Sally PalmerYouth Democracy

CoordinatorIn the East of England

Our missionThe British Youth Council, as the national youth council of the UK, aims to connect with our member organisations and networks of local youth councils, to empower young people aged 25 and under, wherever they are from, to have a say and be heard. We aim to help them to participate in decisions that affect them; have a voice and campaign on issues they believe in, inspire them to have a positive impact, and gain recognition for their positive contribution to communities, society and the world.

BYC is;•A youth-led charity,• We empower young people aged 25 and under to influence and inform the decisions that affect their lives. •We support young people to get involved in their communities and democracy locally, nationally and internationally,•Enable young people to making a difference as volunteers, campaigners, decision-makers and leaders.•and our charity aims to help other young people, whatever their background or barriers they face, to make the world a better place for all young people.

Our values

• Participation: All young people have the right to participate in the decisions which affect their lives and issues which they believe in locally, nationally and internationally.

• Equality: We promote equality among young people; all young people in our member organisations are valued equally.

• Diversity: Young people are diverse with different needs and opinions and this is to be recognised and celebrated.

• Recognition: Young people are recognised for the positive contributions they make to society, their place as citizens now and in the future.

Our Youth-Led Networks

• BYC runs a number of youth-led networks and programmes which encourage young people to get involved in their democracy on a local and national level, and to campaign to bring about change.

• Local Youth Council Network

• UK Youth Parliament

• Young Mayors Network

UK Work• Youth Voice A contract originally between the Department for

Education, now with the Cabinet Office and BYC to enable young people to influence public decision making.

• Youth Select Committee An initiative supporting young people to hold inquires

into issues that young people care about to influence policies.

• National Scrutiny Group Young people working with Government to ensure that

young people's views and needs are taken into account.

Other UK Work• Support for Local Authorities

• Membership of BYC provides a wide range of benefits, focused on empowering all young people cross the UK to have a say and be heard.

• As of April 2014, we expect 10 out of the 11 LA/U’s within the East of England to be members of BYC.

• Locally we offer 1 to 1 support, training, access to accreditation and recognition for young peoples involvement and more.

• Opportunities to network locally, regionally and nationally. • Opportunities for both young people and workers to meet with other

members at BYC events and meetings such as;– 3 Conventions per year, where young people participate in training,

workshops, get involved with our priority campaigns and contribute to consultations on key policy issues

– At least 3 Youth Voice Staff meetings per year where workers can share good practice , participate in training and workshops.

• The chance for young people to apply to become trustees of BYC• Online access to a wide variety downloadable resourcesAs well as much more

Youth Voice Vehicles

Involving Young People in Local Decision Making - The Youth Voice Vehicle Self Assessment Report

• In 2011 the Government asked BYC to promote the involvement of young people in local and national decision making, to provide support to local authorities and young people with recommendations on how to do this, and to build on existing good practice. This included designing a way for local authorities and Youth Voice Vehicles (YVVs) to assess their current arrangements.

• In response to this BYC's Youth Voice initiative, with local input, produced a self-assessment toolkit which was provided to local authorities to complete voluntarily and return to us during the summer of 2012 (repeated in 2013 and again this year, with the submission date of 11th July 2014 )

• The first report was published in October 2012. It describes and analyses the results of self-assessments from 70 local authorities, to provide an overview of how effective YVVs currently are across England, and provided a benchmark against which we can measure change, or offer support. The second report has now been completed, with 87 LA returning the self-assessment tool, nearly a 20% increase on year one.

Positive stories from youth representatives

• Our monthly report on the activities of youth representatives across the UK.

• Each month we invite youth representatives, including Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs), Deputy Members of Youth Parliament (DMYPs), Youth Councillors, Young Mayors and Deputy Young Mayors, to share their stories of the positive activities they have been engaging in recently.

•   We also give workers the opportunity to update us on the activities of the youth groups they work with and support. The British Youth Council shares this report regionally and nationally, with local councillors and MPs, in order to raise the profile of the fantastic local work that we know is happening every day

• The same survey link is available at all times (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YouthVoiceMonthlyLog)

Other UK Work• All Party Parliamentary Group on Youth Affairs

A group of MPs and Peers in Parliament who share an

interest in the issues that affect young people.

• Young Inspectors

• Vtwentyfour/24

The vtwentyfour/24 programme is a volunteer scheme

for NEET young people aged 16-19 .

• Young People and Faith

Work with young leaders in faith

organisations to strengthen youth voice.

About our international work

• As the National Youth Council of the UK, BYC supports young people to influence decisions that affect their lives and lead action for positive change.

• As our world gets more and more connected this needs to happen at an international level as well as locally and nationally. To do this BYC has a programme of Global Voice, Global Action and Global Learning.

For more information:

• Visit the British Youth Council website:

• http://www.byc.org.uk

• or contact

• Sally Palmer – East of England Youth Democracy Coordinator

• M: 07809507359

• 0: 01760 722800

• E: sally.palmer@byc.org.uk