Having had personal experiences of the impact volunteers make during a six month spell in and out of hospital, I was inspired to give back to my local community. Many young people may find it difficult to find volunteering positions that are flexible around their studies and other commitments or available for their age group. However, with research and patience, voluntary work can have a lasting impact on your life and outlook.
My first real volunteering position was through an amazing charity called the Lions Club, which has groups globally and, whether in Birmingham or Brazil, there is always a Lion willing to help. On a local scale, I was thrilled to help run the Lions’ “Talking Newspaper”, which is a recording of volunteers reading key stories from local newspapers so that the visually impaired can feel more connected to their town events. Although I am the youngest volunteer in my unit by a couple of decades, the knowledge and confidence that I have gained through working alongside other passionate individuals was a brilliant experience and I have learnt immensely from their wisdom and generosity. Whether through being an elf on the Christmas markets or realising that we were giving away rare Beanie Boos on a raffle, the Lions have offered me an insight into how a collective goal can result in real change on such a dramatic level, not only assisting personal cases within a local community but also working towards improving eyesight in children globally and diabetes care.
Volunteering through an amazing tutoring organisation called MentorJr has allowed me to build a long term connection with younger pupils and watch them flourish and begin to revel in learning. Initially established by sixth form students from Godolphin and Latymer School in London, MentorJr aims to bridge the educational gap and offer free weekly tutoring sessions online with older students. The young people who volunteer their time each week are truly remarkable and their expertise and joy at helping their younger peers is palpable. My personal experience of tutoring twin seven year old boys has not only taught me very important patience skills but also how to adapt complex information for different audiences and ensure that they understand the lessons. Aside from the satisfaction of watching them begin to understand topics they previously struggled with, the bond I created with the boys is amazing and I began to look forward to seeing their huge smiles every week and hearing about how well they were doing in school. Even if it was only for one hour a week, I felt that I was part of a larger movement and taking small steps to help younger pupils achieve their educational dreams without the need for payment or travelling.
Another amazing charity that young people are encouraged to get involved with is “Kissing it Better”, an organisation aiming to reduce loneliness within the older population through weekly Zoom calls with young people from all over the world. “Kissing it Better” offers the amazing chance to learn about different generations’ experiences through adversities such as war, pandemics and things as simple as their schooling experience. Learning about the experiences of older people allows young people to become more aware of different generations’ needs and promotes sensitivity. Not only does it help older people feel connected to today’s youth and learn about things such as social media and the modern school system’s pressure of GCSEs, it also offers young people a fascinating insight into history and encourages them to use their listening skills with older people in their own lives.
Brownies, Rainbows and Girlguiding also allow anyone over the age of fourteen to get involved with helping their younger members through assisting sessions. My personal experience of volunteering with my local Brownies allowed me to take part in fun activities such as sparklers, making smores, and arts and crafts. The relationships I created with the girls made me excited to return every week and help to provide joyful memories and lots of laughs that they will remember into the future.
Volunteering as a young person requires regular commitment and passion for helping. The beauty of volunteering is that it does not require any particular skills, just willingness to help and dedication. I would encourage any young person to get involved with some of the amazing opportunities available to them, both locally and nationally as many have become more accessible due to becoming online in the pandemic.
The world of youth volunteering can be incredibly daunting. Young people searching for an initial voluntary programme can often feel as if they are constantly met with barriers of age, qualification and experience. Consequently, volunteering can feel like an impossible field to enter. I wanted to highlight my journey into youth activism and show it is never too late to start making your voice heard and to represent other young people.
Before going to university, my experience of youth representation was limited. I had participated in equality, diversity and inclusion services as part of my sixth form college, and had been a school prefect, but I had not participated in any external services. However when I arrived at university, a few factors made me want to find ways to speak up and represent the opinions and experiences of children and young people on a larger scale. Firstly, I began to understand more about the negative experiences that my parents and my non-verbal autistic brother have faced with the NHS children and young people’s service. This stemmed from a lack of understanding from clinicians on my brother’s needs, as well as inflexible treatment plans that disallowed the individual variations that are intrinsic to neurodivergent children and young people. This felt particularly frustrating as my brother is unable to articulate these injustices himself. I felt a responsibility to represent his viewpoint and to pioneer for change.
