Voice and Influence

Young People’s Voice

The RYWU works with the British Youth Council to co-ordinate UK Youth Parliament in the South West region. The 33 Members of Youth Parliament and 52 Deputies meet regularly as a regional group and produce an annual regional manifesto setting out their main priorities for the year. Every year new MYPs participate in a regional residential to help them understand their new role. South West MYPs  also take part in the Annual Sitting for UKYP and an annual debate in the House of Commons.

Member of UK Youth Parliament at the dispatch box in the Chamber of the House of Commons November 2011

We support young people in having a voice in local, regional and national policy making, working with regional bodies to enable young people to be represented in regional events.

We organise training for those working with children and young people to support involvement of young people in decision making. Toolkits and materials and participation videos produced through these training programmes can be downloaded from our web-site.

Youth Participation Network

This regional network is open to workers whose role includes promoting young people's voice and influence, and is a great forum for sharing information and keeping up to date with developments in participation. The network meets three times a year, with regular updates between meetings. For further details, please contact Sharon Adams, Youth Work and  Participation Specialist.

Participation Projects

The Sounds Positive Project, funded by Big Lottery Fund is helping us to support young people's voice in the media in the South West region and promote positive images of young people.

Voice of youth organisations

The Regional Youth Work Unit promotes youth work through our Youth Work Works publications. We represent the interests of youth work providers and commissioners in our relationships with regional and national bodies.  We co-ordinate regional responses to relevant government initiatives and host and promote regional consultation events for the youth work field.

Somerset Young Peoples Newspaper - Here's a really good example of young people writing and producing their own newspaper.  If you are, or know of, a young person in Somerset who might like to get involved, please forward this to them (Posted 16/04/13)

SW Young Researchers Project

This project (commencing October 2012)  will offer young people aged 13 -19 from across the region to learn research skills and techniques  and apply them to a pilot project.  During the 8 month project they will gain an accreditation for their work and attend a free residential.   For more information, please click here to go the SW Young Researchers page.

Heritage Heroes

Members of the UK Youth Parliament in the South West are celebrating an award of £20,600 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

 Young people at the UK Youth Parliament South West Regional Residential 2013 dressed up as suffragettes fighting for thier right to vote!

The grant will be used to create an archive of films and recordings about people in the history of the South West who have campaigned for change in their communities and politics. They have already started to look at Somerset people who petitioned Parliament against slavery from the 1780s, the Suffragettes and their campaign for votes for women, and the fight of the Tolpuddle Martyrs in Dorset for the rights of workers to form a Trade Union to improve pay and working conditions. Learning about these great campaigners from history will help and inspire Members of the Youth Parliament to champion important causes in their local communities.