Youth Voice Day 2024

We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part in Essex Youth Voice Day 2024.

Young People from across Southend, Essex and Thurrock gathered together at Anglia Ruskin University on Saturday 12 October to take part in this really special day.

Organised by Essex Council for Voluntary Youth Services and Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, and funded by the VVU and Essex Police, Youth Voice Day was a chance for young people to share ideas about what would help them feel safer in their communities and feed these ideas back to decision makers across the county.

The event saw 190 people, of which 80 were young people, come together to discuss issues connected to community safety, linked to the feedback received from the Listening Project on what issues are of concern to young people and what makes them feel unsafe.

These issues were discussed in workshops covering themes of early intervention and support for mental health; county lines, drugs and violence; creating and sharing of violent videos on social media; the rise in vaping among young people; and feeling unsafe due to differences such as gender and race.

The workshops looked at what young people think the solutions to these issues should be and turned these ideas into creative projects to explain these solutions.

There were some really insightful presentations to senior figures and leaders in the afternoon including sketches and raps; lots for Essex leaders to mull over and hopefully use to impact change in communities.

The afternoon was summed up by Deputy PFCC for Essex, Jane Gardner who enthusiastically welcomed the ideas and input that had been presented. Jane closed the event by saying she welcomed the opportunity to hear first-hand from the young people and hopes there will be more opportunities to engage with them in the future.