Finding Purpose - insights from young people

 

What do you do to help young people find, express and share their purpose in life? It could be the most important thing to focus on in 2021.

At InspireChilli, we took time over the year end with our Team Young People to explore what purpose means and how young people see its significance in their lives. Purpose has real power for young people, so it is worth understanding further. We discovered 5 main things:

1.     Thinking about and identifying a purpose has tremendous value for young people, linked with acceptance, belonging and personal wellbeing.

2.     Sharing their purpose gives young people joy and excitement but can also make them feel vulnerable.

3.     Young people typically define their purpose in terms of an impact on others, and are aware that their purpose is likely to evolve through life experiences.

4.     Having a sense of purpose enables young people to stay more focused and deal with external pressures.

5.     Help to achieve purpose ranges from having a good support network, financial security, and self-belief, to practical supports including time, mental space and connection with a mentor.

What do young people think their purpose in life is?

Young people define their purpose in life far beyond their selves. As one research participant said, “The purpose of my life is a bit more complex than seeing a defined career path in front of me, or a specific role.” What young people saw as their purpose was ‘to live a life bigger than me’ – often defined by being ‘here for others, not just myself’ – to ‘empower others’, even though for and by what and for whom was not always clear. ‘The biggest journey has been figuring out in which way I will achieve this purpose for ‘others’. Who are the ‘others’ I so deeply wish to be there for?’ Young people were aware of this complexity, that rather than being a fixed known thing, ‘personal purpose’ was more like a ‘wave’ or something to ‘unfold’ through different experiences. At the same time though, young people were clear they had a purpose in life to pursue, and that its impact on others had emotional resonance. “I mean, it is not just a feeling of selfishness, rather I get this amazing feeling of empathy in the happiest form when I see others thriving.”

 

When do young people become aware of their purpose & how does it make them feel?

Recognising one’s purpose was described as an intense experience -  ‘I guess it’s the closest thing to love I have ever felt.’   In one case it was linked with experiencing failure – ‘I learnt a valid lesson that I needed to gain the correct skill to pursue this dream and ‘calling’ of mine’. For another, it was linked with a journey to their family roots in another country, ‘where I felt this indescribable feeling of belonging. When I started work, it is the only thing that lit me inside to the point of if I did not need money, I could wake up every day and do it for free’. In some cases, a sense of purpose originated from early childhood experiences of self-expression or helping others.  ‘When I discovered that I was good at connecting with others from a young age it made me feel excited about life. It gave me the realisation at such a young age despite not understanding the complexity of the structures of life that I now know, that there can be good people in this world and we can connect…. Realising this at 8 years old was pretty overwhelming.’ From ‘love’ to ‘belonging’, the ‘overwhelming’ nature of connection with purpose clearly has tremendous significance for young people. 

 

What or who helps most for young people to believe in and follow their purpose? 

The most important factor for young people was having support from their family. This ranged from the impact of family members ‘who continuously encourage the work I am doing which helps me to stay focused on the goal’ and who ‘always made me feel confident in my abilities’ to more practical help in terms of ‘financial security’ and ‘advice’. Family can also be a source of conflict, acting as a stimulus to live life differently through one’s purpose. Where a family is absent or distanced, young people look for alternative sources of emotional inspiration and reassurance to stay connected with their purpose, such as through a mentor or peer group.

 

How does knowing and staying true to a purpose benefit young people?

Not all the young people felt they were currently living their purpose – ‘I know I have one and I know I am true to it in my own personal life, but I am not sharing as much as I would want to.’  However, the power of purpose as a positive energy meant that young people were still keen to stay focused on achieving purchase as a goal: ‘Even if I deviate from it, I learn how much I want to be back on track, simply because it makes me feel good.  It makes my life make sense for me and not for how society tries to mould my pleasures and desires.’ Purpose was identified as something providing structure and a connection to life: ‘It helps me to make sure that everything I am working on aligns with that goal for that season, as I believe your purpose can come in different seasons of life you are in.’  One young person who had recently become a mother noted: ‘my purpose continues to benefit me as a woman but also as a new mother. Knowing that a small little human being will be looking up to me is scary. However, this is just a constant reminder that the need to fulfill my purpose for the benefit of my little boy continues now and forever’ Significantly, having purpose was never felt to bring a pressure on young people, but rather an important counter-balance to the external expectations and survival needs young people navigate in their daily lives.

 

What might help young people to achieve the full potential of their purpose?

Young people consistently identified four key ingredients that would help them: 

1)  The focus of a support network or ‘an environment with like-minded people’, defined as ‘Making sure that I always have people around me which will support me but also can give me feedback on my blind spots and where I can improve to get to the next level.’

