Meet our new Youth Council

There are 18 of us in the Youth Council, covering the UK from Cornwall to Glasgow and Belfast. The best way to unite such a large group was at Speakers for Schools HQ in London.

In February 2024, we came together for a two-day crash course on all things Speakers for Schools. The leaders of various teams also got a sense of where the Youth Council wanted to take things.   

Namely, freedom, direction, and advancement. These are things that we all aim for in life: to have the freedom to pursue our dreams and goals by shaping the world around us, to have confidence in a plan we set for ourselves and to advance past any limit and grow beyond expectations. But how do we get there? How do we strive for this when our future is often shaped by much older people who don’t really know us? How can we have the strength to move above our current station?

Speakers for Schools. Speaking for your aspirations, speaking for your needs and speaking for you.

The best way to understand our amazing Youth Council is to let them introduce themselves.

Representing Scotland: Ahmed and Tom

I am Ahmed, one of the two Scottish representatives, and I live in the heart of Glasgow City. Compared to the other areas represented, Glasgow is abundant in terms of work experience opportunities, as can be expected from Scotland’s biggest city in terms of both area and population. However, there is a concerning lack of awareness regarding the accessibility and availability of said chances.

Like most members of this year’s Youth Council, Speakers for Schools was recommended by my school’s Careers Advisor as a platform to access virtual insight days easily and work experience relevant to my interest in Software Development and Computer Science .

Without a doubt, it has been a fruitful find, and the opportunities and resources I discovered were a great help, which is why I chose to join the Youth Council. I want to share the bounties up for grabs and inform all young people that they are sleeping on this treasure.

Hi, My name is Tom; I heard about the opportunity to join the youth council through my school’s pupil council and decided to apply as I believed it would be a good opportunity to gain some new experiences. I live in a rural area outside of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, which means when finding work experience, I often struggle with transport and the range of work experience available; most of the opportunities here are for engineering or the army, neither of which are careers I am interested in pursuing.

I have a huge passion for music and theatre production and hope that in the coming year, I can gain my own work experience in this field and help people get similar opportunities through Speakers for Schools.

Northern Ireland By Mia and Matei

My name is Mia and I am a Speakers for Schools Youth Council member. Along with Matei, we are the first Northern Irish representatives for the Youth Council. I am a Year 13 student currently studying for AS-level exams and I am interested in pursuing a career in the business and finance industry. I first heard of Speakers for Schools through my careers teacher who advised us to apply for work experience through them. I then completed virtual work experience through their platform, which gave me greater insight into the finance industry.

Wales by Megan and Molly

My name is Megan, and I’m the Welsh representative for this year’s Speakers for Schools Youth Council, alongside Molly. I’m currently studying for my A/S levels and hope to apply for medicine in the future. I first heard of Speakers for Schools through my school , and my teacher encouraged me to apply to join the Youth Council as she knew how much I value work experience.

As I live in Wales, my opportunities for work experience have always been limited. This is what I strive to change in my time on the Council, as I know firsthand how difficult it is to obtain placements in rural, disconnected Welsh towns. I have completed a small amount of work experience through volunteering, and I hope to expand on this in the upcoming months through the Speakers for Schools’ Work Experience for All’ campaign.

My name is Molly, and I live in South Wales, not far from Cardiff. I’d never heard about Speakers for Schools until my Careers Advisor forwarded me a link about their Youth Council, which I was eager to learn about. I really like the professional and organised way that Speakers for Schools has involved us with their Youth Council.

Despite the lack of advertised work experience in my region, I have been very lucky to undertake work experience with my local Senedd Member. Some other issues that my area faces are lack of diverse professions and differences in Wales’s education system – sometimes for better or worse. This coming year, I will apply to Oxford to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics and hope to use Speakers for Schools to learn more about the world of politics and policy making.

North East by Callum and Bitania

I’m Callum, and alongside Bitania, I represent the Northeast of England in the Youth Council. I remember hearing about this opportunity and immediately knowing I had to apply.

The North East is very limited in terms of work experience opportunities (especially in the creative industry). When comparing 2021 with 2015, the number of employees working in the culture sector in the North East has decreased by nearly 19%, and that needs to change. That is why I want to make a difference, why I want to help Speakers for Schools and why, as an aspiring filmmaker, I want to help to create promotional content specifically.

I find that work experience isn’t talked about enough, and it needs to be about learning how subjects like maths, English and science can apply to a job.

In every full-time job I can think of, you need experience outside of a classroom, which is why I want to work with Speakers for Schools and why they have such a perceptive take on what young people need, even if they don’t want it.

Hi, my name is Bitania and I’m 17 years old. I heard about the Youth Council whilst searching for work experience in accountancy. I’m from the South Yorkshire region, and I have found that work experience opportunities are very limited here and I would be required to travel a long way just to find an accounting firm that’s willing to take on students.

Another problem I’ve faced is that most work experience opportunities are advertised to private school students and so I – as a state school student – hear little to no information about options I can consider to reach my goals.

This is why Speakers for Schools and its values resonated with me so much; its mission is to empower students like me from a state school/college and improve social mobility and diversity in the workplace.

North West By Aisha and Zephaniah

Hi, I’m Aisha, and I’m proudly representing the North West on the Speakers for Schools Youth Council. In Year 10, I found Speakers for Schools while searching for work experience online. Finding something that aligned with my interests and offered valuable skills was tough, but this platform stood out.

Their commitment to equal access really resonated with me. Joining this amazing organisation will allow me to step out of my comfort zone, boost my confidence, and connect with like-minded people who believe work experience should be accessible to all. With a passion for Physics, I also aspire to become a Mechanical Engineer and break barriers in a traditionally male-dominated field!

