Celebrating the Young Advocates at their first showcase!

Last week, the Alliance for Youth Justice and Leaders Unlocked held a showcase to celebrate the end of the first year of the Young Advocates project.

The project, which is generously funded by Children in Need, is a youth-led project supporting children and young people with experience of the youth justice system to develop a variety of skills, conduct peer research, and influence change for youth justice improvement.

The Showcase was an opportunity for the Young Advocates to share findings from their peer research which looked at key issues which can lead children and young people into contact with the youth justice system, and within the system itself.  Over 50 guests attended the showcase including our member organisations, the wider youth justice sector, police, and civil servants. The chair of the Youth Justice Board (YJB), Keith Fraser, and the Founder and Director of Solve: The Centre for Youth Violence and Conflict, Craig Pinkney, were also invited to share their reflections of the showcase.

The Young Advocates, who are all passionate about making change in the system and for young people overall, started the showcase by explaining their motivations for joining the project which included:

Next, the Young Advocates shared findings of their peer research with over 120 children and young people across the country. The research focused on 3 areas the Young Advocates believed to be top priority. These were: Stereotyping, Education and Warning Signs, and Jails. Findings of the Young Advocate research will be presented in a report later on this year.

The findings proved to be very eye-opening and impactful for the guests, who told us  they were left feeling inspired by the dedication of the Young Advocates to achieve change for their peers and the next generations. Chair of the YJB, Keith Fraser, reflected on the presentation and expressed:

The Young Advocates concluded the Showcase by highlighting their hopes for the future of the project which included presenting to an audience to over 200 people, growing the number of Young Advocates on the project, becoming an established group within the youth justice sector, connecting with others and demonstrating how they can make change to the lives of children across the country.

Finally, the AYJ and Leaders Unlocked would like to extend our gratitude to all those who have supported the Young Advocates Project, whether that’s through 1-1 support, facilitating peer research, or lending your voice to the project. We can’t wait to see where the Young Advocates will go next!

For any more information on the project, please contact Amania at: amania@leaders-unlocked.org