Future Forward Partnership with Young People: Diana Award Young Advisors
We are delighted to be in the second year of our Future Forward Partnership with Young People Project, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund. As a charity that supports young people, we want to ensure that our work is not only for young people, but is also shaped by young people, their needs and priorities.
In the first year of our project, we worked with a group of 12 young people between the ages of 15-25 years old to conduct research as to how we can better involve young people in our internal work, whilst also creating more opportunities for young people.
Our Young Advisors did this by conducting focus groups and surveys with TDA staff and young people on our programmes. Our young people came together at a residential in March and July to create a plan of action for Year 2.
We are so pleased to continue working with our Young Advisors for the second year of our project, as they collaborate with staff to put their recommendations into action. We can’t wait to see the impact they continue to make at The Diana Award and in their wider communities.
You can hear all about our Year 2 residential from Young Advisor Gracie, as she discusses the Young Advisors project, the summer residential and what is in store for the second year of the project here!
Learn more about what it is like to be part of the youth voice project from some of our Young Advisors!
My favourite parts of Year 1 was getting the chance to conduct research with young people who were on TDA's mentoring programme by going into their school and getting involved in activities with them, as well as, getting the opportunity to work and connect with other Young Advisors on our residential weekend which was jam packed of fun learning. I am looking forward to participating in Year 2 as its the next step to work collaboratively with TDA staff to take our recommendations forward.
It was amazing to be part of an inspiring team of young people during year 1 of this project. The support from all the other Young Advisors and TDA staff encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone, develop new skills which have helped boost my confidence. In particular, I enjoyed learning more about researching and evaluating impact within the charity sector, and having a leadership role in shaping this process was an empowering experience.
The opportunity to research youth voice and participation has been eye opening to me and was also an exciting opportunity to learn more about the incredible space that The Diana Award provides for young people….The sense of community between our group is a special part of the project as we are all driven and excited to improve the experiences of young people.
Year 1 has been an amazing experience…the best part was the residential where all of our own findings came together to create our joint focus for Year 3. It was also great to meet everyone in person after working together for so long over zoom, when we came together it was like we knew each other for years. The Diana Award Staff have also been amazing and so supportive and helpful. From allowing us to see the work that they do but also allow us to ask questions about their practise and meeting the other TDA participants.
We can’t wait for the Young Advisors to lead this exciting new project and help us maintain and drive forward a youth focused approach in all aspects of our work. We can’t wait to see the impact they make!
I'm incredibly excited to be working with The Diana Award again! I've been involved with The Diana Award's Anti-Bullying Programme as an Anti-Bullying Ambassador since 2018 and more recently on the 2020-2022 Youth Board. I'm so excited to be joining the Young Advisors team and working with the wider Diana Award team. I'm particularly passionate about how young people use the internet safely and making the world a safer place for LGBT individuals, especially in schools. Every young person deserves to have their voice heard and I hope to make a difference, however big or small!
I am so excited to be starting my journey with The Diana Award. I wanted to become a Young Advisor for The Diana Award because everything they stand for as a charity is what I fight for. Young people are at the centre of everything. I want them to feel included, heard and listened too so that we all as practitioners know how to support and fight for them in the best ways we can. How are we meant to help young people see their full potential if we don’t engage with them to know exactly what they need to blossom? My work with The Diana Award will work towards making sure young people are at the centre of what The Diana Awards does, not just internally, but externally too.
I am excited to get involved in The Diana Award Young Advisor programme because I am very interested in Youth Participation. Being a Trustee of a regional Northern Irish charity has inspired me to get involved further with the Youth Sector via The Diana Award Young Advisor Programme. I am looking forward to getting started and getting to know how participatory structures can be improved within the organisation.
I am overjoyed to be joining this project because I am a great believer in the power of young people to change the world. I believe that if The Diana Award can optimise its impact on young people, then the change will manifest itself in new diverse ways. My background within Youth Work as a Youth Worker and as member of various Youth initiatives gives me a unique outlook on the opportunities but also the challenges young people face, which I then intend to implement into my work to ensure that every young person is involved in our work and nobody is left behind. The ability to shape one’s own future from the start is something which young people have and when they have great guidance we can expect amazing things to arise from them far surpassing anything we believed possible.
My name is Gracie and I am a Year 11 student who is passionate about medicine, academics and vocalising my thoughts. I am looking forward to my role as a Young Advisor as I am interested in expressing young people’s views and inventing innovative ways to capture young people’s curiosity. In the past I have displayed my commitment to enabling others to vocalise their thoughts on apt, societal topics through public speaking and charitable events. I hope to continue to inspire others through this project.
My name is Arthur, I am 15 and live in Cardiff, South Wales. I advocate for children’s rights and youth voice, as I believe young people are the future, but that we are also the now, and we need to be given the tools to live our lives to the fullest. I recently started my own group called Future Youth Impact with the mission of making youth voice accessible for all. Within my new role as a Young Advisor for The Diana Award, I look forward to conducting research, working directly with young people and providing my own insight and ideas. Also, I am eager to collaborate with and listen to the views of my fellow Young Advisors helping to bring a truly youth-centered approach.
I am excited to be part of The Diana Award’s Young Advisors project, having worked extensively in the youth, voluntary, and social action sectors over a number of years. I am currently a student, and have enjoyed working on research and policy projects regionally, nationally, and internationally. I am enthusiastic about learning within the wider team of Young Advisors and also about working to review The Diana Award’s current processes to improve its wider offerings.
I am excited to be a part of this team of advisors because I strongly believe in the power of youth voice in influencing all levels of an organisations work, and in helping to shape their visions. I was particularly drawn to this role in particular because of the strong leadership role young people are given to help shape the future of the charity, and the space that is allowed for our own views to be listened to and valued. I am looking forward to working in a diverse team of young people and together representing a range of experiences and perspectives through our research. I think we will learn a lot from each other as well as this incredible leadership opportunity which I feel very grateful to be a part of.
My first involvement with The Diana Award was as part of their anti-bullying programme in 2018, which offered the most incredible opportunities for me personally, developing my confidence and encouraging me to continue using my voice and experiences to make a difference. I am extremely pleased to now be able to support the shaping of the future of The Diana Award, and be a part of the inspiring, life-changing work they do for other young people all over the world.
What’s up everyone! I’m Naqi and the main things to know about me are:
I love free food, that’s the key to my heart.
I’m a big BIG superhero nerd.
Love building and collecting Lego.
I love drawing in my free time, just keeps me calm and zone out with some music!
I think excited is a bit of an understatement for becoming a Young Advisor. I’ll admit, a bit of the excitement is just the name because who wouldn’t want a chance to work with The Diana Award?! But it mainly comes down to the fact that I’m trying something new, in terms of doing research as part of the advisors team to improve the organisation as a whole. And make sure I can help young people in any way I can, while being a bit cheeky along the way.
The Diana Award has been part of my life since I was 12, where they evoked the start of my empowering journey in youth social action. I was able to run multiple anti-bullying campaigns then joined their National Youth Board in 2021, in which I worked with inspiring young people across the country to influence the Anti-Bullying projects and activities. This time brough so many different opportunities, that helped me develop a range of skills such as public speaking, confidence and collaboration. When the Youth Voice and Participation Project was introduced, it showed that The Diana Award are committed to the mission of enabling young people to change the world. I wanted to be part of this movement, as I had the experience of how life-changing its programmes are whilst also having experience in partaking similar research projects in the youth sector.
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