We are committed to listening to young people and giving them a voice to express what is important to them.
To honour this commitment, we and the county council commissioned Citizens UK to host the city’s first youth assembly.
We invited local students to tell us about their concerns and how we can help to address them. The primary and sixth-form students spent six months collating data. They then presented four concerns at a ‘youth assembly’ on 12 November 2024.
The assembly was attended by local decision makers, including ourselves. The students supported their concerns with testimonials and followed each with a request to help tackle the issue.
A board including local councils, businesses and voluntary organisations will support the young people by championing their requests. We wish everyone all the best with their projects and campaigns.
Our thanks to everybody who took part in the pilot. Partners included Long Road Sixth form, Parkside Community College, Cambridge Regional College, Milton Road Primary, Chesterton Sixth Form College, North Cambridge Academy, Anglia Ruskin University, the Diocese of Ely, Cambridge Junction, Romsey Mill, St Paul’s Church, the University of Cambridge and St James Church.
Concerns raised at the assembly
We will update the information below as progress is made against each request.
Safe spaces and activities
The students highlighted a lack of safe places to socialise outside of school and home. This was accompanied by additional challenges in finding out about places and events they can attend.
The situation is being made worse by the repurposing of places like the Grafton and Beehive shopping centres, where young people go to socialise.
We committed to explore how we can better support young people to access information about activities. We will also consider a feasibility study to investigate a ‘youth zone’ for Cambridge.
Green spaces
The students raised concerns about the diminishing of local green spaces and natural habitats.
We and King’s College agreed to support a campaign to preserve the city’s wild spaces.
Work experience and part-time work
The students said it is difficult to get work experience. There are not enough opportunities for young people to find part-time work.
They asked us to investigate with local employers a range of work-experience opportunities.
Cambridge Ahead committed to meeting the action group to explore the issue further.
Local bus services
The final issue raised at the assembly was that local bus services are infrequent and unreliable, and that the app does not work well.
The students asked the mayor to support a campaign for better services. They asked him to explore extending the Tiger bus pass scheme to all young students studying in the city. And they asked for more youth representatives on the oversight board that oversees the bus companies.
The mayor agreed to meet with the students to learn more about how he could help. He highlighted that many bus services are run by external companies, so he doesn’t always have the authority to make decisions.
