#YouthVoiceNews 27th August

Welcome to #YouthVoice News and Opportunities – a regular roundup from the world of youthvoice, participation and influence

This week: | Big Five mobilise #YouthVoice for Party Conferences |Junk food campaign – BiteBack Bounce Back | Awards | Rec Reads: Bangladesh, USA | plus our usual features &  Youth Opportunities | YouthVoice News is produced by Young Voices Heard CIC as a non-profit venture, and edited by a volunteer.

YOUTHVOICE HEARD – NEWS

⚡Big Five mobilise #youthvoice for party conferences.

 

“Using Your Voice to Influence Policy Change” residential prepares children and young people to lobby the party conference season.

Five national children’s charities, NSPCC’s (Young People’s Board for Change and The Collective), Barnardo’s, The Children’s Society, National Children’s Bureau and Action for Children hosted a three-day residential to prepare to lobby at this year’s party conference. Over three days, they explored their skills and values, learned how to influence policy, and shaped the key messages they want to take to MPs, ministers and sector leaders. Priorities like stronger mental health support, tackling child poverty, and creating safer, more supportive education environments came through loud and clear. The event was backed by Children at The Table/ Children’s Charities Coalition, formed in advance of last year’s General Election to “amplify the voices of children and young people, taking them directly to Parliament to ensure that key political leaders are held to account”.  

Comment: Charities, Campaigners, Activists traditionally lobby party conferences, and many support young voices to be heard at fringe meetings and sometimes in private meetings. The YouthZone has a track record of pooling resources to coordinate these efforts at some of the bigger conferences. It’s always something of a challenge to know which politicians and audiences to target at these events, and it depends on how the Govt of the day organises its departments. There was a time (pre-2013) when much of children/youth policies were under one Minister at the Department of Education. Children’s charities like the ones above sat around the table with youth sector charities like the National Youth Agency and UK Youth to meet one Minister. The multi-million lottery-funded Participation Works Coalition at this time was a mixture – NYA, NCB, Save The Children, NCVYouthServices, Children’s Rights Association Eng and BYC. After all – the age range for children (up to 18) and youth services (11-19 and up to 25 with special needs) overlap, and many of the issues were common eg mental health. The British Youth Council’s membership spanned both. However the landscape has changed considerably but the #youthvoice, #participation and #influence continues to evolve. So in the year when BYC closed (Mar24) the emergence of this active coalition of the big five children’s charities, with an impressive list of over 140 supporting organisations (including NYA) is going some way to fill the policy influence space, especially at the younger end of the age range. To what extent have they been able to engage with the DCMS Youth Strategy consultation and feature in its report when it addresses the expectation of young people to have their voices heard on policy issues. Whilst young campaigners and activists will continue to lobby political parties separately and with focus on specific topics, there should also be an ongoing mechanism of dialogue with the Government to debate and discuss policy solutions and consultation –  equal at the policy table. To what extent have the younger children’s voices been able to engage with DCMS Youth Strategy consultation to ensure all young voices are heard going forward, and to what extent are the two Ministers (Children’s Minister at DfE) and Youth Minister (DCMS) working together? I’m looking forward to what the Youth Strategy consultation and Govt response say about this as the focus on youthvoice in public life will come into sharper focus with the lowering of the voting age to 16? [JC/Ed]

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⚡BiteBack “bounce back” to ramp up campaign against junk food advertising

Charity Biteback, supported by TV Chef Jamie Oliver, was featured in YouthVoicesNews 25/6 when its #youthled billboard campaign advert against advertising junk food was blocked by advertising companies as ‘political’. Despite this, many have displayed the adverts in other places – featuring the message “Sorry, not sorry, junk food giants – I support giving kids a #CommercialBreak.”  They have bounced back on a wave of public sympathy and are calling on supporters to contact their local MP using a template letter. Read more in Children Young People Now’s recent coverage HERE,  or direct to their website for more information about this #youthled campaign and how to support it.

