#YouthVoiceNews 4th Dec: Bitesize edition

Welcome to #YouthVoice News and Opportunities – a regular roundup from the world of youthvoice, participation, and influence. This BITESIZE edition has shorter headlines with links for further detail, PLUS regular features like – recommended, opportunities and resources. This week:

• ⭐Welsh Youth Parliament: school safety report, recommendations and reaction
• ⭐Open Youth Infrastructure: co-produced pathway to collaboration
• ⭐Govt Youth Strategy report promised before Xmas
• ⭐Youth Parliament Select Committee takes evidence on PSHE
• ⭐Youth Council UK membership deadline 31st December
• ⭐Votes@16Watch – 53,000 polled by Votes for Schools!
• 👀LinkedIn: Recommended Reads – #youthvoice roundup!
• 👀Opportunities for young people
• 👀Opportunities for supporters
• 👀Centre4YouthVoice
• 🎁Resources

#YouthVoiceNews is produced by Young Voices Heard CIC as a non-profit venture, and edited by a volunteer.

NEWS

⚡ Welsh Youth Parliament ‘Crime & Safety Committee’ report ‘Safe, Included, Heard’ The report, debated by young reps in the Senedd in November, says classroom disruption and poor behaviour are being normalised in schools. The devolved government’s Education Minister responds, and the Children’s Commissioner (Wales) says Govt needs to take their views more seriously. Read more..

⚡What do a Christmas tree, a banana and a bucket all have in common? Answer – the hugely entertaining and informative concluding celebration of The ‘Open Youth Infrastructure’ initiative, which launched a call for more funding and published a series of reports/resources. The evenings co-produced presentations, shared resources and Dragons Den pitches used the props of a Christmas tree (metaphor for the sector/infrastructure) and bucket to put it in (funding needed) and a man in a banana suit (not sure as I was laughing too much!) emphasised the need to share more power with young leaders when developing an open-access culture that connects and empowers across the youth sector going forward. A full report of the launch event and details of the project’s work, including some resources/reports HERE

⚡Youth Parliament’s ‘Youth Select Committee’ on PSHE in secondary schools takes evidence from Dept for Education, ShoutOutUK, PSHE Association and the Sex Education Forum ]  The expert witnesses are due to give evidence on 4th and 5th December in Westminster inquiry over two days, to the twelve-strong panel on – 1/ Whether PSHE is taught consistently across schools and nations 2/ How teachers are supported in delivering sensitive topics, 3/ The impact of knowledge gaps on adult outcomes and 4/ How political education can be embedded to support democratic participation. Their report is expected in March 26. Read more..

⚡Govt Youth Strategy Report Launch – Will it be a Happy Christmas for #youthvoice? Kayleigh Wainwright Head of Youth Strategy Engagement at the DCMS confirmed (at a Parliament Week event) that the delayed report will be published before the Xmas holiday break. The 10-year Youth Strategy will respond to the department’s accompanying youthvoice consultation report ‘Today’s Youth Tomorrow’s Nation’ to be published at the same time. This will include “you said, we did” feedback to young people. One of the key issues young people raised was that they felt their voices hadn’t, but should be, heard by policy and decision-makers. It’s expected to address how this will be achieved. This is an opportunity for the Government to commit to an action plan of ongoing dialogue between it and youthvoice organisations. This could be at both a national and local level, to inform and influence policy issues that young people care about Ed

⚡NYA’s ‘Youth Council UK’ Membership closing date 31 Dec 2025. Join asap to get Exec Committee nomination rights. Youth organisations/Supporting organisations can join and nominate reps (all ages) to a new Executive Committee for an £50 initial fee. The deadline for founder member sign-up and submission of nominations for elections is 31 December 2025.  A  nominations/elections pack with more information about the new structure and roles is due to be circulated “soon” to new members and posted on the information website at NYA YCUK. For more info, contact ycuk@nya.org.uk  Note: timeline for activity is subject to change.

YCUK: Membership / Fee Structure: £50 joining fee and from April 2026 –

Small Organisation – £100, for local or community organisations or groups with fewer than 10,000 young participants or reach;

Medium Organisation – £500 for organisations with between 10,000 and 150,000 young participants, members, or reach.

Large Organisation – £1,500 for organisations with more than 150,000 young participants, members, or reach. This includes devolved nations and UK-wide participation structures.

“We believe no organisation should be excluded due to financial constraints. If needed, special arrangements can be made on a case-by-case basis to ensure participation remains accessible and fair”. NYA

♦ Shout Out UK and Votes for Schools teamed up to host a discussion on Votesat16 in Westminster as part of Parliament Week. Joined by Govt official Peter Holbrook from their Votesat16 democracy team, Kayleigh Wainwright from the Youth Team at DCMS, and Baroness Smith (28) the youngest peer in the Lords , a panel and audience of young people were able to discuss and question how Votes at 16 could be prepared for effectively. Legislation is promised, but with a busy parliamentary timetable, this is unlikely to be before the Christmas recess, and may even await the March 26 King’s Speech for the next Parliamentary term. Awaiting report. VotesforSchools got the views of 53,000 children and young people about preparation for Votesat16. Here are the headline results. Perhaps the surprising result was that amongst secondary age young people, 46% didn’t think their schools should help prepare them to vote at 16? Why? Click here for full results

♦ Youth Work and Votes at 16 Carole Pugh, presents the findings and recommendations from her research into the role of youth work and votes at 16.  The event explored ✨  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. You can watch a recording, which also includes input from Votesat16 academic Andy Mycock and Charlee Brewster (Regional Youth Work Unit/Yors&Humber) HERE and access the Slide Show/Recommendations by browsing Votes@16Resources on the YoungVoicesHeard website.

