​​BRING YOUR AUNTY – Our London Stakeholders Event, Authoring Our Own Stories Dance, food and music were all crucial cultural elements woven into the presentation of our research findings at BRING YOUR AUNTY our recent stakeholder event at Guildhall, City of London. Rachel Adjekukor, Anuoluwapo Fadairo, Emmanuella Mamah (aka Ella), Rumaisa Mulji and Emmanuela Kumi all gave compelling evidence from our research project this year as to why we need to unpack the narrative of ‘Th

Exploring Mental Health Through the Lens of Race and Ethnicity Authoring Our Own Stories is now in year three! The focus for this year has been on the mental well-being of young people of Black and Asian heritage. We are delighted to have formed new partnerships with Hoxton Hall, National Citizenship Service, Spotlight and Lewisham Young Mayor’s Advisors. Participants from these organisations have offered insight and skills to support peer researchers and workers to develop r

In 2023 we recruited six art students from Harris Academy Girls East Dulwich (HAGED), to become peer researchers. We did self-portraits in our first session and shared questions we wanted to explore together about civic identity. The group was keen to learn more about how we were going to use art practices to build our research projects. We wanted to highlight the skills and experience each group member already had and could contribute to Authoring Our Own Stories. We did ou

We used a video format to report back on how we developed our research project in London, what we found out and what we think should happen next!

On Wednesday 29th April nine members of the Authoring Our Own Stories (AOOS) team co-presented their first training event of the year to members of NSEAD (National Society in Education Art and Design). The themes explored were Identity, Community, Connection and Belonging. The training materials were based on two resources, co-produced by Young Leaders and workers. We began the session by creating a group poem, shared in the chat, about The Things We Carry to shape our identi

Blog by Tanisha Zaman, Research Officer for Partnership for Young London When you hear Youth Engagement Day, you might imagine a room full of young people, a few presentations, and some pretty decent sandwiches at lunch. And while the sandwiches were genuinely excellent (very important for morale), the day turned out to be much more than that. Last week we hosted a Youth Engagement Day at Lift Youth Hub, bringing together young people, peer researchers and partners to reflect

International Women’s Day always makes me pause and look at how far we have come and how far we still need to go. Women today have rights and opportunities that previous generations could only imagine. We vote, we lead, we build businesses, we shape policy, and we speak openly about issues that were once kept quiet. Every gain has been hard won through persistence, courage and the refusal to accept that inequality is simply the way things are. That sense of progress feels esp

The Young Residents in Partnership project has been developing over the last three years aiming to address the need for youth voice in the UK housing sector. The Phase 1 peer research team (2023-2024) focused on collecting data with young residents and colleagues within Housing Associations, and the Phase 2 peer research team (2024-2026) are now focused on how to action the recommendations and work with colleagues from MTVH , Hyde and Clarion on the implementation of these

By Maisha Being a Digital Health Ambassador (DHA) has been a meaningful and empowering experience for me. It has allowed me to use my lived experience to contribute to important conversations, influence change, and help ensure young people’s voices are heard at different levels. 2019 - Being Heard in Leadership Spaces In 2019, I had the opportunity to join a discussion with the Labour candidate at the time for London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, as a PYL board member. During this

Over the last five years, the Digital Health Ambassadors (DHA) programme , delivered by Partnership for Young London with Good Thinking and NHS England, has brought together young people aged 16-25 from across London to shape digital mental health information, resources and campaigns - ensuring youth voice was not just included, but central to decision-making. From co-designing wellbeing content and supporting NHS youth engagement work, to creating digital campaigns that rea