A poetic summary of the Joined Up Summit

The first Joined Up Summit saw experts and decision-makers from across youth work, health and education and more gather together in a bid to transform outcomes for young people across the country. 

The summit, in Birmingham welcomed more than 500 leaders and decision-makers from the worlds of employment, social care, criminal justice, business and the Government – including Dame Rachel de Souza, Children’s Commissioner for England – as well as health, education and youth work, alongside 16-25-year-olds, in a bid to build a brighter future for young people, by putting their needs first. 

The day – co-created by a team of young producers – was based around the four themes of Our Potential, Our Communities, Our Power and Our Wellbeing. Sessions and workshops at the event at The Vox Conference Venue included Empowering Futures: Colloboration through sport and apprenticeships to support youth employability, by the Coach Core Foundation, and Community-led Change: The strength of a place-based approach to improving outcomes for young people, by Right to Succeed, alongside young people-led Ted talks and co-creation labs.

And one of the highlights of the day saw spoken word artist Nathan Parker, who has a background in youth work, close the event with a poetic summary of the day, which we present here in full.

A warm buzz radiating, 

The Vox venturously vibrating, 

For the Joined Up Summit, 

With UK Youth and #iwill, 

And its purpose was clear, 

To bring people together, 

Amidst challenging times of division and fear. 

An unmistakeable energy, 

Filled the room. 

The tone was set by beautiful choir of COREUs 

A delight for our ears to consume. 

Reminding us why we came. 

The sang, happy, in song, 

And, even with the early start, 

Soon had us clapping along. 

A warm welcome from our hosts, 

Who posed questions within the housekeeping, 

Giving us a purposeful role for the day, 

And some of the solutions we might be seeking. 

What has had the biggest impact? 

And how can it be scaled? 

Unleashing power, centred in experience and perspective, 

To move away from silo-thinking – which has failed… 

Too many young people. 

And this point was highlighted further, 

By Dame Rachel De Souza, 

Who emboldened us to be brave, 

Her message ambitious and driving, 

To transform the overlooked to the heard, 

The failing to the thriving. 

To work with, 

Not for or to, 

To understand what is crucial to change is young people, 

Who can inform what leaders should do. 

Youth work isn’t a service – it’s a lifeline, 

And so many of us here know this to be true. 

The importance of listening, 

No matter how hard it might be. 

To then act, 

Based on the actual reality, 

That youth voice enables us to see. 

This nation needs to love its children, 

To promote connection within our ability to cope. 

Because perhaps the antidote to apathy and anger, 

Is happiness and hope. 

The themes for the day, 

Transcended our break our spaces. 

A stacked agenda, 

New voices, insights and faces. 

Our potential, our power, 

Our communities and well-being, 

Encouraged to discover, to learn, to create, 

To share and negotiate, 

In a passionate place – felt so freeing. 

Liberating, energising, reflective, 

Like the Avengers assembling, 

As the Hope Collective. 

At the heart of communities, 

Was partnership and its gains. 

Empowered approaches through Cradle to Career, 

Investing in the future to break the chains. 

Finding the right people, 

To facilitate and collaborate. 

Successful neighbourhoods take time, effort, 

Discomfort through discussion and that might make us hesitate. 

Youth Zones and Youth Spaces, 

Alongside businesses and local authorities. 

Promoting culture and understanding, 

Pack peer action with peer research, 

To recognise our priorities. 

But representation in decision making is vital, 

An area we can all improve. 

And, understanding the links between social media 

And who young people consider their idol, 

Can determine whether we break out of a generational, violent cycle. 

Our wellbeing covered massive ground, 

From conflict, to collecting data, and a mental health coalition, 

Exploring the barriers young people had found. 

Co-designing solutions, 

With those who have experienced care, 

Informing training, delivered to the professional under our roof, 

And the ways conflict could have been managed when they lived there. 

Create support and theatrical stories, 

To impact structure and systems. 

Strengthening relationships,  

Reducing isolation, trauma, and all of its symptoms. 

Bee Well, making wellbeing, 

Everybody’s business and concern, 

If it matters, then measure it, 

And from the data we can learn. 

