As Louise Jackson is to seniors, so Jon Brunson and Gina Spence-Farmer plan to be to Bermuda?s young people.

Mr. Brunson, Shadow Youth and Sport Minister, and Mrs. Spence-Farmer, recently-approved UBP candidate for the next General Election, are calling on all young Bermudians to make their voices heard ? because the pair are ready to listen.

?Invite us to your youth nights, your meetings, your performances, anything,? Mrs. Spence-Farmer said. ?We want to hear from you ... I think we keep missing young people out of the equation. I don?t think we give young adults enough credit. The vast majority of them are out there, working hard, going to school, running their own businesses. But how to give them a voice? Sometimes, you have to go to them.?

For example, last weekend the pair went to Chewstick poetry night ? and the young Bermudian poets blew them away.

?What a great opportunity,? Mrs. Spence-Farmer said. ?We got to see young people in their element. It breaks down that wall, that perception for some that politicians just can?t relate.?

People want a champion, Mr. Brunson said. ?We can and want to magnify their voice.?

As both he and Mrs. Spence-Farmer are parents themselves, he said, they can relate to some of the challenges faced by single parents and by teenagers. ?We have a real live connection. It is our obligation to secure the future for our children.?

?Because these guys are the ones who are going to be taking over,? Mrs. Spence-Farmer added. Already their talks with young Bermudians are turning up some surprising ? and not-so surprising ? bits of information.

For one, many young Bermudians are completely discouraged at the depressing prospect of never owning their own home in Bermuda. ?Far too many don?t see owning their own home as an attainable goal,? Mr. Brunson said. For another, race is not the inflammatory issue for the vast majority of young Bermudians that it is for their elders. ?Race is far less of a factor,? Mrs. Spence-Farmer said.

One issue which does appear hot among young people is the question of a youth centre of sorts ? a place where young people can go simply to hang out, kick a ball around without joining a football team, play music as loud as they like, hold performances such as the Chewstick performances.

?It would be run by young people, managed by young people, and most importantly, young people could afford it,? Mrs. Spence-Farmer said. ?There?s no end of things to do in Bermuda ? but when you don?t have the money to do them, an alternative needs to be in place.?

Their focus is to be entirely on the needs of young Bermudians and how to empower them. ?We are not making noise just to make Government?s life difficult ? we?re just delivering the message. If it?s never delivered, change won?t happen.?

Both can be found in the phone book, they said ? and both are no strangers to having their phones ringing off the hook. ?This is a Bermudian community telling us they want to be heard,? Mr. Brunson added. ?We?re just championing the issue.?