A connected Area
Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire Young Conservatives is entering a new chapter, bringing together Young Conservative branches from across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Bedfordshire under a stronger and more connected Area organisation.
The aim is simple: to build a genuine community for young Conservatives across the region, with regular events, stronger local branches and more opportunities for members to get involved in campaigning, politics and the social side of the Party.
The Area is made up of six branches: Fenland and North East Cambridgeshire, Huntingdon, Peterborough, South Cambridgeshire, North West Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire.
Area and branch leadership
Leading the Area is Jack Rigby, the new Chairman of Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire Young Conservatives. Jack has supported a number of election campaigns across the region and founded Fenland Young Conservatives, which has grown rapidly since its creation and now has 17 members.
That growth has helped demonstrate what can be achieved when young members are given regular opportunities to meet, campaign and become properly involved in their local association.
Across the rest of the Area, a growing team of branch leaders is working to build the same momentum.
Harry Vallance leads Huntingdon Young Conservatives, while Bawan Hame leads Peterborough Young Conservatives. Owen Beech heads up South Cambridgeshire Young Conservatives, and Taylor Shortland leads North West Cambridgeshire Young Conservatives. In Bedfordshire, Karan Odedra is serving as Interim Chairman as work continues to strengthen and rebuild the organisation there.
One wider YC community
Each branch has its own local identity, but the new Area structure is intended to bring them much closer together.
Members should not feel limited to what happens within the boundaries of their own constituency. A Young Conservative in Bedfordshire should feel just as welcome at a major Area event in Cambridgeshire, while members from Fenland, Huntingdon, Peterborough, South Cambridgeshire and North West Cambridgeshire should have regular opportunities to meet, campaign and socialise together.
That means more joint events, more cooperation between branches and a much stronger sense of being part of one wider YC community.
Campaigning and social events
Campaigning will remain an important part of that. Young Conservatives already play a significant role in elections across the region, supporting candidates, associations and local campaign teams. Building a stronger network also means being able to mobilise more effectively when elections come around.
But YC is about much more than election campaigns.
The ambition is to create a programme of regular social events, political discussions, campaign days, visits and opportunities to meet MPs, councillors and other figures from across the Conservative Party. Just as importantly, it should provide a place for young members to make friends and meet people with similar interests.
A home online
The new Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire YC website has been created to help support that.
It will act as a home for the Area's YC community: bringing together information about each branch, the people leading them, upcoming events, campaign activity and news from across the region.
For members who are already active, it will provide a clearer picture of what is happening beyond their own branch. For those who have joined the Party but have never attended a YC event, it will provide a straightforward way to find out what is happening locally and get involved.
Area priorities
The priorities over the coming months are to continue growing the strongest branches, help rebuild activity where it has fallen away, increase the number of regular events and create far more cooperation across the Area.
There is a great deal still to build, but there is also enormous potential.
With six branches, a growing group of active members and a new Area team working together, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire Young Conservatives now has the opportunity to build one of the strongest YC communities in the country.
This website is intended to be its home.