Call for young people to help shape Young Person’s Guarantee

YOUNG people from across Greater Manchester are invited to join a new group to help give other young people the best possible future.

Chair of the Greater Manchester Task Force, Olympian and Commonwealth Gold Medal Winner, Diane Modahl, is encouraging young people from across Greater Manchester to apply for a place on the Youth Advisory Group to help shape the future of Greater Manchester.

The group of successful applicants will be aged between 11 and 30-year-olds and will work directly with Diane, to provide direction and challenge to the Task Force to ensure the centrality of the young person’s voice. They will also have an influence in not only shaping, but developing and creating the Young Person’s Guarantee.

Applications to join the Youth Advisory Group are open until Sunday, August 2, 23:59. For more information and to apply, please go to Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s website.

Chair of the Youth Task Force, Diane Modahl, said: “No experience is necessary, but the team is looking for individuals who have got some great ideas who can tell us what works, and more importantly what doesn’t work. We want you to help us shape the guarantee, along with our partners, so we can ensure that Greater Manchester is a great place to grow up where aspirations can thrive.”

The Youth Advisory Group is just one element in the creation of the Greater Manchester Young Person’s Guarantee.  

Development of the Young Person’s Guarantee will include a programme of direct engagement and consultation with young people and youth organisations, along with colleges, training providers and businesses as part of a co-designed process with young people at the centre. It will be built utilising the combined strengths of the city-region’s voices in a coordinated partnership. 

Diane added “Consultation is a vital part of the process in the development of our Guarantee, so contribution and first-hand knowledge will go so far in helping us to build the foundation in which we will shape this long-lasting piece of work to ultimately build a better future for young people across our city-region.” 

Consultation is already underway with a series of events having already taken place throughout June and July.  

On Thursday, June 25, young people across Greater Manchester joined together for an interactive digital event to kick-start consultation with both Diane and the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.  

The event was hosted by Greater Manchester Youth Combined Authority Chair, Hania Sulaiman and, Youth Leads’ CEO, Saeed Atcha MBE.  

Earlier on in the month (Thursday, July 16) Diane led a round-table session with over 70 educators from across the city-region to gather insight into concerns around young people and education.  

Consultation is ongoing with two more round-table events currently scheduled: 

• Local businesses – discussion around the vital role businesses play in the future of our young people. Hosted with the Co-Chair of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership, Mo Isap.  
• Keeping connected, staying well – discussion around health and well-being and engagement with communities  

For more information about the Task Force, Guarantee and Youth Advisory Group, please go to Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s website.