This project aims to build an inclusive and equitable approach to youth voice and youth engagement ensuring the most marginalised and under-represented young people have their voices heard and acted upon across the nine English regions.

Thanks to National Lottery players, the regional youth work units have received funding through The National Lottery Community Fund to help young people experiencing disadvantage reach their potential.

The Network of Regional Youth Work Units has wide ranging expertise across a range of youth engagement. We want to upscale our work enabling the diverse voices of marginalised and disadvantaged young people to change services and policy regionally. This will build a consistent approach, increasing the impact on services designed with, and, for young people. We have collated evidence and case studies on our systems-change work here.

We will be:

Developing our cross-regional collaborations through a rolling programme across the nine English regions. Developing and sharing practice around equity and inclusion focused on young people experiencing poverty, and discrimination.

Creating a programme that incrementally builds practice designed with young people. Sharing the evidence on the most effective ways to engage, build impact and affect change, aligned with across regional needs/variations and starting points.

Collaborating with diverse partners across our networks to conduct a review into existing youth voice and youth engagement and systems change.

Sharing Learning through youth-led peer research, assessing how the models can be scaled and developed across the regions, creating alliances of young people focused on delivering change.

We will facilitate the following:

1. Review the range of models using peer researchers across the regions to interview young people and professionals
2. Run events and training sessions for organisations on the various approaches in place
3. Create resources with young people i.e. podcasts, videos, training resources
4. Set up regional advisory boards across England
5. Learn from the devolved nations about their work
6. Build cross regional partnerships on different themes i.e. global majority groups, care experienced young people depending on needs

We will deliver the following outcomes

Young People

• Under-represented/marginalised young people are able to influence decisions that directly impact their lives.
• Peer researchers have increased research knowledge and skills on gathering data, regarding impact of youth voice on systems-change.

Staff

• Youth sector workforce has increased understanding and skills around youth engagement and systems-change.

Organisations

• Services improve the quality and impact of their approaches to engaging young people and power-sharing, to achieve outcomes.
• Wider Community: Cross-sector regional collaboration in place, driving up the quality and impact of co-production with young people.

 Our Underpinning Principles

•  Systems Change – This work is focused on working with young people who are systemically under-represented, leading to them feeling undervalued, ignored and excluded within society. The work aims to create structures and systems where they are a core part of developing policy and practice solutions. We will work intensely with over 130 young people as paid peer researchers and have wider engagement with 3,500 young people through engagement activities.
• Increase Quality and Capacity – Through this offer we will be supporting 3500+ cross-sector leads to shape and develop their practice, using this engagement to shape services and improve outcomes.
• Benefit Communities across the UK – This work will impact on young people, their wider communities and on policy and practice across regions and the devolved nations, sharing learning, building practice and ultimately enabling the most marginalised young people across the country to feel more connected, valued and included.

The Partners