Another significant motivator to get involved in youth activism for me was my exposure to the health inequalities experienced by LGBTQIA+ individuals within healthcare systems. In medical school, I was exposed to some of the alarming healthcare outcomes for LGBTQIA+ individuals within our healthcare system. In parallel to this, I was shocked by a lack of understanding by clinicians and fellow medical students. I found that this was primarily due to a lack of education on the mechanisms contributing to these inequalities, and an absence of LGBTQIA+ narratives within healthcare. I wanted to do something to raise awareness of the healthcare stories of queer youth, and to advocate for education on the health inequalities experienced by marginalised groups within our healthcare systems. These two factors propelled me to look for ways in which I could make a change outside of my university and social spheres.
As I began this process, I felt as if I was already behind. As a 19-year-old, I had missed out on a lot of the youth voice programmes designed for school-age individuals, and was too young and inexperienced to join many of the more structured advocacy services within the NHS. When I found the NHS Youth Forum, I recognised that this service offered exactly what I wanted. This would give me the opportunity to have my voice represented on a much larger scale, and to collaborate with other young people on projects that I was incredibly passionate about. I got through to the interview stage, and felt very intimidated by the amount of lived experience that the other people in my interview had. When I was initially not accepted onto the forum, this did not come as a surprise to me, as I felt as if I did not have enough experience for the programme. Although this was disappointing, I felt as if I could continue to work on a smaller scale within my university to tackle some of the inequalities I was passionate about fighting against. However, a few weeks later, I got an email asking if I was still interested in the forum. I was incredibly excited to get involved. I am now part of the NHS Youth Forum, and I am enjoying my time incredibly.
There are still times when I do feel my lack of experience. In spite of this, I remind myself of why I am there. I am passionate about standing up for what I believe is right, and this is independent of the amount of experience I have had.
There are three main points that I can take from my journey into youth volunteering. Firstly, it is never too late to enter into activism. Regardless of your experience or your prior knowledge, if you have a passion for something, there are ways in which you can pursue it. Secondly, resilience is paramount to success. You will have times when you feel as if the voluntary field is inaccessible, but if you can pick yourself up and continue to engage with every opportunity that you encounter, you will find a way for your voice to be heard. Finally, if you do feel that something is wrong, you have the ability to take action. Your voice is more powerful than you think.
I am now working on a project within the Youth Forum to identify youth perceptions and priorities in the field of healthcare inequalities. These will then be compared to the views of clinicians to identify differences in opinions. This work involves representing many of the inequalities that motivated me to enter youth volunteering and I am incredibly excited to see the potential impact of this vital project.
The British Youth Council are delighted to welcome new charities minister, Nigel Huddleston MP, who will take on responsibility for youth policy at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport following the departure of Baroness Barran MBE who has been in charge of the brief since November 2018 and has moved to the Department for Education in the latest reshuffle. The reshuffle also comes shortly after the closure of the Office for Civil Society which will now form part of the Civil Society and Youth Directorate within the department.
Commenting on the appointment of the new minister, Sarah Staples, Chair of British Youth Council said: “The British Youth Council are looking forward to working with the new minister to ensure young people’s voices remain at the heart of government decision making.
“Young people are passionate about seeing social and political change in the UK so we’ll continue to work with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to ensure young people’s voices are heard and their concerns are addressed.”
The charity, which is led by young people, will write to welcome the Minister to the new role, however, it will also reiterate its concerns for the size of the brief which will include other responsibilities. It is the organisation’s long-standing belief that the Government should appoint a Minister solely responsible for young people. Successive Governments have ignored cross-party support for the reintroduction of the role which has been vacant since 2010.
