Youth Voice Manager promises young people will be at the heart of Leeds 2023 cultural year

Here she tells the Yorkshire Evening Post why young people will be at the heart of LEEDS 2023 ahead of a youth summit next month.

I’ve been working collaboratively with communities and specifically young people for several years through my previous jobs with the Beatfreeks and with the Geraldine Connor Foundation, each has given me a real appetite for working with young people and I’m so excited to can bring that to LEEDS 2023.

It is so important that young people are actively involved in next year’s cultural festival because we want everyone in Leeds to be involved and it is my job to make sure that happens, that there is a strong voice of young people through the program that reaches everyone across the city. LEEDS 2023 will create opportunities for young people to be heard and for them to play an important role in the year.

It can be leading specific projects, helping to publicize events or simply coming and participating, everything is essential to make 2023 a year to remember.

Next month we are inviting young people and local organizations to a youth summit to start a process of listening and sharing ideas. At the Leeds Playhouse there will be workshops, creative activities and panel discussions where we will discuss what culture means to young people.

The Summit will help LEEDS 2023 and local youth organizations understand what matters to young people so that we can work together to continue to develop the wider cultural offer for young people in the city.

This investment in our young people will not only help us create events that people will want in 2023, but will also play a huge role in ensuring that cultural projects are accessible to all young people in the city next year and beyond.

The Youth Summit will culminate in a manifesto, created to highlight the hopes of all involved for 2023 and beyond. This will be a call to action and we hope to see organizations sign up to be part of it. I am delighted to see how the young people of Leeds want to see organizations supporting them and collaborating with them in the future.

This generation of young people will lead the cultural changes of the city in the years to come. They will be the ones to benefit the most from the legacy of LEEDS 2023 and involving them from the start gives them the chance to shape the year and be part of the cultural life. city ​​landscape.

We will support them all the way, offering them the opportunity to build their skills and explore pathways into the industry, whether as creators or participants, making the most of this opportunity and everything the brilliant potential that will arise from their participation.

Spaces for organizations as well as young people from high schools, colleges, universities and individually are limited to attend the summit in July at Leeds Playhouse, check www.leeds2023.co.uk for updates and details on how to apply.