Welcome to #YouthVoice News and Opportunities – a regular roundup from the world of youthvoice, participation, and influence. This week: #iwill fund for #youthvoice| Govt Youth Strategy latest | Young Voices Heard in Parliament | New Resources x 2 | Votesat16 x 2 free webinars | plus the usual Opportunities – Training and Events | YouthVoice News is produced by Young Voices Heard CIC as a non-profit venture, and edited by a volunteer.
YOUTH VOICE HEARD – NEWS
⚡New #iwillfund (£20m) includes focus on #youthvoice
Young people set to create change on their own terms as £20m #iwill Fund returns | The National Lottery Community Fund – Projects can range from volunteering and mentoring to campaigning and leading community initiatives, with grants available from £30,000 to £5 million.(application deadline 19th Nov),
The #iwillfund has traditionally supported youth social action projects, which in recent years the #iwillmovement has increasingly emphasised should be youthled – “#iwill puts young voices front and centre – giving them the power to influence decisions, shape local services, and lead change both in their neighbourhoods and on a national scale. A new grant round was announced last week, and whilst it requires matched funding, “is especially focused on projects that bring new voices into the social action space – particularly those engaging young people for the first time, led and shaped by young people themselves, and actively challenging negative stereotypes about young people.” Ed
⚡DCMS newsletter promises Youth Strategy report will include an Action Plan, and feedback on #youthvoice consultations reports influence
In the latest DCMS Youth Team newsletter (sign up here) the Government stated that “We are developing a National Youth Strategy to set out a new long-term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this” and will announce/launch “later in the year”. The target group/definition of youth is “10-21 and up to 25 for those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)” were consulted in co-produced process earlier in the and their views will be shared in Todays Youth Tomorrow Nation” and in response to calls for the Govt response to include feedback to #youthvoice in the Youth Strategy, promises references to their views, a ‘you said – we did’ approach.
I hope the report will address what young people have consistently fed-back to decision-makers, that they not only want to get feedback on their input, but they want their voices to be ‘heard and acted on’ more generally by Government and I expect the ‘Todays Youth Tomorrows Nation’ will highlight this, raising expectations that the Youth Strategy Action Plan will include the Govt response and action supporting youth-voice/youth-heard mechanisms at a national and local policy development and decision-making level – watch this space! Ed/JC
⚡New Resource – “Young People are Ready to Lead, but they need our support” survey findings & insights report
“At Big Change, we’ve always believed in the power of young people to reimagine the future. And so, we conducted some research to better understand how they feel about stepping up to the immense challenges they face. After surveying more than 1,300 young people aged 16-28 in the UK in a YouGov survey, we received some encouraging insights. The exciting news is that young people want to create change in their communities and beyond. Young people are ready to lead the way and help solve some of the world’s greatest challenges – but they need our support. Young people are ready to lead, but they need our support | Virgin
⚡New Resource – Democratic engagement toolkit…
The Politics Project, which promotes the democratic engagement of young people, have produced a new resource – At The Table toolkit. Part of the London Voter Registration Week the toolkit has many transferable tools and tips that could be used throughout the UK. Specifically developed for youth practitioners and young people, At The Table is a toolkit for starting conversations about democracy in informal youth settings with young people who feel less connected to democratic processes. It’s full of easy-to-use games, designed to be fun while allowing space for meaningful discussions.
⚡YouthVoiceHeard: in Parliament, on Dyslexia
This week, the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) brought the voices of young people with dyslexia to the heart of Westminster. A new report. Voices for Change, shines a light on the reality that more than one million children in UK classrooms are affected by dyslexia, yet many still go unrecognised and unsupported. Voices for change: young people lead the conversation on dyslexia in Parliament – British Dyslexia Association
⚡YouthVoiceHeard: in Parliament, on fixing the food system!
Last week the Biteback campaign against junk food /advertising supported young people to have their voices heard in Parliament, giving evidence to the Health & Social Care Committee.
Jayda and Alice had a really clear message to the Committee: fix the food system so children and young people can grow up in a society where their health is taken seriously by companies that are set on making a profit irrespective of the cost. Read more about BiteBack, the campaigning charity’s work to support #youthvoice to power.
⚡Votesat16Watch: 2 new free events & 2 #Youth blogs..
⚡Youth Work and Votes at 16 Supporting Young People To Vote: Event/Webinar, by Carole Pugh Designed with policymakers in mind webinar will explore:
✨ How youth work equips young people for political citizenship
✨ The role it could it play in engaging disadvantaged groups of young people
✨ The barriers and policies that limit youth work’s capacity to support political socialisation
✨ How can we maximise youth work’s capacity to ensure that 16-17 year-olds are adequately supported to vote Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 12:00 pm – 1:00 (your local time) Online/Event link:
⚡Will the Kids Be Alright – Implementing Votes at 16, Webinar | 29th Oct, 2-3 pm 29th Oct 2025 | 2.00-3.00. Uni of Leeds in person or Live Stream – details here This seminar will briefly provide an overview of the ‘road to Votes at 16’ before exploring contemporary political and policy debates, and how they inform UK Government’s current approach to lowering the voting age.