⚡16-30? Next Gen Conference (UK youth in democracy) 18th Oct / Ministry of Sound

UK #youthvoice charity My Life My Say is taking over Ministry of Sound for  “Next Gen 2025”, its annual UK youth democracy conference at the iconic venue Ministry of Sound [perhaps one day we will have a Ministry of Youth to match! Ed]  “We’re blending youth culture, politics, creativity, and community in a way that only young people can and you’re invited to be part of it. Expect powerful conversations, inspiring speakers, live music, and a whole lot of energy. 🎟️ Aged 16-30? Grab your ticket now: https://lnkd.in/e5g6SefD 👇 Got a group of young people who should be in the room? Partners looking to get involved, email George at george@mlms.org.uk Let’s make this a day to remember.

⚡Award Opportunities / Campaign4YouthRecognition

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Changemaker of the Year Award with a grant up to £1000 available for the young winner. Age range 18-30. “At My Life My Say we see first hand that young people are already shaping our world through advocacy. What they need is recognition and financial support to advance their journey. That’s why we’re proud to re-launch the Changemaker of the Year Award – an award by young people, for young people. This award will recognise a young leader who has gone above and beyond to make a difference in their community, drive social change, and inspire others along the way. The winner will receive up to £1,000 to support their journey as a changemaker. The award will be announced at our flagship event, the Next Gen Conference 2025. The best thing? The process has been devised to be entirely youth-led and open. Find out more about the conference and the award (scroll past conference) and how to nominate someone here: https://lnkd.in/ebexVxDy  Deadline for nominations: Friday 12th September.

⚡The Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Trust (QECT) is delighted to launch the QECT 100 Young Leaders Awards, a landmark programme to celebrate the enduring legacy of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and her lifelong commitment to empowering young people across the Commonwealth. Building on the inspiration of the Queen’s Young Leaders Awards, this new initiative will recognise 100 exceptional changemakers from across the 56 Commonwealth countries who are driving positive change in their communities. These Awards mark what would have been Her Majesty’s 100th birthday in April 2026, honouring her dedication to youth leadership, service, and innovation. Applications are now open until 8th October 2025. We encourage all young leaders who are making an impact – whether through education and employability, environment, health, food and agriculture, and inclusion – to step forward and apply for this prestigious recognition. For more information and to apply, please visit: https://www.queenscommonwealthtrust.org/100yla

⚡Kings Birthday (2026) Honours nominations – deadline 19th September – See last weeks YouthVoiceNews19thAug for details and support on how to nominate so that we can boost the number of youngleaders/youthvoice champions on the Youth Honours List.

⚡Recommended Reads – international

⚡Bangladesh: Youth Voice Mechanism being established to inform and influence Govt Policy

YVM launched to raise young people’s voices in decision-making (reports Daily Sun) “Marking the International Youth Day, the government and the United Nations system launched on Thursday the design phase of a Youth Voice Mechanism (YVM) for Bangladesh. This innovative platform aims to amplify the voices of young people in Bangladesh in policy development and governance processes, ensuring their active participation in shaping the country’s future, said a press release”. The initiative is being led by the Ministry of Youth and Sport with UN support. More info here.

⚡International Spotlight USA – Blog in the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint 

The Youth Voice Shouldn’t Be Optional — It Should Be Mandatory – The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint  Reflecting on the unheard youthvoice in policy making across the USA, whilst highlighting examples of good practice. “We speak about their future, legislate around their needs, and implement policies that will directly shape the trajectory of their lives—but rarely do we fully invite them into the room. And even when we do, it’s often symbolic. A token seat, a moment at the mic, a photo op for the press. That isn’t inclusion. Its performance. – Let’s be clear: the youth voice shouldn’t be optional. It should be mandatory.”

In other news.. you may have missed

⚡Centre for Youth Voice Relaunch 30th Sept – invite

The Centre For Youth Voice will relaunch on 30th September 4 -6 pm. Details and invitation Here. This event will be hosted by Young Ambassadors and the Network of Regional Youth Work Units. The event will launch the new website, profile the training offers and resources that will be available for practitioners and young people, as well as discuss areas for future development. (see YouthVoiceNews 18th Aug for more info.)

