Meet Our New Youth Voice Forum Members
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In 2020, we started our new Youth Voice Forum - a space where young people would come together to help us shape our youth voice commitment and make decisions at all levels, and help us drive positive change. So far, we’ve had over 40 people on board, and the Forum just keeps growing!
Our new pot of members include Rebecca, Finlay, Ellie, Bella, Lipika, and Maymunah. To get to know them a little more, we asked them a few questions about why they got involved and what they’re hoping to achieve. Here’s what they had to say…
What three words would you choose to describe yourself and why?
“Caring, logical, and unique. I care about others and want to make sure that they are okay and also try to understand their viewpoint. I’m logical and can often see a solution to a problem that others can’t. I’m unique because I’m me and there is no other me.” - Rebecca
“Analytical - Loving maths, I blur the impulse to break any problem down into whatever I'm doing. Curious - I always want to know more. Wordy - I'm not often not talking!” - Finlay
“Inquisitive, Responsible, Caring” - Ellie
“Passionate- I advocate for my beliefs and am committed. Warm/friendly- I know that’s two words but oh well…. I like to be approachable and kind to others. Organised- I am too organised for my own good and sometimes that’s to my own detriment.” - Bella
“Driven, well-spoken, confident” - Lipika
“Academic, confident and optimistic. Combined together” - Maymunah
Why did you decide to join the Youth Voice Forum?
“I want to be part of the NCS Youth Voice Forum in 2022 to influence and impact future NCS programmes and to ensure that everyone is thought about when thinking about NCS, particularly disabled people. Being a disabled teen brings a whole new load of challenges on top of being a teen and my experience at NCS was amazing and everyone was so inclusive. I want to make sure that every disabled person’s experience on NCS is as good as mine was. Whilst I was on NCS, I felt included and accepted for who I was and I gained so much confidence and its still one of my fondest memories. However, I think that more could also be done to make the NCS experience more accessible to more people, particularly with information beforehand and ensuring that the language used and activities planned include everyone. Disabled young people still need those life experiences and development and skills that NCS provides. I believe that I will bring a unique perspective and experience and can challenge people on their ways of thinking and make sure that disabled people are also included and thought about when thinking about the future of NCS.” - Rebecca
“I loved my NCS summer experience and want to contribute to making NCS as accessible as possible to as many people as possible.” - Finlay
“To gain experience in dealing with issues, seeing where something can be improved or maintained - I wanted a chance to have a role where it meant I could learn how to notice aspects of an organisation while also learning what to do to take necessary steps - I feel like being in the YFV will give me a good insight into what it takes to make an organisation function well. I also wanted to be apart of decision making for the organisation as I already feel so invested in it due to positive experiences on previous programmes (2021 summer programme, currently doing changemakers) and so any chance to get involved deeper with NCS is an honour. I like to apply and say yes to any opportunity I discover and so I definitely knew I had to apply for this.” - Ellie
“I decided to join the youth voice forum because it is something I am very passionate about. The representation of voices should always be something to be evaluated and I feel this is important to bring about the Change we want to see. The youth forum is also a place to continue the very positive NCS experience I had as well as gain a wealth of knowledge on various areas within the forum.” - Bella
“I love interacting with people and I want to develop my interpersonal skills while creating a positive long-lasting impact on young people who struggle with similar things as me. For me personally, contributing to a discussion about key social/political issues is exciting and fulfilling; the idea being able to do this repetitively on such a massive scale in the Youth Voice Forum would be incredibly rewarding, I love developing critical thinking and confidence skills whilst helping other people do the same through meaningful relationships and interactions.” - Lipika
“I decided to join the YVF this year after seeing an advert by Youth Employment UK. It seemed like a great opportunity which would be worthwhile with my investment. Youth Voice is really important to me, especially since the pandemic in which lockdowns affected many young people like myself. It felt right to deliver back to young people and make their views become a reality.” - Maymunah
How do you hope to create change?
“I believe that I will bring a unique perspective and experience and can challenge people on their ways of thinking and make sure that disabled people are also included and thought about when thinking about the future of NCS.” - Rebecca
“I hope to make change by influencing strategic decisions through decision makers who actively listen, to ensure they're geared towards modern young people.” - Finlay
“I hope to make NCS a more popular thing for young people to do in my area and similar areas where young people aren't always willing to take part in something through the summer. To achieve that, I would hope to create change in how NCS reaches out to young people, and I am definitely interested in the digital side of this, and I also would like to see change in the programmes that are run and expanding and diversifying them but still being realistic and keeping within the budget given to NCS by the government. I think a big part of this will be rolling out more digital opportunities and maybe the possibility of online courses delivered in a multitude of different digital ways.” - Ellie
“I hope to work with others to come to a solution to the problems we see that works for not some…but all. (Something that I’m sure will be a real challenge but I think it’s worth a go) I hope the changes we make as a forum inspire more change, and innovation. Meaning more voices are being used and heard!” - Bella
“On a national or political scale, I hope to create change in the education system one day, more specifically secondary schools and the curriculum. However, in terms of the resources and opportunities the Youth Voice Forum will provide me with, I'd say I hope to create change by contributing to discussions about young people's worries to do with the environment, cost of living and mental health. I hope to integrate critically thought out ideas of secondary school curriculum reform into these discussions with the intent that people in my generation will question the structure of the educational and political system a lot more when reflecting on the past, present and future.” - Lipika
“The central way of making change, for me, is to promote my ideas and visions. I am a firm believer that I have the correct ideas and will indeed transform the lives of many with such a simple action.” - Maymunah
What hope do you have for young people in the future?
“I hope that in the future, young people can be listened to and understood more because they deserve to be listened to and heard. However, I also hope that young people also get to be young people and aren’t constantly having to do ‘adult’ tasks and are able to have fun and be themselves. I hope that all young people feel accepted and included and are able to have positive experiences with their peers and feel like they belong in their community.” - Rebecca
“I hope that young people will have access to open, well-funded services that enable them to reach their full potential via good support and new experiences.” - Finlay
“I think that young people currently are more aware of their own personal debt to themselves to better themselves and carve out their future as we are arguably more independant perhaps than previous generations because of how quickly we have to mature in the world today. So, I have hope that the young people today, by the time they are older, will be more well rounded and developed as people and NCS fits into this by being that initial help to young people in terms of personal and professional help that will boost the confidence in young people to continue on their own personal journeys.” - Ellie
“I hope we can take steps forward, be more inclusive, less judgemental and prejudiced . I hope we can allow diversity and make the world a better place, a safer place. I hope we can live in a world where there is peace, and alternative ideas aren’t considered to be a reason to cause a feud but start a discussion. I want the world to be greener and a much happier place with less suffering. A big ask but sometimes it’s best to aim big.” - Bella
“I hope young people understand the art of discussion and the power of critically thinking and speaking up in front of others with a confident facade (at times). And like I said, I hope they will start questioning educational and political ideas a lot more and be open to debating and discussing various topics that impact all of us, so that our future leaders are not individuals who are scared to critically analyse or evaluate different opinions and structures with the fear of 'saying something wrong'.” - Lipika
“I could hope for a lot of things for young people, but above all things I hope that every young person becomes successful in whichever career path that they decide. I want to see young people with the highest level of confidence and capability to fulfil their dreams and realise that the hard work had paid off in the end. I want youth input in anti-social behaviour to be limited, through this approach of equal action and opportunities for all young people regardless of postcode, gender, ethnicity and other factors/obstacles.” - Maymunah