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The ballots are counted, the seats are filled, and collectively, the entire country is waiting to see how the new government kicks into gear. It’s been a tumultuous time, a different election to any we’ve experienced before. So what did we, as specialists supporting young people to be changemakers, learn during this period?
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Covid, Brexit and Cost of Living – the last few years have felt like a rollercoaster; so young people felt compelled to get involved in the debate
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The General Election was an eye opener for many of us, and the Academic sector was no exception. Working with young people in schools and colleges across the country each day, we have seen young people more interested and invested in political debate during this year’s election (and whilst the data is not yet readily available, it’s expected that the chasm between 18-24 year olds and 65+ in terms of voter turnout will have shrunk).
‘Why is that?’ That’s a complicated question. There’s no doubt that we live in complex times, and young people – more than many other sections of society, have faced huge disruptions to their lives over the past four years, especially because of the Covid19 pandemic. Whilst many workers nationwide were furloughed, young people were expected to carry on and achieve just as much – all be it from the safety of their home, or behind protective screens, masks and social distancing in schools.
From their routines being abandoned, their educations hugely impacted, confinement inside the house during lockdowns, and perhaps most importantly – being isolated from their friends and peers at a time when socialisation is so vitally important to their development, their mental health and their sense of general wellbeing.
Add to this the perception of a lack of job opportunities and work experience for young people, housing costs soaring, waiting lists for mental health assessments and counselling reaching three years, Brexit and the Cost of Living crisis – many young people have felt like they’ve been strapped into a rollercoaster and thus (in the main) did one of two things; the majority engaged in this general election with vigour, energy and interest particularly motivated by their own recent rollercoaster-like lived experiences, or sadly, they disconnected altogether.
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Many young people were surprised to discover an Election can turn into a shouting match
Indeed this was never more evident here than during the series of televised election debates and Question Time specials, where the British public were witness to shouting, accusations, fingers in people’s faces, and aggressive and confrontational behaviour that many young people found surprising. In the build up to the election, we showed the BBC’s Election Debate highlights reel to hundreds of young people and the near-unanimous response was shock – is this how we ‘do’ politics in this country?
This feeling was emboldened by the campaign’s reliance on rhetoric; where conflation and confusion between what is truthful, facts or policy is mainstream. This ran counter to many of the young people I spoke to in the build up to 4th July, who were genuinely interested in talking about and debating the issues and policies that matter to them the most.
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I think young people expected more from the National Debate around the future of our country – yearned for more meaningful conversation and discussion. With Unloc’s Public Speaking and Debating programme as one of our core offers, we’ve shown young people for over a decade how to have constructive debate, embrace nuance and compassionately and considerately engage with people and situations where a difference of opinion is apparent.
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The top 5 things young people told us they want from the new government
At Unloc we proudly play an impartial role in connecting young changemakers to policymakers, politicians and activists – giving them access to those in society that can help make a difference, and helping to create platforms for young people’s voices to be heard. With the General Election announced far earlier than anyone expected, we recognised this eagerness in young people to be actively involved in what was happening, and identified that they had little platforms to do so. Whilst lots of these young people won’t have been old enough to vote this time around – it was evident that they have plenty to say about our future society.
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So, during the build up to the General Election, we invited young people from across our network to attend a series of events that provided space for them to meet with representatives from all major parties – and discuss, face to face, the issues they care about most.
Events were held in our Changemaker Studios: Westminster space and also in our Changemaker Studios: Portsmouth space, where respected members from the Labour Party, The Conservatives, The Green Party, The Liberal Democrats and Reform UK agreed to take part and face tough questions from young people in person. These events were the brainchild of Unloc’s Youth Board – instead of a traditional hustings or question time event, they wanted to give young people dedicated time with candidates in small groups, enabling discussions and conversations that go beyond the soundbites.
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Whilst a plethora of topics and issues were explored, here are the top 5 themes that were most prominent:
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1. Investing in Mental Health Services
Many young people feel that waiting lists for CAMHS support remain unjustifiably long and that schools remain under-resourced and under-prepared to properly meet the wellbeing needs of learners
2. Investing In Life Skills
A significant number of the young people feel that education needs yet further connectivity to industry and the wider world, so young people can better understand the relevance of their learning. At the same time, many feel knowledge critical to transitioning to adulthood should find its way into mainstream education including mortgages, savings, budgeting and personal nutrition.
