The Government is currently developing a new National Youth Strategy and is asking young people across England to have their say through a national listening exercise. 

The Strategy aims to deliver better coordinated youth services and policy at a local, regional and national level, handing power back to young people and their communities, and supporting the Government’s missions to offer widespread opportunities, make streets safe and take pressure off health services. 

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is now seeking views around the issues which matter most to young people in their local area, the services they think should be available, and how funding should be spent. 

The ‘Deliver You’ campaign to encourage participation in the exercise is targeted towards young people aged 10-21 (10-25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities) and aims to: 

• Enable thousands of young people to shape the National Youth Strategy 
• Maximise participation for young people whose voices are too often marginalised 
• Increase the number of young people contributing as changemakers 
• Ensure young people’s experiences, insights and ideas are central to the Strategy.

As a national children’s charity, the Youth Sport Trust is encouraging organisations in our networks to empower the young people they work with to be part of the conversation and shape their future. 

Through our work, we know the important role physical activity, including play and sport, has in many young people’s lives, and this listening exercise provides an opportunity to ensure that message is heard by politicians and policy makers. Ways to contribute include:  

• An online survey, which should take about ten minutes to complete, due by 16 April 2025. Please note: under-16s will need a parent or guardian to start the survey.
• Through Youth Engagement sessions, which can be delivered by teachers, youth workers, sports leaders and other adults who work or engage with young people.  A session engagement plan can be found here, and facilitators are then asked to share insights via an online form before 16 May 2025.

In addition, the campaign will deliver physical and online events, with activities informed by a Youth Advisory Group and Expert Advisory Group, providing expertise to help guide the national conversation. 

To help promote the campaign, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has produced a toolkit including information about the listening exercise, guidance for participation and social media assets to encourage involvement, which you can access here. 
 
The findings will help shape a ‘Today’s Youth, Tomorrow’s Nation’ report to be published in the spring, before the new National Youth Strategy is launched in the summer.