Sian Hopkins

Getting ready to go to the polls

Why elections matter to our young people

Will they, won’t they? The Westminster gossip is all about when the general election will be called. Despite early hints to the contrary, a snap election on 2nd May is now firmly ruled out. Yet, across England, elections will take place on that day. We go to the polls for local councils, combined authorities and mayors, and Police & Crime Commissioners.

As the election campaigns gather pace, we asked Stuart Dunne, CEO of Youth Focus North West, why the regional agenda is so important for young people who aren’t entitled to vote.

Youth Focus NW is one of six regional youth work units in England, which act as hubs to develop and support youth work to meet young people’s needs in their regions.

Stuart said: “It’s no secret that young people face a number of challenges such as the mental health crisis, poverty and feelings of not being safe.

With the North West having some of the highest levels of deprivation, our services are vital to providing support to young people in those areas, helping them also to understand their local politics and identity.”

So what does an election year mean for young people and what impact does their voice make on decision makers? Mayors include Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region, with devolved powers from government. Police & Crime Commissioners who join up services within the regions, to secure early help and prevention and crime reduction. Some local council seats will be open for election in challenging financial times for funding local services. All play a significant role in determining support for young people’s lives, in services and activities across communities.

“Most of the challenges young people face today are not singular but multifaceted and therefore political ideology of dealing with singular issues just doesn’t work anymore,” said Stuart.

“Yet a lot of young people have a sense of belonging to areas when they feel valued, safe and provided with hope. When we bring young people from the North West together, they do have a sense of pride and belonging.”

According to Stuart politicians can do a lot to help young people aspire and succeed:

“I think there is several things politicians can do. The first, is to treat young people as equal citizens with rights, young people are not only the future of this country but are very much part of the present as well.

“The second, is to listen to, and value what young people say. If we want to develop young people’s sense of belonging and agency then listening and valuing their contribution is a minimum requirement.

“Thirdly, create policies that focus on young peoples strengths as well as societal challenges. The fourth, and final point is for politicians to act and behave as young people do, when they sit as the UK Youth Parliament, in the House of Commons.”

In his 12 years of working at Youth Focus NW, Stuart has a tremendous amount of insight into the significance of youth work for future generations.

“Youth work is a unique discipline that helps shape and guide young people into becoming active citizens.

“This is so much more than being about paying taxes. Our young people are equal citizens in their own right. Across a range of activities, such as volunteering, we help each other and embody the true value of democratic engagement.”

Youth voice and shared experience is core to Youth Focus NW and young people’s participation “as equals” with politicians. While the date of the general election is still in doubt, Stuart and his team are working with Citadel to get ready for Labour Party Annual Conference. This is to be hosted again in Liverpool, in September. They will deliver events led by young people engaging directly with senior politicians which, if the opinion polls are to be believed, will include Labour Mayors and likely Ministers in the next Government.

This sits proudly in the heart of a full programme of events organised with the youth sector, entering our 15th annual conference season.

Breaking stereotypes: Navigating misogyny with young men

In order to combat sexual harassment, the Labour Party announced plans to help schools develop young male mentors to teach pupils how to question the material they see on social media from influencers, like Andrew Tate.

Under the same proposals regional teams will work with schools to train staff on introducing a peer-to-peer mentoring programme to tackle misogyny.

As with most young people today the word misogyny is a very loaded term. Society has a habit of falling into the trap of buzzwords without going into the detail of defining them. The dictionary definition of misogyny is hatred or prejudice towards women.

Nowadays, most infer the term misogyny to be solely based on hate towards women. With its increased use particularly in the media, the term misogyny has been used primarily as a determination of gender based violence, something which up to 9 out of 10 women are more likely to experience.

Labour’s plans look to peer groups and more young people becoming influencers to counterbalance misogynistic influencers head on. Yet how a term like misogyny is used is very dependent on the community it is used in. Will a schools-based approach work?

When young men are called out for their misogyny, this mostly comes in the forms of scolding or mirroring behaviour. It can create a difficult tension between empowering young men to disempower themselves when for some street environments might be dangerous. Understanding cultural norms and sensitivities is important.

In short, boys don’t like to be told they are misogynistic – ‘the more populist it is the more defensive they seem to get’. With 85% of a young person’s waking hours spent outside of the school day, and with around the clock access to social media, how does this relate to youth work and the direction it should take when teaching young men about misogyny?

