News & events

October 2009

BT supports new project for young people

The Young Citizens’ Action Agenda (YCAA) has launched in the North West. The innovative project aims, over the next year, to involve 10,000 to 15,000 14– 19 year-olds in the North West in producing policies and ideas to help solve the 21st century challenges that will affect their futures.

It is led by the Institute for Citizenship and supported by high-profile national and regional organisations, including BT, the lead partner for the Manchester Communication Academy. The YCAA aims to develop citizenship life skills and help young people understand and discuss key issues in Politics, Economics and Citizenship through:

- A high-profile Briefing event for 1,000–2,000 young people, at the Opera House in Manchester on 4 February 2010

- 80 – 100 interactive workshop ‘briefing’ events in schools across the North West of England

- A survey of up to 10,000 young people across the North West that will seek their views on skills and aspirations and help inform the Northwest Regional Development Agency’s Regional Strategy for 2010

- Free resources to help teachers teach young people about 21st century economic, political and social challenges and the relevance of these challenges to their future lives, opportunities and aspirations

- The formation of Young Citizens’ Panels that will produce an Action Agenda for the North West and for Manchester, to be delivered to the Regional Minister and newly elected Prime Minister in mid-2010.

In addition to being the lead partner in the Manchester Communication Academy, which will specialise in helping young people learn about different types of communication, BT has also developed the BT Betterworld Campaign. The organisation believes that better communication can create a better world and the campaign aims to help young people build their core communication skills in order to meet three key objectives;

1) To ensure young people most in need are heard and helped
2) To develop young people’s communication skills by sharing information
3) To help young people campaign to create real social change

To find out more about how young people, youth groups and schools can get involved in the Young Citizens’ Action Agenda, launched in October by Anne Weinstock CBE (Head of the Youth Task Force) and Ranvir Singh (BBC North West Tonight), visit http://www.ycaa.org.uk or call 0161 602 3651.