Young Changemakers is a collaboration between UK Youth, Centre for Mental Health, and The Diana Award.
Young Changemakers supports young people with Black and Black mixed-race heritage to channel their lived experiences into tackling racial injustices in mental health services in the UK. The project is led by young Co-Producers aged 16 – 25 with a passion for and/or lived experience of mental health issues and racial injustices. It gives young people with Black and Black mixed-race heritage communities an opportunity to reimagine and affect change through the lens of social action.
Young Changemakers identify as Black or Black-mixed race, are aged 16-25 and are based in Leeds, Luton, Birmingham, Manchester or London.The Changemakers are supported by a local youth organisation, who recruit, onboard, and support the young people through their journey. Changemakers are given the opportunity to change mental health support for the better and affect real change. They will get involved with policy influencing, engaging, and upskilling frontline practitioners, changing public attitudes, and peer-to-peer support.
Each changemaker social action project will have the opportunity receive additional, bespoke support from the partnership on the Accelerator Pathway.
Our group of Co-Producers, aged 16-25, with Black and Black mixed-race heritage, have lived experience and/or a passion for supporting mental health. They are involved in the development of training for youth organisations and schools to help further antiracist work and improve health and wellbeing for young people across the nation. They also support design content for various projects and support the new Changemakers in the programme, alongside receiving pastoral care and upskilling opportunities.
As part of our commitment to co-production throughout the Young Changemakers Programme, we’ve developed this resource alongside our Co-Producers.
It provides those working with young people an understanding of co-production, tools for inclusive and collaborative practices, and insights into meaningful engagement with young people who have lived experience.
For questions, please contact our Young Changemakers Team.
Spirit of 2012 awarded The Diana Award with funding to build on the legacy of the Young Changemakers Programme, to develop and deliver Anti-Racist Bullying Training to secondary schools. After the session, we offer students and educators 12 months of tailored support and resources to create real impact their school, community and beyond.
This resource was co-produced with young people to equip educators with knowledge and tools to understand, recognise, and respond to racist bullying in schools.
How do we eliminate a problem that has been in our society for so long and seeped into our systems, somehow becoming the norm? Racial discrimination has become such a problem and we need to tackle this problem that seems hopeless.
NotSoMicro are an inspirational team of Young Changemakers who are campaigning to include anti-racist and microaggression training as a mandatory part of teacher training. As part of their campaigning, they were invited to Washington DC for the 2023 National Mentoring Summit, which took place from January 24th to January 28th, 2023.