Osaro Otobo, Deputy Chair of the British Youth Council said: “We’ve made repeated attempts with successive governments, to make the case for a dedicated Minister for Young People.
“The brief has become much bigger again under this new appointment so we’ll continue to request further reassurances that the size of the brief won’t result in young people’s priorities being ignored. It cannot be right that policy relating to young people will be coupled with so many other departmental priorities.”
We will also use this as an opportunity to highlight the most important issues facing young people living in the UK. The British Youth Council has been highlighting the climate emergency, continued child poverty, lowering the voting age to 16 and mental health since the last general election. The British Youth Council have worked under various government departments since 2011 to deliver the UK Youth Parliament programme, which is currently supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The programme aims to give young people the opportunity to influence public decision-making at a local and national level through democratic representation.
UK Youth Parliament is working alongside Friends of the Earth to lobby politicians, calling on the government to address the climate emergency and put a stop to non-essential single-use plastics by 2025. As part of the campaign, Members of Youth Parliament have published an open letter to the Rt Hon Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park, the Minister responsible for the Pacific and the Environment.
In the letter, members are calling on the Minister to accept an amendment that asks the government to set a target to reduce plastic in the ocean by October 2022. The amendment, which has the support of a number of Lords already, has been sent ahead of the debates which are set to take place in the House of Lords. The open letter forms part of a public demand for action from a huge cross-section of young people who are passionate about the future of the UK.
Speaking on behalf of UK Youth Parliament, Safaa Shreef, said: “To address the climate emergency, robust and long-lasting action is required from decision-makers in government. Young people have been clear, we must tackle the climate emergency and put a stop to non-essential single-use plastics.
“We’re calling on Zac Goldsmith to not only acknowledge the amendment being put forward for the Environment Bill but welcome it. We have an important opportunity to confront the plastics crisis head-on with a clear target to reduce plastic pollution through this legislation. Let’s not miss this crucial chance to deliver meaningful change!”
Friends of the Earth plastics campaigner, Camilla Zerr, said: “It’s been nearly four years since Blue Planet’s shocking episode on plastics hit our screens and the UK government has yet to take effective action on most of the top ten types of plastic pollution harming our oceans. A recent survey revealed that Brits are more concerned about plastic pollution than ever, with more than two-thirds thinking plastic pollution is just as bad, or worse than it was before the pandemic began.
“Young people are fighting to ensure their future is not suffocated in unnecessary plastics. Zac Goldsmith has a unique opportunity to turn the tide on the plastics crisis by supporting a new target to reduce plastic pollution in the Environment Bill.”
Earlier this year, UK Youth Parliament launched their national campaigns calling on the government to address the climate emergency, mental health concerns and access to higher education. The year-long campaigns are set to challenge decision-makers to do more to ensure young people’s mental health is prioritised in the coming year, to create free, lifelong and inclusive higher education and lastly to stop non-essential single-use plastics by 2025.
Members of Youth Parliament believe the climate emergency remains one of the biggest threats to our planet. Amongst many other issues, members across the country have agreed plastic pollution will have a serious impact on our current and future generations. The group of outspoken young people have stated national and local leaders in government must act to halt the impact of climate change with young people’s voices at the centre of decision making.
UK Youth Parliament’s priorities are informed by its annual ballot of young people across the UK. The ‘Make Your Mark’ ballot, which was coordinated by the British Youth Council and supported by UK Parliament, concluded young people felt the climate emergency was one of their top priorities.
The British Youth Council are searching for the next young leaders of social and political change in the UK. The youth-led charity is looking for people aged 16-25 who are motivated by a belief in the work of the British Youth Council to achieve our vision of the world where all young people are respected and able to influence and inform decisions that affect their lives or on which they have strong opinions.
The national youth council plays a key role in bringing young people together to challenge decision makers, more recently focussing on the climate emergency, mental health, ending child poverty and lowering the voting age to 16. The British Youth Council is also known for its long-standing support of campaigns for equality, with outspoken work on anti-racism, trans rights and other important social issues.
