A parish council on the edge of Wells is appealing for young people to join them.

St Cuthbert Out parish council, which encompasses villages around Wells, from Hartlake, to Easton, to Green Ore, to Dinder, is keen to get some younger faces on the council, to give fresh points of view and make the council more representative of the communities it serves.

Deputy parish clerk, Lisa Pool, said: "Parish councils do not tend to come with an influx of young people – most of the parish councillors tend to be post-retirement.

"In the past we have had a couple of younger councillors in their 20s and it made such a difference to the views that were brought, and to the awareness of issues.

"We can do research, but it's not the same as someone bringing first-hand experience.

"We need the parish council to be more representative, and that's why we are trying to encourage younger people to join us."

There are no complicated criteria to meet to become a member of the St Cuthbert Out parish council – you must simply be over 18, live or work in – or within three miles of – the parish, and not have a criminal record. And, says Lisa, you don't need to have a particular knowledge of the workings of a parish council or local government, just the desire to make a difference to the local community. You must regularly attend meetings, and there may be some work to do in between too – researching issues, or fact finding or even more practical tasks. The exact time commitment can depend on how involved you want to be, and how many committees you serve on, but on average it will be 5-10 hours a month.

"It's a real chance to make a difference to where you live," says Lisa. "At every meeting there are decisions being made that make tangible differences to the community.

"It's also an opportunity to pursue interests through an established structure. For example, if you are interested in environmental issues, then we have an environmental working group."

And serving on the parish council can also help to develop new skills that will look impressive on a CV.

"Public speaking, communication, teamwork, working with people that would not usually be your peers are all part of being a parish councillor. We hope that as much as it would benefit the council, it would also benefit the individual.

"But we really would genuinely value some younger points of view."

Anyone who would like to join will be invited to the next full council meeting to introduce themselves and talk about why they would like to join. They can then be co-opted on to the council without the need for a formal election.

Anyone interested in finding out more should contact Lisa on [email protected] or Michele on [email protected].