⚡#YouthVoice Blog: Votes at 16 are coming, yet millions may still be ignored – Make Votes Matter In this blog Bertie Bramham (Politics student at University of Exeter), notes that many young voters opt for the smaller parties that speak to them, but are less likely to get into power because of the first past the post system. He is part of the Make Votes Matter campaign for Prop Voting in our elections. What do you think?
⚡#YouthVoice Blog – Is 16 Too Young To Get Voting? in the Blog on @ShoutoutUK, Miles Mosheshe, explores the arguments for and against and sets out his view on whats needed next.
⚡Mobilise Your YouthVoice – OPPORTUNITIES (Supporters/Leaders)
⚡13th November Laura Lundy Network Group event – Edinburgh “The Lundy Model Network (LinkedIn Group) are delighted to share our fourth in person gathering on 13th November 2025 at Edinburgh Training and Conference Venue 16 St Mary’s Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SU 🎉 The event is open to organisations with experience of applying the Lundy Model of Participation across teams/ divisions/ departments, and who are able to evidence impact and share resources and expertise. With an opening address from Prof. Laura Lundy and other speakers to be confirmed. Workshops for the day include: Language of participation – Active listening – Vehicles for participation and youth advisory boards – Youth Justice and professional bias. Spaces are limited, so we ask organisations to limit 2 delegates per organisation; there will be 100 delegates in total. There is a charge of £50 to cover the cost of venue, refreshments, and lunch, info on the booking page. Register here. https://lnkd.in/ermadHgy
⚡Centre for Youth Voice – Free Training & Events
November 4th & November 10th – Youth Voice Co-Assessment Tool: An opportunity to learn and help develop our new tool to assess youth voice ahead of the launch in the New Year.
November 13th – Lundy Model Network Gathering: The event is open to organisations with experience of applying the Lundy Model of Participation across teams/ divisions/ departments, and who are able to evidence impact and share resources.
November 25th – Community of Practice: Evaluating Peer Research with Young People: We’re bringing organisations together to look at how we collectively evaluate the impact of peer research.
December 3rd – Authoring Our Own Stories Roundtable: Peer researchers working with Yorks & Humber Youth Work Unit, Youth Focus North West, Youth Focus South West and Partnership for Young London, come together to share key findings and common links across their research projects on a range of themes related to civic identity.
December 9th – Peer Research Toolkit Launch: Join us for the launch of our new Peer Research Toolkit, for organisations looking to involve young people in research.
February 24th – Community of Practice: Evidencing Impact and Change of Youth Voice: We’re bringing organisations together to look at how we collectively evidence the impact of youth voice.
Multiple dates – Involving Young People in Services: Professor Kaz Stuart is delivering three training sessions around creating opportunities, supporting, and evaluating young people’s involvement in services.
- January 13th – Creating High Quality Opportunities for Young People to be Involved in Services
- February 10th – Supporting Young People to be Involved in Services
- March 10th – Evaluating Young People’s Involvement in Services
Multiple dates – Peer Research Toolkit Training: Based on the toolkit, we are delivering 90-minute training sessions on different aspects of the peer research approach, with presentations and Q&As.
- January 20th – Introduction to peer research
- January 27th – Setup, recruitment, budgets of peer research
- February 3rd – Co-designing research aims and questions
- February 17th – Participatory research methods
- March 3rd – Ethics, safeguarding, and data protection
- March 17th – Conducting fieldwork with peer researchers
- April 14th – Involving young people in analysis
- April 28th – Impact and embedding participation
⚡BYC to Youth Council UK – infrastructure org for youthvoice
Although we expect (and hope) that the priority purpose of the revived youth council will still be the voice of young people across the UK, the first round of recruitment targets benefits to organisations supporting youthvoice. Benefits will include: Opportunities to join national forums, working groups, and for your young people to participate in national campaigns; Preferential rates for leadership, governance and safeguarding training; Early access to exclusive resources, and research and policy briefings; Full voting rights, participation in policy consultations, and eligibility for leadership roles; Use of the YCUK Founder Member Mark and profile-raising opportunities.