To directly impact, 

Through innovative imagination, 

Digital dialogue, peer prescribing, 

Crossing sectors to join conversation. 

Fund the Hubs, 

To develop safe spaces to go. 

A rethink, a redesign, of current mental health options, 

To overthrow, 

Clinical thresholds. 

As when they don’t align, 

Young people feel trapped, cornered, caught, 

Damaging messages, feeding stigma,  

When we prioritise certain access to mental health support. 

Because, we all deserve to feel like we matter. 

Our potential is our future, 

But in order to realise. 

We need participatory approaches to research, 

From concept to implementation, 

Not a tick box, tokenistic disguise. 

Upskilling and development 

Communication and transparency – no surprise. 

Enrichment for all, 

Rooted in partnership once again. 

Accessibility, cost and capacity are issues, 

Why some schools might refrain. 

So, investment in infrastructure, 

To establish enrichment expectations. 

To enable young people to build an idea of self, 

Friendships, passions, and creative sensations. 

Apprenticeships and employability at the core, 

Opportunities for business to collaborate. 

The recognition of soft skills in sports, 

And how we can build and demonstrate. 

The greater our connections and network, 

The further the ripple will reach. 

Learning exists outside of classrooms, 

So many practical ways to teach. 

Our power exists, 

We just need opportunities to let it shine. 

Creating conditions, 

To enable young people to rise. 

Shifting the muscle memory of the system, 

To ensure the norm is to create space. 

Where young people can lead and drive change, 

To feel empowered to run their own race. 

Youth leaders aspiring, 

Youth events inspiring, 

Small steps, big changes, 

Corporate and community combining. 

Involvement needs mutuality though, 

Incentives, whether financial or food. 

Developing skills and experiences, 

Creating a shared, ethical benefit that can be pursued. 

Such an interactive day, 

Ted Talks in Discovery Zones, 

Live Lounge interviews, 

Well-being activities and silent disco headphones. 

A chance to hear so many voices, 

Beyond those with a stage. 

Heartfelt, real, authentic accounts, 

A sure way to help us engage. 

Topics such as youth voice. 

How we can implement and improve somehow. 

To create a tangible difference to decisions, 

Because yes – young people are the future, 

But they are also the here and now. 

Into the co-design labs, 

To turn practice and evidence into action. 

To consider through conversation, 

And make sure real change gathers traction. 

Partners became groups, 

Soldiers became troops, 

As we explored scaling solutions, 

Through professional Top Trumps. 

Utilising digital media and the arts, 

Creating clear and direct communication. 

Between young people and CEOs, 

To reduce guesswork, soundbites, rumination. 

Young people feel heard. 

Practitioners feel supported. 

Leaders feel informed to discuss and fight, 

As youth voice is meaningfully transported. 

And your commitments were set in stone, 

Or rather in postcard. 

So, we know where you live, 

Now get cracking and play your part. 

An incredible event. 

A reminder of why we do what we do. 

And we’ve now got the Joined Up Institute 

And Youth First to see us through. 

But once the dust settles, and the lights go down. 

The onus is on you, 

To challenge, to change, 

To converse, to collaborate. 

To upskill, to uplift, 

To fund, to facilitate. 

To drive, to deliver, 

To access, to accelerate. 

To adapt and to advocate. 

A privelige to experience, 

So much passion and power in one hall. 

Who believe in an alternative. 

A fairer, safer, happier future exists. 

And we came here today to answer that call. 

Thank you.

UK Youth is a leading charity with a vision that all young people are equipped to thrive and empowered to contribute at every stage of their lives. With an open network of more than 8,000 youth organisations and nation partners; UK Youth reaches more than four million young people across the UK and is focused on unlocking youth work as the catalyst of change that is needed now more than ever. To find out more, visit ukyouth.org 

UK Youth is involved in a range of programmes designed to help young people thrive, such as outdoor learning, physical literacy, social action and employability, including Hatch, a youth employability programme run in partnership with KFC. For more on UK Youth’s programmes, see ukyouth.org/what-we-do/programmes