⚡ Recommended Reads – on LinkedIn / November . Editors pick from  #youthvoice influencers/commentators on LinkedIn. The comments they inspire as just as informative!

⭐Dan Moxon, Researcher, Practitioner & Expert on Youth Participation challenges the sector to “Stop stop treating youth participation as synonymous with child participation”.

⭐Dr Josh Harsant, Head of Youth Voice & Influence Barnardos, The ‘professional’ role of the Youth Participation Worker  – reflections and recommendations,

⭐James Sloam, Professor of Politics at Royal Holloway, Uni of London, on How we can give young people more of a role in local decision-making? PLUS his blog for John Smith Centre Research & Insights series on how we can tackle the democratic deficit – low youth turnout and trust, especially amongst those from low-income backgrounds – by engaging young people in the shaping of public policy between elections.

OPPORTUNITIES to “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

♦ Shout Out UK are holding focus groups for young people aged 12 – 18 to hear from them about their experiences of online misogyny (dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women). We are running two separate sessions, one for girls and one for boys. Each session will be held online and will last an hour. We are offering payment of London Living Wage (£14.80) for one hour for your participation. Parental/Guardian consent will be required for all participants aged under 18. Details as follows: Tuesday 16th December, 6-7pm. Location: Online. Girls’ session, Thursday 18th December, 6-7pm. Location: Online. Boys’ session. All feedback will be treated with strict anonymity. If you would like more details or to sign up for one of the sessions, please email: amelia@shoutoutuk.org Sign up asap

♦ Be the change. Media Network CIC is recruiting members for our new Board of Trustees! all ages welcome (No age range mentioned but CIC usually have to be at least 16 years old)   Details Here  Deadline Dec 12th “We are a fast-growing organisation with a powerful mission to amplify young people’s voices and share underrepresented stories. Through podcasts, blogs, video content, and our upcoming Be the change. Media Academy, we’re building a community where young creators shape the future of media”. Whether you’re in school, early in your career, an industry expert, or someone who really just believes in the power of storytelling, we’d love for you to apply! We welcome trustees from all ages, backgrounds, and lived experiences. Apply here by December 12:https://lnkd.in/ghsx9myn

♦ Student Minds – Trustees 18-30. closing date 15th January 26. Click Youth Opportunities SM for details.

♦Ernest Cook Trust – Advisory Board, paid, Age 15-25 / by 30th November. Click Youth Opportunities ECT for details.

⚡The Patchwork Foundation – free training p/t programme, 30th December, 11 sessions over a 10-month-long programme for 18-30 year olds interested in British politics and civil society. Aimed at communities and individuals who are traditionally underrepresented. “Alongside our Masterclasses, we host skills sessions throughout the year that focus on developing your personal and professional skills, and are led by our Alumni and supporters. These include public speaking, networking, debating, and more”. There is also optional mentoring support. More info and application click here.

If you have a #youthvoice opportunity coming up, drop us a line info@youngvoicesheard.org.uk

⚡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

SUPPORTERS OPPORTUNITIES

⚡Centre for Youth Voice – Free Training and Events timetable

Centre for Youth Voice | Regional Youth Units November newsletter  

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

RESOURCES:

⚡Recommended Read: “Realising the professional role of the youth participation worker” Dr Josh Harsant, Youth & Policy Head of Voice and Influence at Barnardos, Josh Harsant’s article, based on his Phd research and many years of experience, reflects on the distinct role of the Youth Participation Worker, in the context of youth participation in local government and organisational settings. Josh sets out four key functions and makes five recommendations that advocate for a “shift from tokenistic engagement to a culture where youth participation is a shared responsibility and a catalyst for change and innovation.” He calls for young people to be “respected as active citizens and agents of change” concluding that “by better understanding and more fully realising the critical role of the youth participation worker, local authorities and organisations can move towards a model of practice that is inclusive, reflexive, and genuinely transformative”

⚡RCPCH (Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health) launches national standards for children and young people’s engagement in health services. Youthvoice and Influence is active across many sectors, not just youth work settings. The RCPCH &Us initiative has been pioneering youthvoice influence and engagement best practice for over a decade in the health sector, and last week published this set of National Standards.    Emma Sparrow, RCPCH’s Service Lead for c&yp engagement, said, “We’ve looked at 35 other participation charters or models, 30 pieces of statutory guidance and legislation and created a new set of standards for the UK. These standards will help to build engagement plans and work in true partnership with children and young people in wards, units, trusts or projects.” LinkedIn

⚡ Resource/ Training – Gamifying Democracy, The Politics Project

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.