Rural Voices, Collective Power: Supporting youth activism
We believe that rural young people should be empowered to work together to create greater, more lasting change.
In 2023 we ran the Rural Voice Collective Power project which sought to involve young people in Herefordshire and Shropshire in local action and campaigns. Over the year we’ve engaged more than 50 people, 39 of them aged between 14 and 25, in this work. And we know it’s needed because our P.O.V. survey revealed that while 93% of 14-25 year olds are passionate about equality and social justice, citing mental health, climate change, racism and LGBTQ+ rights, 38% have never been involved in local volunteering or activism of any kind.
Rural Voice, Collective Power, supported by Herefordshire Community Foundation, enabled P.O.V. to work in four different places in four different ways, and open up some amazing conversations that resulted in local action.
In Wigmore, young people from The Zone youth club who meet at Wigmore Community Centre gave a powerful presentation to their Parish Councillors, sharing their passions and frustrations and coming up with the idea of an online reporting tool.
In Leominster, students from Earl Mortimer College explored activism and came up with several campaign ideas, including plans to reduce littering by educating primary school children. Two students have gone on to co-design a street safety workshop with West Mercia Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre’s Purple Leaf team.
In Kington, a brother and sister produced an incredible podcast which looked at their individual response to climate collapse and the impact their action had on them and their family.
In Church Stretton, as part of the South Shropshire Youth Forum’s Youth Network, young people devised and designed an entirely original board game that’s now available for anyone to use to help young people shape project ideas or youth services.
Along the way, we made a zine which captured the voices and views of young people taking part in local action.
Click on the image above or here to read the zine
We also commissioned a young journalist to write a series of articles exploring youth voice, creativity and youth work.
Meet the Decision Makers, Meet the Future
In October 2023 we celebrated the young people’s collective power at a event called Meet the Decision Makers, Meet the Future at Leominster Library. We invited local councillors to meet 1:1 with participants who gave presentations, made audio recordings, and add new pages to the Rural Voice Collective Power zine.
Click on the image above or here to read the Meet the Decision Makers zine pages.
The whole event was captured on camera by young photographer Martha Grubb, who took portraits of everyone attending. Big thanks to Martha, Buchannan, Laura Ding and the Leominster Library staff who helped make the day happen.
We couldn’t do this without the support of Herefordshire Community Foundation and the Teme Valley Youth Fund. You can find out more about the amazing work of HCF at www.herefordshirecf.org.