Youth organisations invited to apply are: national or local youth organisation; youth wings of political parties; any committee, network or body where young people have decision-making or policy-making power; youth participation bodies aligned with government at any level; for example, a youth council, youth parliament or youth forum; youth support bodies or corporates; for example, a youth work unit, an organisation with an interest in youth or youth work, or a ‘for youth’ organisation – but do not have a group of young people setting your policies. They will be following this up with more info on how these founder members can nominate ‘young’ representatives/candidates to its first ‘Board’.
Organisations can register for £50, but will need to pay between £250 – £2000 a year from April, depending on the turnover of the organisation. Full Details here: New Youth Council UK opens membership – National Youth Agency, and includes Q&A and an email for further information. Elections to the Management Exec/Board are scheduled for January.
⚡Mobilise your youthvoice
YOUTH VOICE OPPORTUNITIES
Our pick #youthvoice opportunities. For a broader range of early career/skill-building opportunities, go to our friends’ website, Youth Opportunities | Early Career and Skill Building roles in the UK
If you have a #youthvoice opportunity coming up, drop us a line info@youngvoicesheard.org.uk
⚡Youth Select Committee (UKYP) Call for Evidence: The UKYP Youth Select Committee is conducting a UK-wide inquiry into Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education in secondary schools. Calling all students, educators, PSHE experts and youth organisations from across the UK, have your say now and get in touch to submit evidence. Your written evidence will be heard in Parliament. Previous committees have subsequently called witnesses to give evidence in person, and produced a report with recommendations, to which the Government has produced a written response. Deadline: 5 pm, 13 November 2025 Submit to: youthselectcommittee@parliament.uk Full details: https://lnkd.in/enX4_6_t
- Is PSHE is taught consistently across schools and nations
- How are teachers supported in delivering sensitive topics
- What is the impact of knowledge gaps on adult outcomes
- How can political education be embedded to support democratic participation
- What recommendations would you make to address these issues?
- Read the full terms of reference. (pdf, 53KB)
⚡Youth Council UK – coming soon (Nov-Jan), opportunities to mobilise your #youthvoice to the new national Youth Council as a elected representative on the Management Committee Board or as delegate members to the Youth Council itself, (age 16-25 to be confirmed). The Youth Council is a revival of the British Youth Council which aimed to get youthvoice heard on issues young people care about and acted upon. If you are a member of youth organisation – ask now about whether they are a members, and if you are not in an youth organisation you might like to think about joining one.
⚡Trustee positions – Interested in becoming a trustee? Only 3% of trustees are under the age of 30. Find under-30-friendly trustee boards through the Young Trustees Movement
RECOGNITION
⚡Diana Award – Aged 16-24, nominations open until 31 October.
Do you know a young social activist making a difference? Read our Nomination Guide to see eligibility criteria and learn how to nominate them for the 2026 DianaAwards and help shine a light on their incredible impact.📥 Head to our Nominations Centre to learn how:👉 https://loom.ly/Sqk3kTg
RESOURCES:
⚡Evaluation of UK Youth Parliament 23-25 When DCMS issued a two-year contract to the British Youth Council in 2023, it also commissioned an evaluation of the programme from IFF Research. During this time, BYC closed, and the contract was won by the National Youth Agency for a reduced version in 24/25. (It’s been extended until 25/26 ). The report and recommendations, published this week, makes for interesting reading although its sample size was relatively low and self-selecting – 54 (18%) in Year 1, and 91 (30%) in Year 2 out of circa 300 members. (not all of the 395 seats are taken up by local authorities across the UK).
⚡Youth Voice Annual Census 2025: results The voices of over 8,000 young people (aged 11-30 / UK, surveyed between Mar-June, + 11 focus groups with 72 young people) tell us how they feel about where they live, work, and study. (Youth Employment UK has conducted this census every year since 2018. Click Here for full Report. Key Findings in YouthVoiceNews 17th Sept Crime and violence is now the number one national issue (43%), overtaking leadership (22%) and the economy (38%). Locally, crime (37%) and safety (25%) are also the most common worries.
⚡Youth Voice Poll /Research: Views of 16 and 17-year-olds/ More In Common Aug 25 on Votes at 16 | Voting Intentions | Mental Health and WellBeing | Legacy of Lockdown | School | Vaping Smoking Drinking | Screentime, Social Media | Online Safety |AI | Feminism and Gender Equality | Pride and Patriotism | Monarchy | Climate Change | Boats crossing the Channel |…. and how their priorities diverge on the Big Issues compared with the wider public.Read the full report click : Source and Full Research results and tables: Sunday Times 16-17s Sample 1,000 / GB (Eng/Scot/Wales) 15-20th August 2025
For other YVH recommended resources, go to the www.YoungVoiceHeard.org.uk main website / RESOURCES, or click #YouthVoiceNews – Recommending Reads and Resources for a summary of what’s on the website.