‘I was there to champion young people’s voices as well as share my passions and thoughts’

UK Youth attended the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, the party’s first since losing the General Election in the summer, along with two #iwill ambassadors, Beth and Sophia.

Here, 21-year-old #iwill ambassador Beth Dennis, from Lichfield, Staffordshire. shares her thoughts on the conference, where she chaired a roundtable event in the Youth Zone on cross-sector support and the importance of businesses in supporting youth work. 

The Conservative Party Conference was an opportunity for Party members, Members of Parliament and community members to get together to talk about the Conservative future, writes Beth. The event took place at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham from September 29 to October 2 and featured roundtable discussions, panels, exhibitions, keynote speakers and one-to-one meetings.

I represented UK Youth as an #iWill ambassador. I was there to champion young people’s voices as well as share my passions and thoughts to help influence future commitments by the Conservative Party.

Sophia and I had one-to-one meetings throughout the day with different MPs so that we could answer their questions as well as give an insight into our lives and the social action work we had been doing. Some of the topics we discussed were what are the key problems for young people, mental health services, and how to get young people interested in politics.

At the end of the day, we hosted a roundtable conversation talking about the role of businesses in championing youth work. Attendees included representatives from Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England, My Life My Say, MPs, Scouts, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and National Gas.

It was great to chair a roundtable and be able to listen to interesting debates. We had a lot of unique perspectives on how to support young people to get into politics and have a space where they feel safe and empowered to share their voice.

At the start of some conversations with MPs and decision-makers, I felt a resistance to listen and they were defending themselves rather than taking onboard our lived experience. However, after having a longer conversation, I felt like the MPs and decision-makers started to understand our points and I hope they implement change based on our discussion. The roundtable discussion was challenging to chair as there were a lot of passionate voices around the table, which led to some voices, such as young people, not being able to get heard.

I attended panels and keynote speeches throughout the day, and some were on the topic of young people, yet the youngest person on the panel might be 35 years old. I also found they were talking about the biggest problems faced by young people, but the problems listed were very different from my biggest problems faced as a young person and what I had heard from other young people.

I would like to see decision makers and MPs having more of an interest in young people’s voice as well as not seeing them as an advisory role but an equal partner.

Despite a lot of great work being completed by organisations like UK Youth and My Life My Say, there is still a big gap between young people and politics. I would like to see the Government making efforts to bridge that gap through campaigns created through co-production. This is so MPs can recognise what the real problems are faced by young people.

I would also like to see young people represented proportionally within parliament, for example implementing youth quotas. Currently, the median age of a national leader is 62 and often young people’s voices are not heard.

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 9,000 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. For more on UK Youth’s programmes, see ukyouth.org/what-we-do/programmes

#iwill is a movement comprised of more than 1,000 organisations and 700 young #iwill Ambassadors & Champions from across the UK. They are united by a shared belief that all children and young people should be supported and empowered to make a positive difference on the issues that affect their lives, their communities, and broader society.

#iwill is empowering, challenging, independent, collaborative and inclusive – it belongs to everybody.

The #iwill movement is powered by young people and organisations. The #iwill Ambassadors and #iwill Champions, alongside organisations who sign up to the Power of Youth Charter, help ensure meaningful action is taken to support more children and young people to be active citizens.

The #iwill Partnership is made up of leaders of collective action groups working within and across sectors and nations of the UK to guide the #iwill movement. The independent #iwill Coordination Hub, hosted by Volunteering Matters and UK Youth supports the #iwill Partnership, #iwill Ambassadors and broader #iwill movement.