3. Taking Action on Climate
Climate was a discussion on nearly every table during our General Election events. Young people on the whole want a more ambitious, exciting roadmap for taking action on climate change.
4. Ensuring House Ownership is Affordable
A significant number of young people shared their fears and concerns about the affordability of home ownership for their generation. Many expressed a desire for the government to do more to ensure young people can get on the property ladder, whilst also ensuring that critical infrastructure was in place (doctors, local services etc) if the Government was going to move forward with their house building plans.
5. A Government That Invests In Young People’s Participation
Lots of the audience spoke passionately about the wide chasm that exists between political decision makers and younger people. They want a government that invests in opportunities for young people to be democratically active and engaged in civic life.
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Supporting young people to be changemakers has never been more important
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As the new Labour Government kicks into gear over the coming months, we know that Unloc can continue to play a powerful role in connecting young changemakers with the policymakers that serve them. We met the Prime Minister, Sir Kier Starmer, a few months ago, and pressed the message that the new Government needs to invest in young people as changemakers and directly invest in their ideas; unlocking their potential to be drivers of social progress and change.
Over the next five years, Unloc will continue to push to ensure young people are front and centre of future government policy.
We will continue to take an active part in giving young people a voice, connecting them with government and politics, with speaking and debating, and with leadership – and through our workshops, programmes, Changemaker grants and Changemaker Studios spaces – we will scale our support available to young people who step up as Changemakers.
Hayden Taylor is the 27-year old Chief Executive of Unloc
Huge congratulations to Maheep Kaur of Ark Charter Academy for winning the 2024 Member of Youth Parliament (MYP) elections. MYPs attend events such as national debates, government consultations, training days and planning events whey they amplify the voices of young constituents from their local areas.
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Each year, around 300 MYPs from across the country meet in the Houses of Commons to debate issues that affect young people, deciding on the national campaign for that year.
Unusually, Portsmouth also has a Youth Cabinet, led by the MYP, which seeks to represent the views of all young people in the city and work with decision makers to drive positive change. Funded by Portsmouth City Council, this initiative has gone from strength to strength.
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Jo Morgan from Engendering Change, runs the Youth Cabinet, Jo said:
“It has been such a joy to facilitate the power of youth voice to embed meaningful and lasting change in Portsmouth. Their work with asylum seeking children, LGBTQ young people and youth groups across the city has shown the incredible things that can happen when young people are empowered to connect with the community.”
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Their most recent project with Shaping Portsmouth, to create part-time job opportunities for teenagers has the potential to be transformative. Maheep stood against 3 other excellent candidates, all of whom will continue to work with the Youth Cabinet to drive positive change for young people in the city.
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Our victorious MYP election winner Maheep said:
“I want to make change happen and the MYP elections are a great opportunity for young people to have a chance to push that change. It has been an amazing experience to be a part of these elections. Teenagers often get a bad name, but we have proven how much good we can bring to the community. I will use my position to advocate for young people who do not have a voice, particularly those struggling at home or school and those suffering with mental health issues.
“Thank you so much to everyone who has been part of it and supported me for election! I’d love to give special thanks to my campaign team, my family and friends, teachers and schoolmates at Charter, all the youth cabinet and my peers. I promise to do my best and make the most out of my position.”
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Cllr Suzy Horton, Portsmouth City Council’s Cabinet Member for children, families and education, has championed the Youth Cabinet since its inception and been hugely supportive. Suzy said:
“We want our Youth Cabinet, working alongside the Member of Youth Parliament, to be an authentic voice of young people in shaping their experiences in the city through the work of the council and other decision makers. I have been both impressed and humbled by what this current Youth Cabinet has achieved in taking the big conversations around equalities, the environment and the world of work to the people with power. Huge congratulations to Maheep who will be a brilliant MYP’
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Unloc has been championing Student Voice since our very first Student Forum back in 2012. Our forums act to help young people across a particular area identify and create action plans, encourage them to network and collaborate together to facilitate and generate more positive changes to their schools, colleges and institutions, and drive improvements in their communities, cities and counties.
Now in 2023, we’ve kickstarted three of our Student Forums: the Cambridgeshire Student Forum (CSF), the Council of Portsmouth Students (CoPS), and the Primary Council of Portsmouth Students (PCoPS). Each forum is bespoke to the area it takes place in, the institutions involved, and the student representatives from those institutions who wholly shape their Forum for the entire year of involvement.
