Run by young people for young people, Manchester Youth Council celebrated their 10 –year anniversary earlier this week with a ceremony in the city centre.
In 2012, Manchester Youth Council was established to ensure that Manchester has a democratically elected group of young people, to represent Manchester and the views of Mancunian young people at local, regional and national levels .
Over the past decade, the Manchester Youth Council (MYC) have championed the views of young people and have represented Manchester’s youth at the UK national Youth Parliament - ensuring that the voices of Manchester’s young people are heard.
The Youth Council have worked closely with the City Council to improve the experience of being a young person in the city and have co-ordinated events, produced resources and campaigned for better support for young people in the city.
Some of their main achievements include:
Youth Buzz Awards
Talented young Mancunians from across the city are recognised at the annual Youth Buzz Awards for their stand-out achievements and for making a positive contribution to their communities. The first Manchester Youth Buzz Awards was held in Manchester Town Hall in 2017, and the next Youth buzz Awards will be held in 2023.
MYC, with support from the Council, organise the awards to showcase the outstanding contribution that young people make to the city. Award categories include: leadership, volunteering, charitable fundraising, equality and diversity, caring, and commitment to green issues
Manchester Day
This year as part of the Council’s year long scheme 2022 Our Year, Manchester Youth Council planned, organised and delivered activities as part of the annual Manchester Day celebrations.
Manchester Youth Council, in collaboration with the City Council planned a wide range of entertainment and activities with young people in mind. With graffiti walls to write on, Instagram walls to pose next to, face painting, and a whole host of other activities to take part in, young people were invited to have fun and channel their creative juices to express what Manchester means to them.
The Manchester Day activities for young people proved to be a great success, with 2000 attendees in Piccadilly Gardens.
CommonUnity – React Report Rethink
This campaign started in 2017 and its goal was awareness of hate crime and how to report it.
MYC led this campaign as a response the MEN Arena attack in 2017.
The Youth Council also held 20 workshops with schools and youth groups across the city and worked with 4500 young people to open discussions about hate crime and encourage young people to take action and stay safe in the city.
Make Your Mark Ballot
The Make Your Mark ballot gives all young people aged 11-18 in the UK the chance to have a say on the biggest issues facing young people.
In 2015 Ali Drabu – member of Manchester’s Youth Parliament- lobbied UK Youth Parliament to get Tackling Racism and Islamophobia onto the national Make Your Mark ballot paper.
By raising this to the Youth Parliament, Drabu made the government aware that young people were concerned with racism and discrimination, this later became the Don’t Hate, Educate UK national campaign to tackle discrimination.
In 2019 Young People in 12421, young people aged 11-18 in Manchester voted to Protect the Environment
After voting to protect the environment, Manchester Youth Council created the MYC Climate Wheel - a resource to enable young people to take action and reduce their carbon footprint.
Now, every school and youth group in the city have received copies of the Climate Wheel to support the Manchester Zero Carbon strategy and so residents of all ages can learn more about monitoring their carbon footprint.
Young Carers
Yasmina Lee – a member of Manchester’s Youth Council- campaigned to ensure young carers were recognised and supported with the help of other MYC member Reko Smith.
After successfully campaigning for young carers, the project has now got a full time staff member in the council who has worked with young carers to ensure their views are represented.
Since then, Manchester’s Young Carers have won the Made in Manchester Cultural Award with their Support Not Sympathy Campaign, which included a film to show how residents can support young carers in constructive ways.
Councillor Garry Bridges, Executive Member for Children and Young people, said:
“This is a great achievement for Manchester’s Youth Council- over the ten years they have made so much progress for the children and young people of the city.
“From raising the concerns of Mancunian young people nationally to creating resources such as the climate wheel for all young residents, the Youth Council are a brilliant set of young people who work hard for young people all over the city. I can’t wait to see what they continue to accomplish.
Michelle Saidi Fromer Member of Manchester’s Youth Council said:
The things I have been able to learn in MYC are invaluable. I don't know where I would be today had I not gone through MYC. I have been able to build my public speaking skills, communications, leadership, and teamwork. MYC has re-wired my brain to believe in myself and go after my dreams. I’ve used my skills for life to be more confident and challenge myself to do more.
Daanya Isa , Virginia Collins and Lois Adela members of Manchester’s Youth Council 2022 said:
“We want to work with young people from across the city to make sure they can have their say and share their ideas to make Manchester a better city for young people to grow up in. We are a diverse city and are proud of our heritage and will want to build an inclusive youth council to make sure everyone has the chance to have their say and the support to take action.
“We are working with City Council leaders to make Manchester a UNICEF Child Friendly City and are looking forward to representing young people in Manchester to be heard and take action. 2023 is going to be amazing year for children and young people.”