Last week Ama Agbeze MBE, joined young people in Birmingham, for the launch of The Prince’s Trust and Commonwealth Games Federation, Youth Voice Plan. It includes recommendations to ensure the legacy of each Commonwealth Games, benefits young people in each host country.
The Youth Voice Plan was devised with young people from across the Commonwealth and was led by Young Leaders from the UK who have been supported by The Prince’s Trust and partners. It forms part of a wider multi-game’s partnership between The Prince’s Trust, Prince’s Trust International and the Commonwealth Sport movement.
The recommendations include:
· Enabling young people to access volunteering, training and employment opportunities generated by the Commonwealth Games
· Inspiring young people through sport to engage in developing skills that will help to increase their confidence
· Placing young people at the forefront of legacy objectives for the Commonwealth Games
The Young Leaders were helped to develop their skills and experience with support from the Khalili Foundation in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat.
In 2021, the Young Leaders were joined by a group of British Council Young Leaders from nine different countries to ensure international ideas were taken into account. The plan continued to take shape with a series of online youth summits, which engaged young people across the Commonwealth and focussed on education, sustainability (which was attended by Olympic Gold Medallist Tom Daly OBE) and global citizenship issues.
Beatfreeks, and agency based in Digbeth that specialise in increasing relevance with young and diverse audiences, played a key part in collating and analysing the data collected from the three youth summits. This data was then collated and published in The Youth Voice Plan.
Amy Clamp, Commercial Director at Beatfreeks said: “Beatfreeks are incredibly proud to be working with organisations like the Commonwealth Games Federation to connect them meaningfully to young people. Having been involved from the start of this exciting collaboration with the Prince’s Trust and Commonwealth Games Federation, we were able to together design a project that would hear from young people across the Commonwealth. Our role included creating a robust research methodology, analysing all of the amazing conversations and ideas young people shared at each of the three summits (education, sustainability and global citizenship), and then turning this into a Youth Voice Plan that will inspire and guide how the Commonwealth Games Federation engages young people for years to come. It’s truly rewarding working on a project that will have such huge impact in each of the countries in the Commonwealth. The involvement of the young people was pivotal in ensuring the changes that are made, are future facing and fit for purpose.”
Ama Agbeze MBE said: “The Youth Voice Plan is an incredible achievement and shows that young people across the world feel invested in the Commonwealth Games and their futures. Sport can make a real difference to young people, increasing their confidence and their aspirations. It’s great to see that the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Federation and The Prince’s Trust have forged a successful partnership that will benefit young people across the world.”
Jasmin Kaur, Chair of The Prince’s Trust Young Leaders Group said: “The Youth Voice Plan is a culmination of ideas from hundreds of young people across the Commonwealth. We’re aiming to ensure that the legacy of each Commonwealth Games offers inspiration as well as tangible benefits for young people, including education, training and employment opportunities that will also uplift their local communities. I’m very proud of what we have achieved.”
Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Katie Sadleir said: “The Youth Voice Plan is a fantastic initiative which is very much by young people for young people. We are delighted to be unveiling this as part of our partnership with The Prince’s Trust as another fantastic legacy of the upcoming Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.”
Pritpal Surj Commonwealth Lead at The Prince’s Trust said: “Young people have been at the forefront of the Youth Voice Plan. It will help to ensure that sustainability and intercultural relationships are strengthened and benefit young people throughout the Commonwealth and beyond.
“The Plan is also a celebration of a global youth community, which helped to galvanise enthusiasm for the Commonwealth Games and facilitated a safe space for hundreds of young people to share their aspirations and ideas for a better future.”
The Youth Voice Plan and associated youth summits, were coordinated by The Prince’s Trust in partnership with Beatfreeks, the Commonwealth Sport Foundation, The British Council, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and The Khalili Foundation.