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Up in Cambridgeshire, our Summit was hosted by Long Road Sixth Form College (Cambridge), and attended by students from Long Road as well as Abbey College (Cambridge), Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology, Comberton Village College (Comberton), Hills Road Sixth Form College , St Andrew’s College, and Thomas Clarkson Academy (Wisbech), equating to 40 participants from the 7 institutions.
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Down in Portsmouth, CoPS took place at Trafalgar School in Hilsea, and was attended by students from Trafalgar as well as Admiral Lord Nelson School (Copnor), Ark Charter Academy (Portsmouth), Mayfield School (North End), Mayville High School (Southsea), Miltoncross Academy (Milton), Park Community School (Havant), Portsmouth Grammar School, Priory School (Fratton), Springfield School (Drayton), and The Portsmouth Academy (Fratton), bringing 53 participants from the 11 institutions.
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It’s sister forum, PCoPS also met for the first time, with their Summit taking place within the University of Portsmouth’s Students Union, welcoming students from Cottage Grove Primary School (Southsea), Highbury Primary School (Cosham), King’s Academy College Park (Copnor), Mayville High School (Southsea), Medina Primary School (Cosham), Portsmouth Grammar School, The Flying Bull Academy (Buckland), and Wimborne Primary School (Southsea), with 58 participants from these 8 institutions.
Beacon View Primary Academy (Paulsgrove), Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School (North End), and Court Lane Junior Academy (Cosham) are also involved in PCoPS this year but were unable to attend the Summit and have had/will be having Summit Alternative sessions within their own schools.
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All of the forums were formally introduced to Student Voice, including the UN’s Conventions on the Rights of the Child and our focus on Article 12, ‘Respect for the Views of the Child’:
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“Every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously. This right applies at all times, for example during immigration proceedings, housing decisions or the child’s day-to-day home life” (Source: UNCRC Summary)
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There was dedicated time within all three Summits for the participants to share their thoughts and ideas on Student Voice, including each Institution Group at CSF and CoPS being invited to present to the rest of the group all things Student Voice at their institution, including examples of Student Voice where things had changed or altered in previous years, talking to their School Council, Link Teacher(s) and even their Head Teacher, as well as the consideration of change: what they wanted to change in their institution, community, city or county, and how to go about actioning it.
For PCoPS, in their Institution Groups, they began to formulate plans to bring about their change(s), using posters, flyers and letters to spread the message.
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In CSF and CoPS, the whole group split into Action Groups, a focus to guide them through the rest of their time in the Student Forum, divided by topics, including Business, Careers, Climate Change, Diversity, Eco-Friendly, Inclusion, Life Skills, Mental Health, Technology and Wellbeing. These groups will meet in 2024 to continue to plan their actions to bring about positive change!
To finish the year, each area will have a Student Voice Celebration (SVC) Day in 2024 to share and celebrate all of the (no doubt) amazing work everyone will have done over the course of the year; Cambridgeshire’s SVC Day will take place on Friday 24th May, kindly hosted by Abbey College in Cambridge, and Portsmouth’s SVC Day will be held on Thursday 13th June, bringing together both CoPS and PCoPS!
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For a taste of Student Voice Celebration Day 2023 – Portsmouth Edition click here!
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Interested in further updates?
Contact Jessi Wilson, Programme Facilitator for Leadership Skills and Student Voice at: [email protected]
What a fantastic term it’s been! Since the start of September the Accelerate Programme has been in full swing, delivering a series of amazing workshops and inspiring sessions to over 260 young people in 6 different schools across Portsmouth and the surrounding areas.
This unique and exciting new programme was designed in partnership between Unloc and The City of Portsmouth College to explore young people’s aspirations, develop their employability and enterprise skills, and explore college life through a series of fun, interactive workshops!
Each workshop focused on one of the E6 principles, an initiative set up by the college to offer enrichment opportunities for students to prepare for the working world.
The students have worked so hard and really engaged with the programme this time, so what better way to end the current round of the Accelerate programme than with a graduation event to celebrate all their efforts! on Thursday 8th December at City Of Portsmouth College, Highbury Campus.
Students who completed the programme, along with their parents and guardians, braved the freezing conditions to join us and The City Of Portsmouth College at the College’s Highbury Campus on the 8th December to celebrate their hard work and be awarded their certificates.