A lot of the time young men don’t really know why they are demonstrating those behaviours, but for many they have never been asked about it before.

In an attempt to connect, youth workers must be prepared to listen to what the young men in their groups have to say. This supports the notion that safe spaces should be renamed to brave spaces.

1. Curiosity – explore masculinity and what it means to boys and young men

2. Reflexivity – try to think about how you impact the interaction at that moment

3. Interaction – keep them engaged and keep a sense of humour!

Young men being open can make them vulnerable with others.Validation is needed throughout these discussions with young men.

When dealing with misogynistic jokes and comments amongst young people, it is important for the youth worker to be brave and confident, but not to target an individual. Look at the situation as a collective and why it may be happening, because you are not trying to challenge one person but trying to change a culture and community.

In order to do this, youth workers must have a passion and interest in making these changes for the young people and take some responsibility for this. To have an understanding of what the issues are facing young men, and the different masculinities in different communities, is the best way to reflect and tackle the issue of misogyny.

Breaking stereotypes: Navigating misogyny with young men was hosted by the National Youth Agency (NYA), supporting an understanding misogyny in its many forms and how youth workers can become more aware of misogynistic behaviours amongst the young men they work with.

Healthy Relationships: in conversation with Helen Marshall

After 8 years at Brook and previously a youth charity leader since 2010, Citadel has an enjoyed a long and trusted relationship with Helen Marshall.

Brook’s unique combination blends clinical services, relationships and sex education (RSE), outreach in community settings, wellbeing programmes and counselling, all under one roof.

“At Brook, we believe excellent sexual health, mental health and wellbeing is a right. One of our main objectives is to increase the accessibility of provision in these areas to ensure everyone can receive the help they need.”

“Citadel is supporting us with strategic input to our growth plans in the areas of mental health and neurodiversity/neurodivergence.”

“For us, the links between mental health and sexual health are all too apparent, and for decades now young people have asked us for support with their wider wellbeing.”

Brook works towards fighting stigma and combatting any damaging narratives that lead to preventing this who might seek support.

“People need to feel safe, represented and welcomed when they walk through the door at these services, and at Brook we model an open, inclusive and kind approach for the wider sector. Working with partners we seek to inform and influence national policies and model new ways of working.”

Brook’s work is extremely important regarding sexual health resources as England has some of the poorest sexual health outcomes in Europe.

“Understanding of, and attitudes towards sex and relationships can have major impact on many aspects of people’s lives; it can also be linked to things like violence against women and girls.”

This includes early help extended into schools with Brook. Products and education resources are based on cutting edge research and years of experience championing young people’s health.

“When it comes to RSE, the majority of teachers are still not receiving the necessary training and support to teach the subject confidently, and as a result young people are leaving school feeling unprepared to safely navigate sex and relationships.”

When working with Citadel, we asked Helen if she had any highlights about the company and projects they have previously worked with us on.

“Citadel supported Brook’s rebrand and new strategy in 2016 at a challenging time for the organisation. They championed our work and helped reshape how young people were involved in developing their own services.”

“Citadel also led the initial public affairs focus for Brook starting from minimal activity and has continued to support how we engage across the political spectrum.”

Currently, with support from Citadel, Brook have begun to develop a new early intervention mental health and suicide prevention service.

Brook’s safeguarding work has shown an alarming increase in unmet mental health and wellbeing needs. Recently, at Party Conferences, a joint event was held to go over Brook’s plans for community mental health hubs, co-ordinated by Citadel.

In terms of the future, Brook have big things planned.

“2024 marks the 60^th anniversary of Brook and we have exciting plans to celebrate all that we have achieved, while building support for the vital work that still needs to be done.”

Connecting policy to practice in support of young people

In conversation with Centrepoint CEO Seyi Obakin

As 2023 draws to a close, here at Citadel we are looking back at all the work we have done over this previous year. As a founding client, Citadel has worked with Centrepoint continuously for 18 years. Centrepoint CEO Seyi Obakin agreed to take a trip down memory lane and reflect on their own history, as well as their relationship with Citadel.

In 2003 Seyi joined Centrepoint as Finance Director before becoming CEO of the charity in 2009.

