After Youth Action Unlocked: The Hack brought together over 100 young people to plan and deliver their own social action projects, we came together again last Thursday at Tyneside Cinema to celebrate their achievements at Youth Action Unlocked: The Showcase.

The event fell during #iwill week, which made it the perfect moment to shine a light on the incredible work young people have been doing in their schools, communities, and local areas. And from the second the doors opened, the energy was unreal. Young people, funders, influencers, supporters and decision makers all arrived ready to hear one thing: the impact created when young people take the lead.

These projects all began back in July, when groups from Sunderland, Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, Middlesborough and Teesside pitched ideas based on issues they cared about most. Fast-forward a few months and those ideas have turned into powerful, meaningful work that has genuinely made a difference.

In Durham, Laurel United created mental health support packs for schools, filled with calming tools and fidgets. In Middlesborough, groups designed “therapy corners” to give people somewhere to breathe when things feel overwhelming. And in Sunderland, young people hosted a careers event to raise aspirations and help others explore opportunities, with even more events now being planned.

Throughout the night, we heard directly from the young people who made it all happen. Blake, 14, from Sunderland in Action! told us: “To even get everyone involved was something massive to us… we hope we get opportunities like this in the future.” Oliver, 15, from South Tyneside’s Chaos Coordinators, a group that hosted a fun day for their community, said: “It makes us feel happy because we’ve been recognised for helping the community and others.”

A panel of young people from each project also took to the stage to answer questions about their projects, challenges, and what they learned along the way. Every answer reminded us just how much confidence, skills and resilience went into bringing these ideas to life. Their projects weren’t simple – they required leadership, teamwork, planning, budgeting and much more – and the young people stepped up at every stage.

We also welcomed a brilliant young #iwill Ambassador, who spoke about the importance of youth social action and encouraged the young people to become part of the #iwill movement.

As our CEO Rebecca Maw said on the day: “The transformation we’ve seen in these young people is extraordinary. They’ve gone from having an idea, to leading real projects that have changed their communities, and changed how they see themselves.”

It’s hard to sum up just how special this Showcase felt. It wasn’t just an event, it was a celebration of confidence, creativity and belief. A reminder of what young people can achieve when given the space, support and trust to lead. 

A huge thank you to every young person, partner, facilitator, funder and support who made all of this possible. Youth Action Unlocked may be over for now, but the impact will last far longer, and we can’t wait to see what comes next!

A special thank you to the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Youth Endowment Fund, North East Combined Authority and UKSPF for funding Youth Action Unlocked.