Education United Kingdom Project #61195

Support Young Leaders Implement Sustainable Action

by PeaceJam UK

Project Report | Dec 8, 2025
Celebrating our new youth leaders!

By Fay Pretty | PeaceJam UK Coordinator

Thanks to the support of our GlobalGiving donors, last month we were able to welcome our largest cohort of Youth Leadership Team members to date. Seventeen young leaders aged 14 to 28 have joined our year-long mentorship programme. Connecting from communities across the UK including York, Bolton, Manchester, Sheffield, Peterborough, Oxford, Ascot, Stroud, Bournemouth and the Channel Islands. Here are some comments from our new members when asked why they wanted to join the Youth Leadership Team:

"I believe getting involved is one of the most meaningful ways to make a difference in our country, especially as a young person. Recently, a speaker from PeaceJam visited our school, and I immediately knew it was something I wanted to be part of. I strongly believe that it’s up to young people to shape the world future generations will live in, and I’m passionate about contributing to that change."

"I am keen to learn more about social action strategies that help bring about a more peaceful society. I want to find out more about what I can do as an individual to support this, and how I might be able to include people in my community to be part of this. I would also love to meet other individuals to build friendships and learn more about them."

Over this academic year PeaceJam UK will support the Youth Leadership Team with the development and implementation of sustainable action projects. This includes offering in-person training, mentorship and opportunities to collaborate and network with each other and other inspirational changemakers. This Sunday, the Team will have the opportunity to hear from the current Service Project Chair of the Rotaract Club of Kitante in Uganda and utilise their project experience to enhance their own projects and discuss collaboration opportunities.

One of the amazing benefits of having both young adults and adults within our age bracket having the opportunity for discussion is the range of experiences and knowledge that can be shared and used to benefit each other. Including from our continuing Youth Leadership Team members taking a mentoring and supportive role while further developing their projects to our new members who are keen to turn passion into action.

“I'm very passionate about racism, simply because as a young black girl in the UK attending a majority white school, I encounter racism way too often. Being marginalised and discriminated against because of something you can't control is extremely painful, and it angers me to see other minorities and groups being discriminated against also, for attributes that they can't control.”

“I’m passionate about tackling environmental challenges here in our own country. I want to focus on raising awareness of issues like pollution, sustainability, and protecting local ecosystems, while also encouraging practical action within our communities. As one of the world’s wealthier nations, I believe the UK has both the resources and the responsibility to prioritise the environment when making political decisions. I also think it’s crucial that young people recognise this and put pressure on our leaders to act — and I would love to play a part in helping that happen.”

You can also read here about the inspirational project experience that one of our new members has and shares in our latest newsletter! Ishnoor created Open Skies, a youth-led initiative founded during the pandemic to empower learners through connection, dialogue, and self-discovery. Now she is excited to continue evolving the project as part of the PeaceJam UK Youth Leadership Team!

This project would not be possible without your continued support, thank you for uplifting these amazing young leaders and their communities.

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Aug 8, 2025
Youth Action Group Leads the Way

By Fay Pretty | PeaceJam UK Coordinator & Youth Team Leader

With the support of our GlobalGiving donors, our current UK Youth Team have nearly completed another year of mentorship. Developing their leadership skills and taking action in their local communities and further afield.

This includes taking part in national opportunities and outreach. In July PeaceJam UK ran an online youth panel composed of our Youth Team and inspirational changemakers, for approximately 250 Year 10 students at Smithills School in Bolton. Students were able to take part in an extensive Q&A, which included discussions around the impact of youth taking action and various issue areas including nuclear disarmament, hidden disabilities, and reducing barriers to education. Participants were then inspired to plan social action projects, which included a campaign to change the timings of the school day and a plan to organise a fundraising football match. Students are excited to return in September and turn their ideas into action.

Continuing to increase youth engagement and outreach through online platforms, PeaceJam UK will be hosting an Online Conference on 20 November. To ensure that this event is “for youth, by youth”, we have launched an Online Conference Youth Action Group of 14-18 year old students from across the UK, who have partnered with our Youth Team to plan the event. Applying the skills they have learnt this year, our Youth Team have been chairing and organising weekly Youth Action Group meetings and mentoring the summer participants to develop vital life skills, such as leadership, problem solving and creative thinking. This peer-to-peer experience has created a safe space for youth to share their social action experiences and learn from each other as they build an event to inspire other young people to take action across the UK.

This would not be possible without your support, thank you for supporting young leaders to implement sustainable action.

Links:

August Newsletter: Youth Team Feature

Attachments:

PeaceJam UK Online Conference (PDF)

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Apr 25, 2025
Skills that last a lifetime!

By Fay Pretty | PeaceJam UK Coordinator & Youth Team Leader

Matty Q&A

With the support of our GlobalGiving donors, we have been able to provide training and development opportunities for our Youth Team.

“Being a member of the PeaceJam Youth Team has given me opportunities to develop a range of skills that enhance my activism. Mentoring at events has helped me develop leadership skills, as well as confidence in public speaking.” Matty, Youth Team Member.

On the 21st of February, at our PeaceJam Manchester Slam, youth from across Manchester and the surrounding areas gathered for a day of near-peer mentoring sessions, community-driven workshops and powerful social action discussions. Our Youth Team worked alongside our PeaceJam staff to train new mentors, sharing their previous mentor experiences to support a new wave of leaders.

A key component of any PeaceJam event is our trained near-peer mentors, who are positive role models for students and, in small group sessions, they create safe spaces for youth to discuss their concerns and thoughts. In doing so, they help build confidence and support youth to find peaceful solutions to issue areas. One 14-year-old male said, “I got to meet new friends and mentors to help me in certain problems.” As a result of the Slam, over 96% of participants agreed that the family group sessions with our mentors made them feel more confident to share their thoughts and feelings with others. One 13-year-old-femalesaid, “I began to feel more confident throughout the day and I was able to notice it.”

Furthermore, having built their skills through previous PeaceJam opportunities, the Youth Team could confidently step up and solve problems that occurred throughout the event. For example, Matty joined our Q&A panel when a last-minute spot opened up. From spending ten minutes talking to participants at our Winchester 2024 Conference to spending an hour engaging with youth in 2025 through the panel, on his passion area, nuclear disarmament, you could see the growth in his skills and confidence. Which likewise had an impact on other youth, many of whom we hope to see joining our Youth Team next year!

A fifteen-year-old female agreed strongly that attending the event inspired her to make positive changes in herself, her community and the world. This included being committed to being a peacemaker, learning how to problem solve without resorting to violence and feeling able to tackle big issues and keep going. When asked why, she said “the panel’s passion about the topic which has given me the motivation.”

Matty is currently working on creating a zine to help educate people about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and Britain's involvement for his social action project. Through his research, he discovered that one of the biggest obstacles to nuclear disarmament is a lack of education on the topic. He is aiming to publish his zine alongside a lesson plan for schools around the topic, drawing inspiration from one of PeaceJam’s Nobel Laureates, Sir Joseph Rotblat.

“Another key development milestone that the PeaceJam Youth Team provided me with was the opportunity to travel to another continent as a delegate to the Nobel Peace Summit. Here I was able to learn about what youth activism looks like around the globe which has impacted the outlook and methods of my own project design.” Matty, Youth Team member.

Thank you for supporting the development and training of our young leaders, this would not be possible without your support.

Links:

PeaceJam UK Upcoming Events

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