“Centrepoint was conceived in 1969 by a group of energetic people who looked at the number of young people sleeping on the streets of London and instead of saying ‘something should be done’ thought ‘what can I do?’”

“With £30 in the bank, they started an ambitious voluntary venture to provide a safe and secure place to stay for young people sleeping on the streets of London. They gathered the food and bedding needed and, importantly, worked with the young people they supported to seek the skills and employment needed to move on to independence.”

With Seyi at the head, Centrepoint have set the ambitious goal of ending youth homelessness by 2037.

“We understand that youth homelessness has many interlinked triggers and therefore, its threat can never be removed for young people.”

“However, we believe it is possible for the number of young people being made homeless to become negligible; rapidly to provide a place of safety and security for those affected; and to resettle them into permanent homes as soon as they are ready to live independently.”

The core of Centrepoint’s work revolves around working directly with young people who are experiencing homelessness, to help empower them to gain skills, jobs, and affordable homes. Through assisting central government and local authorities and promoting public awareness to the mobilisation of donors and volunteers, Centrepoint support more than 1,500 young people every day and 16,000 young people living elsewhere, both through their partner charities and directly.

Centrepoint has the longest standing relationship of all Citadel’s clients. This special collaboration is built on respect and trust from their stakeholders, their relationships within the policy-makers and with other charities have paved the way to improve future outcomes for young people.

“Centrepoint works directly with young people, but it must also influence systems and orchestrate change nationally, regionally, and locally. [Citadel’s] ability to connect Centrepoint with and influence key political stakeholders is second to none.”

“One example of such an outcome is persuading the government to cancel its plan to withdraw automatic entitlement to housing benefit from 18–21-year-olds and another example is persuading the government to exempt young care leavers from the Shared Accommodation Rate.”

The policy brief looks more broadly at support for young people to prevent homelessness, those at risk of homelessness with multiple and complex needs, supported accommodation and to move on towards independent living. As we emerge post-pandemic and into a cost-of-living crisis, over the last year work with Centrepoint has focused on what a youth offer from government could look like for 16-24 year olds, too old for children’s and ill-suited to adult services.

“Citadel understands that youth homelessness has many complex triggers and that many young people fall between the cracks of various agencies, charities and local authorities. They are therefore always looking for ways to bring people together so that the journey from homelessness to independence is as brief as possible.”

What next together, as we move towards an election year in 2024?

“Society as a whole and our communities are all evolving, creating new challenges all the time. Bringing people together – national, devolved, and local governments, voluntary organisations, civil society, etc – will remain critical to tackling these challenges. The thought, skill, and brokerage that Citadel offers so skilfully would remain intrinsic to finding solutions.”

See us, hear us

Over 80 young people led debate and discussions with politicians at this year’s annual party conferences. As part of Youth Work Week, 6-12 November, we spoke to three young people from the north west who hosted events at Conservative and Labour conferences in Manchester and Liverpool respectively. We asked them about their experience and why they believe young voices should be heard more clearly by local councils, regional mayors and in parliament.

How do you think politicians can help young people aspire and succeed?

“I believe that this can be achieved by better promoting youth voice opportunities, such as youth councils and youth combined authorities.”

By giving them a bigger platform more young people will have access to them and that they are of an excellent standard.

“Additionally, I believe that the ideas and policies of politicians need to adapt too; as a young person, we hear frequently that we should be ‘seen, and not heard’, and so often, our voices in political settings, such as council meetings, can feel like a tick-box activity, and that isn’t right.”

“One of the main reasons young people don’t want to be involved in youth voice is because they see it as ‘pointless’ and don’t think it will go anywhere.”

Politicians need to show us that our involvement is so powerful and beneficial, but that only comes from responding to us; our questions, our emails, and our criticisms too.

April, Youth Focus, Knowsley Youth Cabinet

“I think politicians can work with young people and amplify their voices, since they have platforms that allow them to do so.”

“They can work with young people to make them feel confident in themselves and make sure that they know their potential, not only in politics but in all aspects of life.”

Leia, Warrington Youth Council

“I believe the best thing a politician can do is to listen. The role of a politician should be to represent the views of various people, including young people.”

“Therefore by stopping and listening to what young people have to say this can be very helpful in their own development as it demonstrates that the system of representative democracy can work and that young people will be listened to; so they should not give up as success is possible within this system.”

