For some years now, the Department of Youth and Culture has been singled out as being the most accomplished arm of the Government of Anguilla in terms of youth development and the cultural heritage of the island.
Now, the newly-elected Representative for Road North and Ministerial Assistant in the Ministry of Education and Social Development, Mr. Merrick Richardson, has found that department to have an effective grip on its mandate.
“I have been going through the documents of the Department of Youth and Culture and I have found that it is well-run,” he told The Anguillian newspaper. “It has a lot of initiatives in place. It has initiatives for persons, who are not so well off, to get them back in school; initiatives for persons who are actually graduating from Sixth Form and cannot find employment. The department has many programmes in place in terms of other youth – so my job is just to keep the enthusiasm up and get these programmes more visual in Anguilla so that more persons are aware of them and can benefit from them. These are wonderful programmes of the Department of Youth and Culture as they relate to young people. However, I don’t think enough persons are taking advantage of the programmes; and it is important to make them readily available to our young people so that they can participate in them.”
Prior to his entry into the political arena, Mr. Richardson had been a long-time advocate for youth development, sporting activities and facilities in his North Hill community.
