A 12-year-old girl from Biggleswade is encouraging her peers to make their voices heard and determine what is debated by the UK Youth Parliament in the House of Commons in November.

The annual Make Your Mark ballot – which opens tomorrow and runs until October 5 – will see youngsters across Central Bedfordshire deciding which issues matter to them most.

Lily, a former Biggleswade Academy student who will be moving to Stratton Upper School in September, was welcomed to the House of Commons by its Speaker John Bercow to decide – along with 250 fellow UK Youth Parliament members – which 10 topics should be incorporated into the UK Youth Parliament manifesto.

She said: “This was a great event that brought together young people from across the country to work together to promote youth voice and participation.

“There was a very positive atmosphere and it shows that young people are becoming more empowered within our society.

“We got to work with lots of young people from across the country and I now feel really inspired to make Central Bedfordshire a great place for young people.

“We have set ourselves the target of getting at least 6,000 ballot papers filled out from Central Bedfordshire to ensure that the area is very well represented in the House of Commons debate.”

The top five topics will be debated with one then chosen as the UK Youth Parliament’s priority campaign. Voting takes places both online and through ballot papers issued in schools and youth centres.

To have your say, visit www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/makeyourmark.