The Unloc team were honoured to be joined by David Byford: Director for Business Engagement, Apprenticeships and Partnerships, Dan Franklin: Manager of School liaison and Councillor Suzy Horton, Portsmouth City Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Families.
Suzy delivered an inspiring speech to the pupils regarding the possibilities she seized throughout her education and career to get to her position within the local government administration.
After the certificate ceremony, the pupils were faced with one final Accelerate challenge provided by Uniformed Protective Services which involved making a chair from only balloons and sticky tape!
All the guests then enjoyed a fun evening of food, donuts, pic ’n’ mix candies, prizes and a photo-booth (which of course our wonderful Unloc facilitators needed to sample!).
It was an electric evening and the perfect way to end what has been such a brilliant new programme to add to the Unloc portfolio. Working closely with the college to develop such a bespoke programme for the students has been so fulfilling as we’ve watched them grow and develop, and we look forward to bringing Accelerate to more students in the new year.
As always we like to collect feedback from the young people we work with, so here are just a few of the comments that we collected on the night!
“I really enjoyed the Accelerate programme as I learnt new skills like debating. I really struggle with public speaking and this programme has really helped.”
Accelerate Programme Graduate
“Doing this course has taught me that there are so many options and skills out in the world that we don’t know until we actually try to achieve them.”
Accelerate Programme Graduate
“Just a quick note to thank you for running the Accelerate programme and graduation. [My young person] really enjoyed both parts of the programme, and I was very impressed with the graduation ceremony. Thank you for all you do for our young people.”
Graduation attendee
We’ll be begining a new round of the Accelerate programme in 2023, so keep an eye on our News page right here on the Unloc website, as well as on our social media channels to keep up to date!
You can also subscribe to our free Unloc Digital Update by clicking here!
The energy in our Changemaker Studios: Portsmouth space was electric recently as students from schools across Portsmouth gathered together for our second Council of Portsmouth Students Summit 2021/2022.
This in-person event is a great chance for the participating students to mix and get to know their peers from other schools in the area, as well as developing their skills and working within their Action Groups to bring about change in their school and community.
This year the Summit included representatives from 11 institutions including Admiral Lord Nelson School, Castle View Academy, Charter Academy, Mayville High School, Miltoncross Academy, Park Community School, Portsmouth Grammar School, Priory School, St John’s College, Trafalgar School, and The Portsmouth Academy.
The day included icebreakers, energisers and activities led by the students themselves, with the rest of the day tailored to the students’ thoughts, opinions, input and feedback.
Our Unloc Programme Facilitator Jessi, and the facilitator of this year’s CoPS, delivered a ‘masterclass’ on Confidence and Public Speaking. We considered what ‘confidence’ means to us, why confidence is necessary, and introduced the ‘Three-Legged Stool of Self-Confidence’, discussing how each leg representing Skillful, Responsible and Appreciation needs to be balanced.
We focused a little more on the Appreciation topic, and why, as British people, we tend to find it hard to accept appreciation and to say ‘thank you’. Whether we’re embarassed, don’t believe the compliment, or don’t know how to respond, Jessi encouraged everyone to share compliments with the members of their group, and asked the received to show their gratitude with a “thanks!”.
We dived into Public Speaking, considering the different styles, famous public speakers, and the positives (and negatives) of their style of communicating. Jessi challenged everyone to give public speaking a go in the form of ‘Just A Minute’ – speaking continuously for one minute without hesitation, deviation, or repetition on a subject of their choice!
Our first Guest Speaker of the day was Fungayi Zinyemba, the Manager of the Mental Health Support Team in Portsmouth, who discussed how MHST are working with their schools to provide help and support with the mental health and wellbeing of themselves and their peers.
It was great to see the students asking questions and starting conversations about mental health, whether that be their own, their friends, or general concern for how mental health is treated in schools and their communities.
Fellow Unloc Facilitator Larissa led an Activity on Debating, where the fundamentals of debate were covered before the students participated in a ‘moving debate’, using the space to show their opinion on hot topics. The students got stuck in, sharing their thoughts on the matter, with many of them utilising the public speaking skills we had covered earlier in the day, confidently sharing with everyone in the room.
Our second Guest Speaker of the day was Lauren, a former CoPS Student from Portsmouth High School who was involved in the forum last academic year. Lauren was invited to speak to this year’s cohort about her personal experience whilst in CoPS and the actions and changes her group were able to bring about in her school and community.
