friday's Medway Messenger.