ASPIRING actor Isaac Quinn hopes to win an Oscar one day but his first mission is to help put Oldham on the big stage.
The 18-year-old has become the borough’s 15th Youth Mayor, taking over the role from his former Saddleworth School classmate Charlotte Clasby.
Isaac, who has been a youth councillor since he was 12, is driven by the desire to make Oldham a better place for the people who call it home.
He said: “Over the next year, I look forward to meeting Oldham’s residents with Mr Mayor and representing young people, successfully showing members of the public what we the youth voice family, and young people as a whole, are capable of.”
Isaac, who was encouraged to join Oldham Youth Council by his form tutor, is about to start studying for an acting degree at the MetFilm School in Leeds and wants to help raise aspirations among young people in Oldham.
During his studies, he wants to work on projects to spread positive messages about the youth council’s work.
“There are a lot of talented people from Oldham and I want to help put us on the map,” he said.
The Youth Mayor acts as an inspirational role model for Oldham’s young people and an ambassador for the borough, shadowing the Mayor of Oldham on civic engagements.
Speaking at the Youth Mayor-making ceremony, the Mayor of Oldham, Cllr Zahid Chauhan, said: “I like what you said about making this place a better place, a more positive place with less hatred and less division, with less division and more tolerance.
“If we really want to change Oldham and shape Oldham, then it really needs to be led by youth. And that message of positivity and making this place a better place, personally from me I will be with you and support you as much as I can do.”
Oldham Youth Council is a group of 70 democratically elected young people, aged 11 to 21, who live, go to school or work in Oldham.
They work with different services and organisations to ensure young people have their say in decisions affecting their lives.
Youth councillors are elected into three types of roles – representative, officer and leadership roles including Chair and Youth Mayor.