Aaron, Trafford Youth Council

What have you seen work in the youth sector and what would you like to be added?

“Politicians should meet regularly with young people in their area to make sure that their voices are heard and taken on board in decision making.”

Young people that want to, should be able to contribute however they wish to their community and it’s up to the politicians to make this happen. This could involve removing barriers that stop young people from participating in events, like costs and transport.

Leia

I have seen the campaigns I have been involved in, such as Knowsley Youth Cabinet’s ‘Stop the Knives Ending Lives’ be successful, yet it is no secret that better involvement from local councils would improve this further. With this, I believe that council’s engagement with young people should be mandatory, and not optional.

“I also believe that it’s crucial for decision-makers to go into schools to actively talk to the young people they’re representing, as well as promoting youth clubs and opportunities to those who aren’t in school for a variety of reasons.”

At Knowsley Youth Cabinet, we are currently devising a list of instructions on how council meetings can be more inclusive to young people. Whilst we are frequently invited to them, it is a common occurrence that we, as young people, don’t always understand what is being said and, as a consequence, our presence there feels patronised.

April

“From my personal experience when engaging with young people, politicians should try to do it in the most relaxed environment possible. Often politicians can seem intimidating, so instead of making a young person present their ideas better outcomes often come out of more relaxed discussion.”

Aaron

If you could send a message to your older self, what would it be?

I would remind myself to engage with young people more. Just because young people may never have paid taxes and have not seen as much of the world yet, does not mean they are naive.

“A young person will often provide a new perspective which may have been overlooked and if the matter at hand involves politics and policy making many will be extremely passionate and engaged.”

In this case, I would tell myself that whenever I am stuck, ask for the input of a young person, as the chances are they will be able to provide a creative solution to the matter at hand.

Aaron

I would like to tell my older self to stick to what she believes in. I would say to “make sure to stay open minded, but don’t be swayed by someone who tries to convince you that you aren’t capable.” I want to remember that as a young person I have every right to be in the places I am and that I deserve all the success I gain from this.

Leia

If I could send a message to my older self, it would be simple: remember this moment!

“Considering I want to go into a future in politics, I want to remember how much these youth voice opportunities supported me in getting there and just how much they allowed me to grow.”

Whether that be through gaining confidence and communication skills, or through the people I’ve been honoured to network with and, even all of the incredible events I’ve been privileged to attend along the way.

As cliché as it sounds, I can safely say that I wouldn’t be the same person I am today without my youth council and all of the opportunities it has created for me. They mean everything to me and more.

“I am eternally grateful, for everything and everyone that has supported me on my continuing journey in politics, they’re the people and the opportunities that I’ll never forget and have undoubtedly changed my life, so thank you.”

April

Youth Work Week’s celebrates the youth workers, young people and everyone who funds and commissions within the sector.

This year’s focus is on youth work in every space and place, looking at every job, in every location that contributes to the future success of youth work. #YWW23

With thanks to Youth Focus NW in supporting young people to take part at the party conferences and the publication of this article

Labour Party Line-up Revealed

As we move past the Liberal Democrat conference on the coast and prepare for Manchester and the Conservative Party annual conference next week, our conference season is topped off by a visit to Liverpool with the Labour Party. The full programme has been released and includes over 40 events hosted in the Youth Zone and our new dedicated Skills Hub, supported by a roster of charity-partners, education providers and employers.

In an exciting development we also take on site a Youth Bus within the exhibition centre, promoting youth work in all places and spaces, as our studio for podcast interviews and conversations on some of the great inter-generational challenges of the day – from mental health to the climate crisis, education and future skills.

Backed by Youth Focus NW, the Commission On Young Lives and City & Guilds, and the energetic Walton Youth & Community group on board the youth bus. All events are held in the Exhibition Centre Liverpool, for conference delegates and visitors. Reports from the events will be posted and highlights included in our social media.

Anne Longfield CBE talks 18 years of Citadel

After Citadel had its anniversary last month, we caught up with some of the wonderful contributors and important organisations that Citadel have worked with the last 18 years.

Former Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield CBE, happily agreed to answer some of our questions about her experience working with Citadel.

What is your company/charity and what is your role within the company? How long have you been working there?

