Inside Youth Action Unlocked: The Hack

On Tuesday 22^nd July, something amazing happened. Over 120 young people from across the North East came together at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle for our Youth Action Unlocked event – and wow, did they show up with some big ideas.

We handed the mic over to them for the day – and they used it to shout about the things they care about. From education and safety to mental wellbeing and vaping, these young people weren’t just talking. They were planning, pitching, and getting funded to make real change happen in their communities.

After kicking off with some inspiring stories, the young people jumped straight into designing their own – supported by brilliant youth workers and facilitators. After some lunch (and a lot of snacks), it was time to get those pitches polished before heading in front of our panel of funders, supporters and youth sector pals.

Here’s a little look at just some of the incredible ideas that were pitched on the day.

This group focused on creating a safe and protective space for young people in response to local street violence. Their idea centres around starting a youth club that helps others feel secure, supported, and empowered. The group aims to step outside their comfort zones, speak out, and build a stronger sense of safety and community.

We spoke to Cole, Savannah and Paige from the Gateshead Interchange Project, who introduced their group as The Youth Shield. Cole explained that they chose the name because they are creating “a youth club and a shield – somewhere you feel safe and protected.”

Savannah shared that she wanted to get involved because it’s a “fun idea” and a “good opportunity to say what you want.” When asked what they hope to learn from the experience, she added that it’s about learning to “get out of their comfort zones and speak out.”

This project aims to raise awareness about the risks and impacts of vaping and smoking. They plan to create informative resource packs to educate young people, focusing on health effects and proper disposal methods. These resources will be made accessible both online and in youth clubs to reach a wide audience.

We spoke to Erin and Jannah from NEYouth about the project. They were inspired to take action against vaping and smoking because they had “seen young people in areas vaping and there’s more and more research out about the health issues of this.”

When asked what youth-led action means to her, Erin said it’s when “young people have a say in what they want to do and make a difference because of it.”

This group is focused on tackling low school attendance and improving access to education and employment for young people. Motivated by the statistic that 6.9% of young people in the North East are not in education, they want to drive change by making lessons more engaging and relevant. Their aim is to increase attendance and create better pathways into the world of work.

We spoke to Blake, Ellie and Lauren from the group about the project. Blake shared the importance of education as it “helps you with a lot and we want to help people build their future career.” Blake then said: “we’d love to see a difference in attendance and overall how people are participating in school.”

When asked what youth-led action means to them, Ellie said, “so that young people get a chance saying what they think is best for them because an adult thinking from a child’s perspective isn’t the same because they haven’t experienced the same things that the child has.” Lauren built on this by saying, “school now, compared to when teachers were there, is a very different thing so that’s why having young people’s opinions is important,” especially with the impact of social media. Blake agreed, adding, “a lot of the reasons young people don’t like to come to school is because of social media and because of the bullying. We want to try change that, if we get people participating in lessons they may connect with people more.”