DofE Award holders deliver letter to Downing Street calling on the new government to back Youth Pledge
DofE Award holders took to Downing Street to deliver a letter to the new Prime Minster, Sir Keir Starmer, calling on his new government and parliamentarians to back their Youth Pledge. The letter gives an overview of the DofE’s Youth Voices 2024 research which outlines issues most important to young people like housing, the NHS, the cost of living and mental health.
Read the full letter below.
Dear Prime Minister,
We are Award holders from The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE), representing half a million young people who do their DofE across the UK every year.
As a Gold Award holder yourself, you know first-hand the value that charities like the DofE bring when it comes to supporting young people and giving us a platform to make our voices heard.
That’s why we are writing to you today, to tell you about Youth Voices 2024 – a major research study of over 3,000 young people aged 14-24 from across the UK, exploring the issues that matter most to us politically and personally.
Issues close to home are the most important to us
Youth Voices shows that our generation cares deeply about global issues including climate change and human rights – but, overall, it is issues closer to home that are most important to us. When asked which issues matter most to us personally, housing, the NHS, the cost of living, and mental health ranked highest. These are also the areas where we are most pessimistic and fearful.
We feel that the opportunities afforded to our parents’ generation are out of reach to ours. Entering adulthood – an already challenging experience – has been exacerbated by a once-in-a-generation pandemic, cost of living crisis, youth mental health emergency and the increasing influence of tech and social media on our lives.
We don’t feel listened to by politicians
Our research found that young people are hopeful, compassionate and highly engaged with politics – but that faith in politicians is not as high as it should be. Only four in 10 eligible young people told us they were likely to vote in the General Election. The number one reason for not voting, or not committing to vote, was that they felt their vote wouldn’t make a difference.
Young people surveyed felt the issues that mattered most to them were prioritised least by politicians. Fewer than one in four agreed with the statement “politicians in the UK listen to people of my age.”
A healthy democracy needs to engage young people fully to thrive. We are the future of our country – we deserve to be listened to, and to have a say on the policies and decisions that will affect our lives for years to come.
The policies that impact us should be made with us. We bring a unique perspective, experience and new ideas that will lead to better policies, more effective legislation and real progress – not just for young people, but for our whole country.
That’s why we are calling for all MPs to back our Youth Pledge, that puts youth voice representation at all levels of policy and decision-making, especially on issues that impact young people.
As our new Prime Minister, you have an invaluable opportunity to act, reset the dial and show you’re listening to young people. Now is the moment to show that our voices really do matter. We urge you to back our Youth Pledge and encourage other MPs to do the same.
Thank you!
DofE Award holders
