When young people are ready, we further engage with them beyond the support they receive at Just for Kids Law by offering opportunities for them to: build their confidence, be heard, share and understand their lived experience, be on our internal recruitment panels, consult and influence on issues that matter to them and listen to their recommendations of ideas for long term participation projects and how we facilitate groups.
Young people are at the core of the work we do, and we recognise that how we do this can be continuously improved. Currently we are reviewing and developing a more coordinated and embedded approach to youth engagement and participation across the organisation.
Watch this space!
Youth Ambassadors
We are currently reviewing our Youth Ambassadors group, originally a group of young people aged 16-25 from different walks of life, who have all benefitted from JfKL’s work. The group worked to influence the decision-making process and services at JfKL, as well as to individually inspire, educate, inform and provide new opportunities for each young person.
We Belong
In 2015, our young Let us Learn campaigners coordinated a demonstration in support of a Supreme Court case which extended student finance eligibility to many young people who had previously been blocked due to their immigration status. After the case concluded, the Let us Learn project continued to advocate for the rights of young UK migrants, releasing the film Young, Gifted and Blocked to highlight the situation for those barred from a university education because of their status.
In 2019, the young activists from our Let us Learn project established We Belong, the first ever UK charity led by young migrants. We Belong was created as a result of the determination and resilience of its impressive founders and all the young migrants involved, as well as the youth participatory ethos that is central to our work. We are very proud to have contributed to this.
NCVO carried out an evaluation of the process of becoming an independent charity. We hope that this evaluation can be used as a resource to support organisations seeking to put young people in the lead across the voluntary sector. Read the full evaluation here.
Change it!
The Change It! campaign is led by children and young people who have experienced living in unsafe temporary accommodation such as B&Bs, and are passionate about making life better for all children and young people. The Change It! team is made up of 26 members, aged eight to 20 years old who come from all over England. They want to make a change and believe children and young people need to be listened to.