“We’ve been working with Citadel for most of its childhood and are delighted to have done so.”

“For me personally, this includes benefiting from the support of Citadel as CEO of charity 4Children, working collaboratively as Children’s Commissioner for England and more recently, collaborating as Chair of the Commission on Young Lives.”

What is your/the company’s relationship with Citadel and with its founder Jonathan Hopkins?

“Jonathan is a trusted partner to us in all things policy and influencing for young people. I first worked with Jonathan at the end of the nineties and continue to value his work.”

What are some of the main and key projects Citadel have worked on with you and what were the outcomes?

“We have worked with Citadel on the Youth Zone at party conferences since its inception – bringing together youth organisations and young people with political leaders to make the case for positive change.”

“As Children’s Commission and Chair of the Commission on Young Lives we worked closely on policies around youth workers in schools and new developments in the youth practitioner workforce.”

“In our next phase we will be focusing on a number of collaborations to improve opportunities and life chances for young people.”

Why is citadel such an important company?

“Citadel is important because it has detailed and long standing knowledge and understanding of social policy. This combined with unrivalled understanding and experience in public affairs.”

“Citadel cares about improving life chances and continues to work tirelessly to make the case and secure support for the measures needed to make that happen.”

What has been your favourite project/event you have done with Citadel or Jonathan Hopkins himself?

“Some of my favourite events have been at party conferences – often standing room only events with senior politician being questioned and held to account by young people about their policies and commitment.”

“Some of the best ideas have come out of those discussions.”

Why would you recommend Citadel to others?

“Citadel is one of those rare organisations that brings together extensive policy knowledge and public affairs experience to support organisations to super boost their profile, messaging and policy goals.”

“Jonathan has a forensic knowledge of policy and services and is directly plumbed into the policy machine across Whitehall, parliament and political parties as well as around the country.”

“Jonathan builds relationships with clients and decision makers with relentless commitment and determination to being about transformational change.”

“Happy 18^th Birthday Citadel – we look forward to working with you for many years to come!”

Party Conference Line-up is Released

With annual party conferences around the corner, the final line-up of charity-partners and fringe events has been released for the Youth Zone #YZ23.

Also this year we unveil the first ever dedicated #SkillsHub of education, training providers and employers.

With the Conservative Party in Manchester and Labour Party in Liverpool, the Youth Zone is supported by Youth Focus NW and backed by the Commission On Young Lives.

The founding partner for the Skills Hub is City & Guilds. The events are held in the conference centres for accredited delegates and visitors only.

Combined there is a remarkable 80 events hosted over 5-days between the two main conferences. With some 45 charities and sector partners, and up to 100 young people joining in.

#YZ23 is dedicated to supporting young people & addressing inter-generational issues of mental health, climate change, future jobs, cost-of-living &more.

#SkillsHub is championing Lifelong Learning from schools to adult learning, apprenticeships and employment, green skills and more.

Released today, the Conservative Party programme of events:

Full details for the Labour Party programme to follow soon.

Citadel turns 18!

This August, Citadel Policy & Communications turned 18 years old. We spoke with the organisation’s founder and director, Jonathan Hopkins, to tell us a little bit about the company and the impact it has made in its 18 year existence.

A consultancy for strategic communications in policy, research and public affairs; with an experienced team in government, media, marketing and campaigns, this company has achieved a great deal in the last 18 years.

Jonathan started the consultancy at a turning point in his career. After working in politics, marketing and campaigning and serving as a board director for PR-agencies, he felt he had become too distant from the causes he passionately believed in.

“At home, we had a growing family and young daughters that the macho-world of agency life kept me from. With all the great experience I’d gained, setting up a bespoke consultancy enabled us to specialise and create a family-friendly work environment.”

“Citadel grounded me back in public policy, affecting change for the better, working across government and media, for charities and businesses and community interests. We’ve gained a reputation and depth of work supporting education and skills, youth policies, justice and social inclusion.”

Starting off as a small company, Jonathan and co-founder, Jane Enticott, worked closely with others’ clients, providing specialist support for them including the likes of Matthew Moth at Madano and Rob Metcalfe at Richmond Towers, and with the encouragement of former colleagues Joe Brice, Stuart Thomson and Kevin Craig, to name but a few.

