‘It’s our Democracy’: Young leaders across Citizens UK chapters shape what's next for their communities through local youth-led assemblies

Too often, we hear the narrative that young people have no say over the policies that affect their lives. Yet, one year from the General Election, on Friday 4 July, young leaders from across Citizens UK chapters took part in youth assemblies to share their positive visions for the future and what's next for their communities on campaigns such as housing, youth safety, mental health and more.

Just two weeks later, the government announced that 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to vote at the next general election, one of the campaigns young leaders have been working on as part of the Citizens Manifesto. Young leaders also met directly with decision-makers and received a range of wins. See some of the highlights below.

280 people from across Birmingham Citizens came together at Aston University for the first ever youth assembly in the region. 59 young leaders shared powerful individual & joint stories on housing, work and safety. They secured concrete pledges of action from the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Midlands TUC, and Birmingham City Council.

They also secured a commitment from the co-chairs of Birmingham Citizens: Angela Jeffery & Mashkura Begum (MBA) to deliver a year-long youth leadership development programme from September and guarantee places on the key leadership group of the chapter for them.

On the same day, Citizens Cymru Wales celebrated a huge win on the steps of the Welsh Senedd: £1 bus fares for all children and young people in Wales!

The campaign for fairer bus fares came out of listening with young people across Wales, which found that the cost of bus transport was a universal issue for young people. In late February 2025, the Welsh Government announced a scheme for “£1 buses for young people”, and in March, the councillors confirmed that the scheme would only be for people aged 16-21 and only last a year.

From this discovery, young people across Wales organised a campaign to pressure their MSs and councillors into calling for the £1 scheme to be expanded. As a result of the pressure from an action, Transport Minister Ken Skates agreed to a negotiation with young leaders from Citizens Cymru for the 16th July, and on 10th July, the Welsh Government announced a change to their £1 bus policy to include 5–15-year-olds.

The extension of the scheme to all children and young people will help break down barriers to accessing the places, opportunities and people they need to enable them to thrive, increasing mobility and social inclusion and providing more financial relief to them and their families.

Young leaders from East London Citizens heard from inspiring panels discussing apprenticeships, youth opportunities, safer streets, access to Zip cards, and building a stronger, more connected Newham—especially between the police and the wider community. They secured commitments to work with Stephen Timms MP on jobs and skills opportunities for young people.

"We were delighted to welcome Liz Kendall MP to Braunstone Frith Primary to engage with 7 schools and 101 people over the concerns that are facing our young people today.

On the day we heard stories of students struggles: mental health and lacking support; housing and forced moves to temporary housing; and migration and the struggles immigrants face. Liz engaged with our young people during a ‘listening’ session and students described her responses as engaging, encouraging, and felt personally connected.

Being able to get involved with the event was a massive privilege and the stories shared were powerfully motivating. Perhaps we might even see a few independent campaigns, particularly since many young people shared their concerns over waiting lists for mental health and educational support.

At the end of the session Liz committed to: ensuring landlords take responsibility for disrepair and maintenance, encouraging the building of social housing, meeting with responsible parties to discuss the impact of early-stage mental health intervention, and working with the migration justice team to get migrant families included in the child poverty scheme.

Thanks to everyone involved, people were left feeling “hopeful”, “relieved”, and “proud” to name a small few of the positive emotions we were left with. We hope that Liz Kendall will stay as committed as we felt she was at the event, and our member institutions come back for me. The work has only just begun.

We are Leicester and Leicestershire Citizens!"

Reuben, community leader from Leicester and Leicestershire Citizens.

The first-ever Greater Manchester Citizens Youth Assembly brought together almost 200 people from across the alliance. Young leaders shared testimony on their experiences of hate and discrimination, long waits for mental health services, and feeling unsafe in Greater Manchester’s parks, using public transport and when walking home.

They secured commitments from across the NHS, Transport for Greater Manchester, Greater Manchester Police, and from Kate Green, the Deputy Mayor, on how they could work together on these issues.

Young leaders from Citizens Somerset celebrated the success of their campaign for park upgrades. In January 2024, following listening sessions in their Year 5 classes, young leaders from St James Church School in Taunton, identified park safety as their top priority and decided to take action to make their local park safer for children and families. The pupils focused on the underpass that connects their housing estate to the school, highlighting key concerns including broken lights, a lack of CCTV and dangerous litter.

Across the course of the year, they met with Taunton Town Council leader, Cllr Tom Deakin, the mayor, local councillors, and the police, with actions including a neighbourhood walk, a formal meeting where they secured commitments on four of their asks for CCTV, improved lighting, mirrors for visibility and regular glass and needle sweeps.

Young leaders celebrated the progress of the improvements made to the park. Read the coverage here.

The now-Year 6 pupils passed down their community organising batons to Year 5 pupils to continue the work they have started, affirming their commitment to support younger pupils at actions and negotiations and pick up new batons at their secondary schools.

Young leaders from South London Citizens took part in a youth political education day, where young people learned about campaigns, shared their own experiences and wrote postcards to Janet Daby MP, Minister for Children and Families, to meet with us on improving immigration support for children in care and improved conditions for families in temporary accommodation.

Young leaders from Tyne & Wear Citizens held an assembly in Houghton, attended by local MP and Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Philipson. Young leaders spoke about reforming the curriculum, bringing down the cost of school uniforms and expanding mental health support in schools. They received a number of commitments from Bridget Phillipson MP, including to meet with them again at a future Assembly.

A joint assembly between West London & North London Citizens saw hundreds of young leaders share the importance of youth safety, votes at 16 and the Pathway to Citizenship campaign. With attendance from Georgia Gould MP, Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, they received an invitation to an upcoming youth summit.

Young leaders from West Yorkshire Citizens met with Baroness Anne Longfield to discuss the Racial Equity in Education campaign, asking for support with wider reforms to the education system so that racist incidents are better dealt with and to improve the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance.