Arthur first connected with The Diana Award at 14, when he applied to join the Young Advisors project. Already active in youth voice spaces, he recognised this opportunity offered something different: genuine participation and meaningful responsibility.
Arthur first connected with The Diana Award at 14, when he applied to join the Young Advisors project. Already active in youth voice spaces, he recognised this opportunity offered something different: genuine participation and meaningful responsibility.
“Most of the youth participation I’d been involved in… were consultations or being on a [youth advisory] board… It’s easy to get stuck going from one board to another… I saw [Young Advisors] as a way to look at the mechanics of participation… it seemed like a natural progression.”
One of Arthur’s standout experiences was working as a Peer Researcher on The Diana Award Youth Insight Report 2024: Youth Voice in Politics. This project explored how young people engage with politics and highlighted examples of best practice in youth participation. It gave Arthur the opportunity to lead his own research, design and run a focus group, and contribute directly to the final report.
“It was exciting to… understand research methods and data, including conducting my own focus group and write up. I was able to see a lot of connections with my own experience… such as avoiding tokenism within the findings.”
“There are very few projects where I have been involved right from the start until the end… seeing it from inception to conclusion was really good.”
Alongside research, Arthur also contributed to The Diana Award’s policy work—helping shape an Introduction to Policy resource and later supporting the development of organisational policy positions.
“Being able to contribute to and do some design elements for the ‘Introduction to Policy’ resource was fun and useful… I learned a lot through those experiences.”
Youth Voice is mutually beneficial, so while Arthur has been learning about new youth voice opportunities, The Diana Award has benefitted as a result.
“Seeing young people as potential contributors who can complete tasks and create instead of just being asked questions.”
Arthur credits much of his development to working with peers on the Young Advisors team.
“When I started out, I was not very confident in sharing my views… I’ve come a long way and that’s down to working with the other Young Advisors.”
He also valued the honest, constructive feedback from staff.
“It’s always great when staff gave critical feedback… In a lot of other organisations… the feedback is, ‘This is amazing, you’ve done such a great job for how old you are.’ But I think it’s great when people judge something for how good it actually is… and give feedback that you can learn from.”
Now 17, Arthur is studying for a degree in Social Sciences, with a long-term ambition to lead in the field of children’s rights and participation. He already works as a Youth Participation Consultant, applying what he learned through Young Advisors to help other organisations embed meaningful youth voice.
“Something that I’ve taken from [Young Advisors] is about applying participation where it fits… being underpinned by young people’s voices can look different in different contexts.”
Arthur’s journey with The Diana Award has helped him move from being part of youth voice initiatives to leading and shaping them. It’s a powerful example of how deeper, more intentional youth participation can equip young people not just to be heard—but to lead change.
“I’ve transitioned from being a part of groups to trying to understand the background and run sessions myself.”
“Being part of Young Advisors helped me look critically at Youth Voice… That’s set me on the path I’m on now.”
