Young Voices Heard has signed up to the Power of Youth Charter : Five ‘we will’ commitments to – #prioritise opportunities for, #open up decision-making with , #work collaboratively on, #evidence impact from, and #recognise – the power of youth . The Charter is one of the legacies of the Step Up To Serve #iwill campaign for youth social action, which draws to a close this December 2020. In particular we have championed the quality of youth participation “in decision-making, leading and shaping both the activities they are involved in and wider organisational decisions”. We will go further than holding ourselves to account by those young people we work with but will offer an independent youth scrutiny and support service to others signing up and plugging in to the power of youth charter.
James Cathcart, founder of YVH, has pledged throughout the #iwill seven year campaign to champion youthvoice, leadership and participation in organisations, including StepUpToServe itself, completing our final Power of Youth Challenge led by #iwill ambassadors, in September. This resulted in the development of a new independent Quality Mark, assessed independently and verified by young people involved.
The Step Up To Serve Campaign, launched by HRH The Prince of Wales with all party support, has been aiming to increase the number of volunteering opportunities for young people to take meaningful ‘social action’ through volunteering, for example fundraising and campaigning. It has brought together hundreds of organisations and today 4 in 10 young people have been giving their time to help others. It has a network of young ambassadors or role models who are living examples of what the power of youth can achieve. They not only do but call on others to follow. Their challenge to all of us – society, decision-makers and those with power to share, to “listen to us, work with us invest in us”. The Power of Youth Charter is a call to organisations to respond, sign up and not only ‘listen to’ but ‘act upon’ what young people are prioritising with their “power of youth” challenge. It will be up to organisations to hold themselves to account, involving and engaged young people in that process. At Young Voices Heard – we can offer an independent review and evaluation of how organisations live up to their promises, supporting those who need it and celebrating the best!
If you would like support to plan and plug in the power of your youth – get in touch to find out more about our fundraising, mentoring and quality assurance services, using the contact form below.
Click to access PoY_Charter_4pp.pdf