On Friday 22nd September, Archie, a Young Leader, was invited to the British Council – Youth Select Committee at the Houses of Parliament. He was invited to talk about the impact of the cost of living on young people and the importance of a Youth Zone in his community. Alongside other Young Leaders, Archie was asked about several topics, from food budgeting and young people’s mental health, to access to essentials and travel costs.
The Youth Select Committee (YSC) is a British Youth Council initiative, supported by the House of Commons, which takes evidence in public and has its proceedings televised and recorded. The 12 committee members are aged 14-18 and include Members of the UK Youth Parliament and Youth Councillors.
Future Youth Zone prides itself on giving young people a platform and helping them to amplify their voice. This is a great opportunity of that. A young person from Barking and Dagenham, who has hugely benefitted from having a Youth Zone to go and speak to change makers about his experience.
Archie was available to comment on his experience of the day and to give his opinion on why the YSC does such an important job:
‘The Youth Select Committee is important because it gives young people the chance to have a voice and to make change. It also gives young people the opportunity to help others and feel like they are having an impact on matters they historically wouldn’t have been consulted on. I feel a lot is being done to give young people a voice, but there is always room for improvement. There are still a lot of young people whose voices go unheard and so they get a limited number of opportunities compared to others from different backgrounds and environments. This is why I feel youth zones and youth voice groups are so important because they give young people from all background the chance to be seen and heard.’
Archie’s parliamentary live session can be found at the following: https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/3b143e33-b2d9-4286-89d7-92da5f62ca48
