Support Young Leaders Implement Sustainable Action

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.

• Youth Leadership Training Weekend Programme (PDF)