The British Youth Council really is governed by young people for young people. Our board of trustees is made up of 13 people who are elected or appointed. The board not only sets the strategic direction of the organisation, but they also monitor progress, shape our activities and act as ambassadors and spokespeople for our members and young people living across the UK. Trustees play a key role in safeguarding the charities vital advocacy work so it can continue to support young people to get involved in their communities and democratically locally, nationally and internationally.
Although the first goal of a trustee is to serve your peers and the British Youth Council, it is also a way to build experience and networks, develop a broad range of skills and help shape the future of a world where all young people have a say and are heard.
Find out more about joining the British Youth Council’s Board of Trustees
The British Youth Council are searching for the next young leaders of social and political change in the UK. The youth-led charity is looking for people aged 16-25 who are motivated by a belief in the work of the British Youth Council to achieve our vision of the world where all young people are respected and able to influence and inform decisions that affect their lives or on which they have strong opinions.
The national youth council plays a key role in bringing young people together to challenge decision makers, more recently focussing on the climate emergency, mental health, ending child poverty and lowering the voting age to 16. The British Youth Council is also known for its long-standing support of campaigns for equality, with outspoken work on anti-racism, trans rights and other important social issues.
The British Youth Council really is governed by young people for young people. Our board of trustees is made up of 13 people who are elected or appointed. The board not only sets the strategic direction of the organisation, but they also monitor progress, shape our activities and act as ambassadors and spokespeople for our members and young people living across the UK. Trustees play a key role in safeguarding the charities vital advocacy work so it can continue to support young people to get involved in their communities and democratically locally, nationally and internationally.
Although the first goal of a trustee is to serve your peers and the British Youth Council, it is also a way to build experience and networks, develop a broad range of skills and help shape the future of a world where all young people have a say and are heard.
Find out more about joining the British Youth Council’s Board of Trustees
Yesterday a former US Police Officer was convicted of murder after the death of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis. The verdict, which was a historic moment, comes following almost a year of increased protesting seeking to address police brutality across the globe.
The British Youth Council remains angered by the abhorrent murders of Black Americans in the United States. The youth-led organisation called on decision makers to bring an end to anti-Black police brutality in the UK, as part of wider efforts to address the longstanding problems of racism and injustice.
Grassroots campaigners and young people demand an approach that addresses the root causes of the issues facing Black communities. The British Youth Council further believes we must listen to, and support, Black communities who have outlined how we end the global pandemic of anti-Black police brutality.
Speaking on behalf of the charity, Osaro Otobo, Deputy Chair of the British Youth Council said: “The death of George Floyd shook people across the globe, and yesterday’s verdict will serve as a historic moment for people for years to come.
“It’s imperative we do not lose sight of the need to continue to address deep-rooted racism in the United States and here in the United Kingdom. If we are to end anti-black police brutality in the UK, we must take steps dismantle and overhaul a system which enables racism and injustice.”
The charity feels it is reductive for representatives of the UK Government to acknowledge these events without recognises the clear evidence of systemic racism in this country too. With this in mind, the national youth council has called on the UK Government to reject the findings in the report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities and acknowledge the deep-rooted and systemic racism in the UK.
Following a year-long series of projects the NHS England Youth Forum have released reports and resources which encompass their drive to address the issues young people face in healthcare. The reports and resources focus on trans and non-binary rights in healthcare, health inequalities and the experiences of young people with special educational needs and disabilities or long term conditions in educational settings.
Speaking on behalf of the NHS England Youth Forum, Haris Sultan said: “Working collectively with so many passionate young people across the country despite COVID-19 to produce these resources and reports has been so rewarding. The work we’ve been able to produce is direct evidence that when you include young people’s voices at the heart of important and pressing issues, we will not only highlight the issues but find the solutions too.
“We’ve been able to produce three reports on vital issues such as trans and non-binary rights in healthcare, health inequalities for minority ethnic communities and medical education and the experiences of children and young people with special educational needs and/or long-term conditions.
