We the UK Youth Parliament aim to give the young people of the UK, between the age of 11 and 18 a voice, which will be heard and listened to by local and national government, providers of services for young people and other agencies who have an interest in the views and needs of young people. UKYP has the support of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Leader of the Opposition, and the Leader of the Liberal Democrats. The UKYP has a rolling programme. We meet on an annual basis, and give the young people of the UK a chance to express their views and concerns at the highest levels. The UKYP was launched at the House of Commons in July 1999. We held our first sitting in February 2001 in London. Currently, we have over 300 elected MYPs, aged between 11 and 18 (inclusive). MYPs represent both young men and women, including young people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, and with physical and learning disabilities. Each Local Education Authority (LEA) represents a UKYP constituency, and 90% of the LEAs across England are currently represented on the UKYP. Agreements are also established with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure that the young people in those countries are represented by the organisation. UKYP is all about change. Once elected, MYPs work to establish the burning local, regional and national issues, and then tackle them through targeted campaigns. Recent campaigns have led to the establishment of a youth board to monitor the media’s portrayal of young people (in partnership with Ofcom and the Press Complaints Commission), and working with the Metropolitan Police Service to alter their Standard Operating Procedure on Stop and Search to ensure young people are treated with respect on the streets. In 2004-5, UKYP receives core funding of £190,000 from the Department for Education and Skills, plus a further £50,000 to support regional work. The organisation also receives a £40,000 donation from BT to support a range of consultative activity. We also rely heavily on the support of grant making trusts, private sponsorship and the goodwill of many LEAs. This funding gives us a sound platform from which to progress, but does not match the boundless ambition of MYPs who, inspired by our work, want to take their activities to the next level. Much progress is anticipated, not least in establishing more high profile publicity and continuing to broaden our engagement with marginalised groups of young people who are denied a voice within many other policy development frameworks. At the heart of all this will be the commitment from MYPs, from UKYP staff and from the departments and agencies with which we work to support meaningful, long-lasting change as suggested by young people from across the UK.
- Homepage
- News
- Current MYP's
- YOMAC
- Events
- Our Campaigns
- Polls
- Contact Us