Young people have been in the driving seat of co-producing a new National Youth Strategy since its announcement in November 2024 by the DCMS Secretary of State as part of the government’s mission to improve opportunities. 

As a first step, to ensure that youth voices would be at the heart of the process, the government appointed 13 diverse young people to form a Youth Advisory Group (YAG) and bring lived experience across key areas including advocacy, violence prevention, social mobility and mental health. An Expert Advisory Group of 14 experts from a variety of sectors sat alongside the YAG to bring expertise from relevant sectors, providing input and challenging thinking.

DCMS partnered with an expert consortium – market research consultancy Savanta, My Life My Say and the #iwill Movement with coordination from Volunteering Matters and UK Youth – to set up a youth-led engagement campaign to ensure young people from all areas of the country had the opportunity to have their say. The consortium worked with ten Youth Collaborators to ensure all campaign activities were genuinely designed and led by young people. The “Deliver You” campaign used a range of innovative and targeted methods to ensure underrepresented groups were able to get their voices heard. The campaign captured insights from over 20,000 young people. 

Outcomes

Our approach has empowered young people to lead change at the heart of policy making and in their own lives. Their lived experiences including their worries and hopes for the future will form the basis of a new ten year ambition for young people in the National Youth Strategy.