“Young people and professionals working in a healthcare environment now have a set of resources that will lead to young people to having much better experiences and will shape the health system of tomorrow”
The NHS England Youth Forum is made up of 25 young people from across England. The Forum is delivered by the British Youth Council and works in partnership with NHS England to challenge and feed in ideas and solutions regarding health care and services. The British Youth Council established the NHS England Youth Forum in 2014 believing professionals in healthcare could and should do things differently to engage young people in the NHS and to amplify the voice of 15 million under 20-year-olds across England.
About the campaign
In 2020’s Make Your Mark ballot young people voted for free university as one of their top 3 priorities for the coming year. UK Youth Parliament will be campaigning alongside the National Union of Students (NUS) to create a campaign for free, lifelong and inclusive education and advocate for the Government to adopt it as we move forward into Covid-19 recovery.
We’ll be working with you to listen to young people, create a manifesto for inclusive education and campaign so that education is given the attention it deserves by decision makers locally and nationally in the coming year.
Campaign Detail
The NUS have developed resources to run “Transforming Education” events. You can run these in your school or town hall. At this event you’ll work with other young people to create a “Manifesto for Inclusive Education which we’ll then use to advocate for an inclusive vision of education moving forward. We’ll work with politicians from across parties to host a Parliamentary event campaigning for the vision we develop together.
University and Education Facts and Statistics
- In 2020, students graduating from English universities will have incurred an average of £40,280 of student loan debt, compared with £24,960 in Wales, £23,520 in Northern Ireland, and £13,890 in Scotland.
- The value of outstanding student loans at the end of March 2020 reached £140 billion
- In 2020 interest rates on student loans continued to rise. In September they went from 5.4% to 5.6%.
- NUS estimate that around 20% of students have been unable to access their learning at all during covid-19, and 33% do not believe it to have been good quality.
- In 2019, a 26 percent black attainment gap existed between the proportion of ‘top degrees’ (first or a 2:1 degree) achieved by white students and students of colour.
Download resources
UK Youth Parliament launched their national campaigns calling on the government to address the climate emergency, mental health concerns and access to higher education. The year-long campaigns are set to challenge decision makers to do more to ensure young people’s mental health is prioritised in the coming year, to create free, lifelong and inclusive higher education and lastly to stop non-essential single-use plastics by 2025.
A Spokesperson for the UK Youth Parliament said: “Young people have a clear ambitious vision for our future, and it’s important decision makers take action to address our concerns as we commence our recovering from this global pandemic.
“In our vision for a better society young people have been clear they want action on the climate emergency, they wish to see young people’s mental health given the attention it deserves and a government that invests in the young people of today by providing free university education.”
Members of Youth Parliament believe the climate emergency remains one of the biggest threats to our planet. Amongst many other issues, members across the country have agreed plastic pollution will have a serious impact on our current and future generations. The group of outspoken young people have stated national and local leaders in government must act to halt the impact of climate change with young people’s voices at the centre of decision making.
Mental health has remained a priority repeatedly for young people across all nations with the issue reoccurring as a top priority on six occasions within UK Youth Parliament’s annual ballot since 2011. Research from the British Medical Journal revealed deterioration in mental health is clearest among families already struggling, reinforcing concerns from young leaders that mental health must be kept at the heart of the government’s approach to pandemic recovery.
UK Youth Parliament have also joined forced with other campaigners to reiterate the importance of providing free higher education in England. The youth-led pressure group, believe that university is a gateway to success in life and should be freely available to all. The campaign intends to call for reforms to access to universities to prevent young people suffering financial hardship and not reaching their full potential.
Each of the campaigns have come about following UK Youth Parliament’s annual ballot of young people across the UK. The ‘Make Your Mark’ ballot, which was coordinated by the British Youth Council and supported by UK Parliament, concluded young people felt access to higher education should remain free as a priority.