Education United Kingdom Project #61195

Support Young Leaders Implement Sustainable Action

by PeaceJam UK

Project Report | Mar 30, 2026
Building a community of changemakers!

By Fay Pretty | PeaceJam UK Coordinator

Youth Leadership Training Weekend

Last month, from the 13th to the 16th February PeaceJam UK facilitated the very first Youth Leadership Weekend in Bradford. Thirteen members of the Youth Leadership Team, including a small number of PeaceJam youth ambassadors from our partner schools, travelled from across the UK for a three day programme of learning creativity, and community building. This event was created by our youth for our youth!

“I'm Matty and I've been on the PeaceJam Youth Leadership Team since 2023. My specific focuses within peace building are nuclear disarmament and youth empowerment. This year for my PeaceJam social action project I wanted to bring our Youth Team together in-person to learn new skills and create real connections which isn't always possible online, particularly as some of our members have an age difference of over 10 years.

I live in Bradford, a city with a deep history of grassroots community activism. I wanted our members to meet here to learn from the expertise and experiences of Bradford's activist scene. As part of the weekend, I invited local community members that I work with, and am inspired by, to run workshops with a focus on creativity to demonstrate that social action is about creating change through hope and care.” 25 year old male.

This included Lauren Kelly who ran a zine-making workshop, demonstrating how creative communication can increase the accessibility of information on topics that can often seem overwhelming. Some of the participants are now planning to include zine-making in their own social action projects as a way of sparking conversations and bringing people together. Lauren also helped offer tips and support for youth to run this workshop themselves in their schools or future PeaceJam events.

The weekend also featured Sudhir Selvaraj, from the University of Bradford, who ran a River of Life activity, shining a light on the importance of making space for self-reflection when undertaking projects. The activity also prompted the young leaders to consider their futures and consider how they can shape difficult obstacles into positive action.

Lastly, Josie Tothill ran a final workshop exploring how to bring people together for a common cause, using values as the foundation of community building. Throughout the weekend, participants also took part in a creative project that focused on emotional wellbeing and communication, they had social action project planning sessions and a trip to CATCH in Leeds which reshaped for many of them what ‘youth empowerment’ and ‘youth-led’ can mean.

“At first I was quite scared about coming onto this program because I am not good at meeting new people and public speaking (sharing my opinions). But every PeaceJammer was so welcoming and I feel like there is a safe space where I can be myself and share my thoughts.”17 year old female.

“One idea that I’ll take away is that if I ever do a workshop for my social action project, I’ll make it interactive and engaging like ours were. I’ll also take away the sense of community and active listening and try to implement it into what I do next.”16 year old female.

As a result of the PeaceJam UK Youth Leadership Training Weekend, the Team has grown with the attending Youth Ambassadors applying to join and participants were keen to engage further with upcoming opportunities, such as the Manchester Slam. The Youth Leadership Team are additionally working together to build a junior mentor track, inspired by the youth volunteers at CATCH taking on responsibility for their community and peers, our PeaceJammers are creating the opportunity for 16-18 year old PeaceJammers to learn mentoring skills and engage with peer to peer support.

Youth continue to lead the way at PeaceJam UK, with input from multiple school groups, PeaceJammer Alumni and our Youth Leadership Team, our second Manchester Slam took place on March 21st. Participants took part in an action-packed day with Q & A panels, hands-on workshops and near-peer mentoring groups.

Students also had the opportunity to present social action projects they had been developing and exchange ideas for positive change. Our Youth Leadership Team presented two projects, the first addressed homelessness in the local Manchester community and the second addressed disability support and awareness.

This growing community would not be possible without your support. Thank you for supporting young leaders to implement sustainable action.

“Although sometimes it feels like there is nothing you can do to help the situation PeaceJam will enable you to know you can!” 17 year old female.

Social Action Project Presentation- Homelessness

Social Action Project Presentation- Disability

Youth Leadership Training Weekend- CATCH

Attachments:

Youth Leadership Training Weekend Programme (PDF)

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Dec 8, 2025
Celebrating our new youth leaders!