“As a company, we have been able to stay small but remain beautifully formed by keeping overheads low, and are quick to respond to whatever needs and issues are facing our clients.”

“There’s been a host of freelance associates who’ve come together on projects we’ve led, large and small. Anne Pinneydeserves special mention for adding research expertise to the team, and Graham Beech for joint projects together and as a client.”

Citadel Policy & Communications have an important year ahead, with both regional and general elections being held in 2024. This will signify a period of change, whoever is in power.

The team is consistently working closely with clients to continue to inform and support their business plans, with political insight, policy trends and positioning across public and political audiences.

At the same time, Citadel is continuing to develop bespoke approaches, supported by research, analysis and stakeholder engagement, most notably in education, future skills and with young adults (16-25). This is because these ages are the ones who all too often fall between the gaps in services and policies for children and adults.

Citadel’s work includes navigating the challenges to mental health, working with organisations like Brook, and exploring the employment sector with their newest client Youth Employment UK.

“There’s more to be achieved with leading youth charities too, with the likes of DofE and Scouts, and in an exciting development we’ve teamed up with Anne Longfield to secure legacy work for her Commission On Young Lives.”

“Our direct work, supporting young people has been a high point.”

“We are embarking on our 14th consecutive party conference season organising and hosting the Youth Zone for charity-partners and over 1,000 young people in that time taking part. Breaking down barriers and demystifying politics, providing a platform for youth voices on intergenerational challenges.”

This autumn Citadel has also added a dedicated Skills Hub backed by City & Guilds. So, between the Youth Zone and Skills Hub, Citadel will be hosting a remarkable 80+ events, across the 5 days at Conservative and Labour Party conferences.

This work surely stands out from all the other accomplishments, supporting a collective response that can demonstrate and provide many with a vast change for good.

Another key moment to mention would be the work done with the National Youth Agency throughout the pandemic. This included growing the collaboration of the national advisory board, building alliances and securing funding for youth services, charities and young people.

“We had a tremendous run rate of policy reports and recommendations on the national news.”

“If I can divulge some other favourites, they’d include consulting and designing victims’ services, girls’ rights campaigns on street harassment and civic leadership roles for school academy trusts.”

“A new campaign includes the British Youth Council in a young-people-led call for Votes at 16 and a summit in support of young migrants and refugees with the Positive Youth Foundation.”

“But if others will forgive me, Seyi Obakin and Centrepointhave been outstanding, with Citadel from day one and throughout our 18 years.”

So, what can we expect from another 18 years of Citadel Policy & Communications?

In short, more of the same we hope!

As Jonathan says, “the challenges remain great and the opportunities to help make a real difference are endless.”

The Review: A Working Title

You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. Why you should go see the play about a writer with writers block.

A week into their first performances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, I finally got to see Collision Theatre’s 45 minute production of ‘A Working Title’, and it was well worth the wait.

Just for context, I saw one of the first performances of ‘A Working Title’ back in Manchester, when the students of Manchester University first performed this script. So, when I saw how they adapted their writing to accommodate new actors and a shorter time of 45 minutes, I was pleasantly surprised with how seamlessly the play had been rewritten.

‘A Working Title’ follows the thought process and chaotic life of washed up screen writer Liam, as he faces a decline to produce a brand new film script for his sponsoring agency.

Tackling personal conflicts and alcoholism, the play laughs at itself, suggesting that a script about the writing process and the issues of writer’s block should not be an interesting watch. However, this cannot be said for this student production.

The audience involvement and melodrama from the actors was on point, with the dramatic acting of Liam’s thought actors, 1 and 2, delivering impeccable comedic timing, that had the audience in stitches.

Liam’s character was both believable and relatable to all of us in the creative industry, dealing with the sudden blank that appears out of nowhere when an original idea is needed, and an ever approaching deadline reaffirming the pressure we are already feeling.

The ever developing relationship with female lead and sister Alex, explores the affect of family tensions and painful unspoken feelings that can rock the creative process.

One moment you will be laughing and the next holding back tears, as a turmoil of emotions reflects truly the turbulent nature of the human condition and how there is always more happening under the surface.

If you haven’t already, head down this evening to TheSpace on The Mile at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and treat yourself to this 5 star piece of theatre. If you don’t chuckle or resonate with these well-written characters, I’ll eat my hat.