After Lauren’s inspiring talk, we split off into our Action Groups! These represented key themes or current issues, these were:
The students were given time to share their priorities going forward, led by the Action Group Leaders. Each group then presented to everyone else.
It’s amazing to know the actions these young people have already been able to implement, as well as their plans for the near-future to continue to bring about change in their school and community!
It was a truly inspiring event, and wonderful to see so many young changemakers from across Portsmouth gathered together and sharing their ideas in our new Changemaker Studios: Portsmouth space!
We can’t wait to see our CoPS members at the next Summit!
Young people in the Solent region are expanding and developing their technology skills thanks to our new Enterprise Days programme in partnership with Portsmouth based software developer company Radweb Ltd.
The programme is designed to inspire young people to consider careers in technology and website development whilst also developing their entrepreneurial skills and ambitions.
As part of the roll-out, a series of technology-focused Enterprise Days are taking place in primary schools across the region, with the aim of opening their pupil’s eyes to potential careers in the sector.
Each event tasks the young people to design a technological solution to a local problem that they care about. They then work with the Unloc team to develop a concept, design a prototype and then present their ideas to an expert panel, including members of the Radweb team.
The programme is helping to address the root causes of the UK’s technology skills shortage early on. Youth Employment UK estimates that hi-tech roles such as software programmers and developers have increased by 72% since 2011, but there simply aren’t enough suitably skilled young people to fill all those roles.
The European Commission has suggested that the European economy is short of 900,000 ICT professionals already.
As well as addressing careers in technology, the project aims to develop participants’ confidence, problem-solving, communication and entrepreneurial skills, encouraged by the experts from Radweb Ltd and Unloc.
The programme has already been making a significant impact, with initial events at Mayville High School and Northern Parade Junior School.
Radweb Managing Director, Steve Rad, commented:
“We are extremely honoured and proud to be working on programmes that have a direct influence and impact on children’s education, helping to inspire them to consider a career path in technology.
We have been working with the team at Unloc for many years on various projects and as a Portsmouth based company, we have been equally inspired by the students and teachers involved in the Enterprise Days programme and see these initiatives as our way to give something back to this great city”.
Hayden Taylor, Managing Director of Unloc, said
“Working with Radweb in the past, we know what a brilliantly talented team of designers, programmers and marketing experts they are, and to partner with them to deliver this important programme to schools ensures that the young people attending have the very best support.”
“Our Enterprise Day programme addresses a crucial talent shortage in the region, and the skills and abilities they develop during these events can make a lasting impact upon the young people attending, one which may influence their future career choices, and open up a world of possibilities to them”.
About Radweb Ltd
Radweb was founded in 2007 by Steve Rad and James Taylor, both of whom graduated from the University of Portsmouth with degrees in Digital Media Marketing and Computer Science and a passion for all things technical.
Over the year’s the business has developed into a team of 28 passionate, qualified specialists, from designers to programmers to marketing experts and sales. Radweb are experts in finding creative solutions for interactive website applications, real estate software, eCommerce and digital marketing.
About Unloc
Unloc was founded in 2013 by award-winning young leaders and advocates Hayden
Taylor and Ben Dowling. Our mission is to empower young people to be innovative changemakers who seek to build stronger communities and sustainable businesses.
We develop young people’s skills, enhance their potential and boost their determination to succeed. This is encapsulated in our Developing Young Potential tagline. We work towards our mission by delivering inspiring educational programmes in our growing network of schools and colleges. In the 2018-19 academic year, Unloc’s programme reach increased by over 40% on the previous year to 10,910 young people.
We work with many organisations to provide the many experiences, courses & opportunities we offer. This year we wanted to take some time to recognise one of these important organisations, The Marketors’.
Student voice has been at the heart of celebrations as we celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Council of Portsmouth Students (CoPS).
Our new series ‘Courses Up Close’ looks more in-depth at some of of our programmes, courses & bootcamps. Our first is our Leadership Academy. Click for more!
As applications begin to flood in, we caught up with our 2024 Winner Ethan Waisberg to reflect on the process and how he found the whole experience.
We work with many organisations to provide the many experiences, courses & opportunities we offer. This year we wanted to take some time to recognise one of these important organisations, The Marketors’.
Student voice has been at the heart of celebrations as we celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Council of Portsmouth Students (CoPS).
Our new series ‘Courses Up Close’ looks more in-depth at some of of our programmes, courses & bootcamps. Our first is our Leadership Academy. Click for more!
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