By Fay Pretty | PeaceJam UK Coordinator

Thanks to the support of our GlobalGiving donors, last month we were able to welcome our largest cohort of Youth Leadership Team members to date. Seventeen young leaders aged 14 to 28 have joined our year-long mentorship programme. Connecting from communities across the UK including York, Bolton, Manchester, Sheffield, Peterborough, Oxford, Ascot, Stroud, Bournemouth and the Channel Islands. Here are some comments from our new members when asked why they wanted to join the Youth Leadership Team:

"I believe getting involved is one of the most meaningful ways to make a difference in our country, especially as a young person. Recently, a speaker from PeaceJam visited our school, and I immediately knew it was something I wanted to be part of. I strongly believe that it’s up to young people to shape the world future generations will live in, and I’m passionate about contributing to that change."

"I am keen to learn more about social action strategies that help bring about a more peaceful society. I want to find out more about what I can do as an individual to support this, and how I might be able to include people in my community to be part of this. I would also love to meet other individuals to build friendships and learn more about them."

Over this academic year PeaceJam UK will support the Youth Leadership Team with the development and implementation of sustainable action projects. This includes offering in-person training, mentorship and opportunities to collaborate and network with each other and other inspirational changemakers. This Sunday, the Team will have the opportunity to hear from the current Service Project Chair of the Rotaract Club of Kitante in Uganda and utilise their project experience to enhance their own projects and discuss collaboration opportunities.

One of the amazing benefits of having both young adults and adults within our age bracket having the opportunity for discussion is the range of experiences and knowledge that can be shared and used to benefit each other. Including from our continuing Youth Leadership Team members taking a mentoring and supportive role while further developing their projects to our new members who are keen to turn passion into action.

“I'm very passionate about racism, simply because as a young black girl in the UK attending a majority white school, I encounter racism way too often. Being marginalised and discriminated against because of something you can't control is extremely painful, and it angers me to see other minorities and groups being discriminated against also, for attributes that they can't control.”

“I’m passionate about tackling environmental challenges here in our own country. I want to focus on raising awareness of issues like pollution, sustainability, and protecting local ecosystems, while also encouraging practical action within our communities. As one of the world’s wealthier nations, I believe the UK has both the resources and the responsibility to prioritise the environment when making political decisions. I also think it’s crucial that young people recognise this and put pressure on our leaders to act — and I would love to play a part in helping that happen.”

You can also read here about the inspirational project experience that one of our new members has and shares in our latest newsletter! Ishnoor created Open Skies, a youth-led initiative founded during the pandemic to empower learners through connection, dialogue, and self-discovery. Now she is excited to continue evolving the project as part of the PeaceJam UK Youth Leadership Team!

This project would not be possible without your continued support, thank you for uplifting these amazing young leaders and their communities.

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Aug 8, 2025
Youth Action Group Leads the Way

By Fay Pretty | PeaceJam UK Coordinator & Youth Team Leader

With the support of our GlobalGiving donors, our current UK Youth Team have nearly completed another year of mentorship. Developing their leadership skills and taking action in their local communities and further afield.

This includes taking part in national opportunities and outreach. In July PeaceJam UK ran an online youth panel composed of our Youth Team and inspirational changemakers, for approximately 250 Year 10 students at Smithills School in Bolton. Students were able to take part in an extensive Q&A, which included discussions around the impact of youth taking action and various issue areas including nuclear disarmament, hidden disabilities, and reducing barriers to education. Participants were then inspired to plan social action projects, which included a campaign to change the timings of the school day and a plan to organise a fundraising football match. Students are excited to return in September and turn their ideas into action.

Continuing to increase youth engagement and outreach through online platforms, PeaceJam UK will be hosting an Online Conference on 20 November. To ensure that this event is “for youth, by youth”, we have launched an Online Conference Youth Action Group of 14-18 year old students from across the UK, who have partnered with our Youth Team to plan the event. Applying the skills they have learnt this year, our Youth Team have been chairing and organising weekly Youth Action Group meetings and mentoring the summer participants to develop vital life skills, such as leadership, problem solving and creative thinking. This peer-to-peer experience has created a safe space for youth to share their social action experiences and learn from each other as they build an event to inspire other young people to take action across the UK.

This would not be possible without your support, thank you for supporting young leaders to implement sustainable action.

Links:

August Newsletter: Youth Team Feature

Attachments:

PeaceJam UK Online Conference (PDF)

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