⚡Govt Honours Team call for nominations – deadline 19th Sept

The Honours Team responsible for social care awards (DCMS) is calling for nominations to be submitted by 19th Sept, for next summer’s King’s Birthday Honours 2026, particularly those from under-represented groups. YVH has been campaigning for more young leaders/changemakers/campaigners to be nominated in recognition of their exceptional contributions as change-makers and to inspire others. Click here for details and access Young Voices Heard resources and Case Studies, to submit your nomination.

⚡NYA call for organisations to register an “Expression of Interest to learn more about becoming an organisational member of the new National Youth Council” (to replace the British Youth Council)

The National Youth Agency’s next steps in their plans for the restoration of a replacement body for the British Youth Council (which closed in March 2024) include an invitation to organisations to register their EOI asap. They had previously facilitated a consultation process during 2024, resulting in a report (What the Future Holds) and recommendations published in March 2025. Their Young Consultants helped to design the process. Since then, Lloyd Russell-Moyle (former MP and trustee of BYC) was appointed as a consultant to help deliver the follow-up. A Youth Advisory Group and an Expert Advisory Group were recruited (both by invite or nomination, it’s not clear yet who they are) have been “working collaboratively between March and July 2025 to co-design a sustainable and inclusive infrastructure for the new Council.”  NYA have now posted an update on their website including the invitation to ‘organisations’ across the UK to register an Expression of Interest to learning more about becoming an organisational member of the new National Youth Council. If your organisation is passionate about supporting young people to shape national decision-making, we encourage you to register your interest HERE and be a part of this exciting new chapter.”

We’ve written to those leading this process for some more information and are still waiting for an update … but you can use the Register of Int form to at least get on their mailing list and use the space in the short form to ask any questions.

SHOULD YOU REGISTER? IS THIS YOU? see last weeks YouthVoiceNews for our take on some Q&As going forward. 

I’m expecting NYA will still host a meeting in November to consider draft proposals. This has previously been referred to as an “Annual Council Meeting”, though that implies that some sort of interim membership structure/constitution has been drafted to cover the terms of the ACM? Whatever the proposed arrangement with Government, the nations and other stakeholders – on issues such as governance, hosting, funding, independence, right to campaign, and international representation, the consequent pathway to independence will include several steps that will ultimately hand over authority and power to a youth-led structure, accountable, as before, to its young members, supported and backed by host organisations. (NYA have stated they have no long-term ambition to manage a National Youth Council)

The Government have so far not responded to the NYA’s call for core funding or responded to the report’s recommendations. We are still the only country in the Commonwealth or Europe not to have an official/government-recognised Youth Council. Young Voices Heard has asked the DCMS Youth Strategy team if the role of a youth council and Govts commitment to meet with it regularly are included in the Youth Strategy. A national listen to a national voice in meaningful dialogue would provide a focal point for next steps being facilitated by NYA. JC/Ed]

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⚡Votes at 16 Watch

New Minister ? It’s been three weeks since Rushanra Ali MP, who was responsible for introducing Votes at 16 legislation in the next term, resigned. Parliament is in recess, but the Government business carries on. However, some candidates may also be on holiday. The Ministerial role was ‘Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Homelessness and while the role of Building Safety Minister, which was part of Ali’s wider portfolio, has been filled by Alex Norris MP, the key ministerial position for homelessness and democracy remains vacant at this time (18th Aug). The role was “Rough Sleeping at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government” – no mention of democracy reform in the title. However, it was one of the roles responsibilities.  Ali had a track record of supporting young people and had made herself available to meet young campaigners, and was committed to working alongside the youth in the democracy sector on plans for legislation and roll-out. She was familiar with the youth sector, having founded the youth leadership charity “Uprising”.

However, a new Minister is more likely to be someone with a history or experience of housing issues such as Jas Athwal MP, (Ilford South 2024), a former leader of Redbridge Council will be well-versed in the practical challenges of housing, a key part of the ministerial brief, or Danny Beales MP, (Uxbridge and South Ruislip 2024) a former councillor, was formerly a Cabinet Member for New Homes, Jobs, and Community in Camden. He experienced homelessness twice as a young person.

⚡New Blog in Nouse – Mixed views on impact at the next General Election – Government plans to lower voting age across the UK – Nouse