My name is Niah, and I aspire to inspire you to take your life into your hands for a better future, a better UK and most importantly a better you. I first heard of Speakers for Schools when I stumbled upon an advertisement on my college’s teams chat. I signed up right away as I wasn’t going to waste such a golden opportunity. Opportunity is so important but some of us never see that time arrive and a big problem for me is that it often feels like all the opportunities are concentrated around the South.

In the future, I dream of becoming an economist within the public or private sector, maybe even the Head of the Bank of England if I’m lucky. What I love about Speakers for Schools is that we drive to be opportunity makers by pushing forward change. I want work experience to become a staple in our education system so that everyone gets the opportunity to fulfill their dreams.

East Midlands by Daisy

My name is Daisy, and I applied to the Youth Council in October, not expecting to get in but surprisingly, I did! After meeting the other members, most of the staff and the CEO, I realised that I could have a lot more impact than I originally thought. As someone who has been brought up in and around grassroots music venues and creatives, I also struggle with the under-representation of the arts within work experience.

Frankly, the lack of networking opportunities for state-educated young people creates a negative stigma and discourages many from even trying to enter these sectors. I’m from Cambridge, and the stigma around any non-STEM-based subject is extremely prevalent here, as is the stark difference in opportunity between state and private school kids.

West Midlands By Nell

After hearing about the Youth Council through school, I chose to apply as a chance to give a greater voice to the arts, platform creative careers and encourage Speakers for Schools to provide more opportunities in this sector. I hope to pursue an artistic career – specifically in interior design – but I’ve found it difficult to find creative work experience.  

Other careers are often encouraged and supported through schools and the arts can be considered less important. I hope that by being part of the Youth Council, I’ll be able to prompt many more work experience opportunities to encourage creativity rather than purely focusing on academic subjects.

Highlighting the importance and relevance of the arts, I hope I can help influence the vital work of Speakers for Schools and assist more young people who are struggling to find a pathway into a creative job.

South East by Cara

My name is Cara, and I’m pleased to represent the South East region for the Youth Council. I am currently in Year 11, preparing for my GCSEs in the summer and I will be taking Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Economics for A Level. I discovered this opportunity to join the Youth Council through the charity’s website when I was looking at potential work experiences.

I am very lucky to have been introduced to Speakers for Schools through my school, and I have since completed three virtual and one in-person programmes with them.

Despite the South East’s strong economic ties to London, there is still the persistent issue of gender inequality, particularly in the finance and business sectors. Women continue to be under-represented in leadership positions and have a lack of access to equal opportunities and career advancement.

South West by Ryan and Zoe

My name is Ryan, and I am from Bournemouth. I first heard about Speakers for Schools during my virtual work experience at SSCL and Ministry of Justice. During this work experience, I learned more about how these organisations work and about the different roles they offer. The virtual experience was well planned, ran smoothly and even included a team task which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I heard about the Youth Council from one of the organisers and I’ve never looked back! I’m so happy to represent an organisation that matches my drive for equality for all, and I hope we can do just that on my journey here.

My main goal is to provide work experience to everyone, regardless of background and circumstance. The main challenge I see for the South West is the limited opportunities for young people, and I hope I can help them.

The network at Speakers for Schools, coupled with the talented team, means this is an achievable goal in the Southwest and across the UK.

My name is Zoe, and I’m from Devon. Devon has some great experiences, but finding work experience close to you is hard. Throughout school, I’ve found that it’s also practically impossible to trust public transport to get you there. This makes it really difficult for children with parents who work full time to take these work experience opportunities.

I hope to make it easier for everyone to access work experience, no matter where they live. I also know very few people who have gone to university, which means I often struggle to imagine myself at university in the future.

London by Veronica, Pravleen, and Adithya  

The city of dreams and opportunity! Our London-based Youth Council members from London are from a wide range of backgrounds, each aspiring to study various subjects, from the sciences to law and medicine. Despite having a disproportionately high number of work experience opportunities, the competition for such placements is often insurmountable, especially for students from more deprived areas.

As our charity has established, there is a clear connection between work experience and employment opportunities. Thanks to Speakers for Schools; more virtual and hybrid doors have opened for us, allowing us to gain access to free, high-quality work experience and develop crucial skills employers look for.

Notably, Adithya found the charity through his work experience placements with Bentley and SSCL/MoJ,  which allowed him to gain valuable exposure to those fields of work and obtain skills that make us employable in an increasingly competitive labour market.

On the other hand, Veronica found Speakers for Schools through our extensive school outreach and advertising campaigns.

Summary by Adithya

As you’ve probably gathered by now, we have a variety of members. Maybe that’s an understatement. We have a truly exciting mix of young people from various backgrounds and regions across the UK. What more could we ask for a well-rounded youth perspective?

Whether we need ideas for work experience accessibility in rural Welsh areas or want to promote our National Teen Book Club in deprived London boroughs, the sky’s the limit when it comes to inspiring change, taking action and driving all young people into a greater future.

We hope to provide a fresh insight into the lives of the next generation, placing an emphasis on the problems young people find most pressing and finding unique ways to mitigate or solve them.
Our ultimate end goal? To level the playing field for state school students and alleviate the magnitude of issues faced by our youth today, paving the way for better career paths and a happier, sustainable future. For this, our Youth Council is key and as renowned researcher and activist Jane Goodall put it, ‘Young people [when informed and empowered] can indeed change the world.’

Watch this space for more from the Youth Council