2)  Financial security, expressed more as an aspiration than a specific amount of money

3)  Self-belief, defined as ‘The main drive will have to be me staying confident and consistent with my vision’; or simply ‘Believing that I am the best person to carry out my purpose which helps me to elude confidence in all things which I do’. 

4)  More practical support around ‘finding time and mindspace to stay motivated’, including ‘reading motivational quotes everyday and setting out what my goals are everyday’, and ‘having some kind of regular mentor’. 

The cost of not having these ingredients had profound impact – memorably described by one young person as: ‘The problem of being in a completely separate world from the one in which I would thrive in is really weighty; It makes you feel very far away from anything to be conceivable, for things to become concrete and take life.’ 

 

How do young people feel about sharing their purpose with others?

Young people recognised that trying to express one’s purpose to share with others brings a sense of vulnerability – ‘it does also make me feel nervous as I have high expectations and sharing it before it’s real is just a scary thing.’ One young person concluded: ‘that state of being vulnerable represents an authenticity which helps to reinforce to others that we are all human and no one is perfect, even if we have dreams and purposes it is okay to be scared or nervous to achieve your personal goals’. While most young people felt ‘excited’ and ‘joy’ in thinking about their purpose, there was also an appreciation that purpose was something still to be achieved - ‘It would be the most satisfying thing I could ever do with my life to be able to fully live within my purpose… it would give me that sense of acceptance and belonging that we all long for.’

 

The hope that all young people can find acceptance and belonging through the power of their purpose feels a suitable place to close and begin to take positive action. If you are moved in some way to show solidarity with this cause, share your thoughts by emailing hello@inspirechilli.com. We believe all young people deserve a chance to find and express their purpose. It’s something we’d like to invest in more over 2021. Perhaps you can help…

 

Power through Purpose

 

Reading Piers Morgan’s moving conversation with Joe Biden after his son’s death brought to my mind those moments in life when the power of your purpose, and the power to have a purpose, becomes so clear and important.  When we find our purpose then our whole existence instantly becomes richer. We have the value and meaning to rise above whatever challenges threaten to drag us into the negative. When our purpose is also about communicating what we’ve overcome to reach that positive realisation, then it reaches the level of inspiration.   For me, that is where power through purpose resides: when our lived experience of finding purpose is part of the purpose we wish to share with others.  

 

As Biden described to Piers Morgan: ‘It's so important to remember that however bad things may seem, a lot of people are going through a lot worse than you and the way they get through it is other people reaching out to them to give them solace, and in finding a purpose. ….  What I learned when my wife and daughter died was that when you have purpose, it makes it all easier to deal with.’  (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-8924671/PIERS-MORGAN-cartoon-Joe-Biden-told-helped-survive-two-family-tragedies.html)

Reaching out to help people realise their purpose feels a profoundly important thing.

 

In my own life, the TEDx speech I gave in 2011 had a huge impact on what I’ve been able to achieve. But, not just in terms of influencing others through its vision for Advantaged Thinking (which has been on my mind with the launch of Foyer Federation's exciting new Home for Advantaged Thinking strategy).  The most meaningful aspect of that speech went far beyond the outline of ‘Open Talent’ or the message to stop ‘dissing’ young people; it was the personal anecdote of how I overcame the experience of being labelled as a ‘remedial child’ to reach my true potential. Realising and sharing the story of my parents’ belief and investment in me revealed my own purpose in life to believe and invest in the talents of others.  Which is why the most rewarding aspect of my InspireChilli work remains the space I have built to work directly with and support young people who are finding their purpose through social enterprise. 

 

I want you to know how important that work is. However challenging the process to find new contracts (the curse of consultancy), the thing that will sustain InspireChilli is the relationship with young people.  The time to listen to them, share opportunity to work with their skills, and invest resources for them to make their own progress, builds a powerful energy for good.  Which is why I loved this year’s Room for Young People Awards, as a platform to showcase the amazing stories of individuals and services overcoming the challenges of the pandemic, proudly judged by InspireChilli’s Team Young People. 

 

What I have missed most over the Covid-19 period is not my usual desk space at the Bootstrap Charity building in Dalston, but the social enterprise programme within it that allowed me to meet and mentor new young people.  Community spaces for people to relate and create are vitally important for our future. Those of us who can invest in such spaces must continue to do so, reaching out in new imaginative ways through the digital as well as the physical, so we can all keep finding our purpose together.

Showcasing Belief in People - The Room for Young People Awards' Shortlist

 

In his important new report for government on ‘Levelling Up Our Communities’ (September 2020) Danny Kruger MP highlights how ‘people have the capacity, with the right help, to effect positive changes in their own lives and the lives of others’.  Evidence from nominations to the 2020 Room for Young People Awards fully reflect the report’s asset-based arguments through compelling stories of people achieving positive change before and during the pandemic period.  InspireChilli’s Team Young People have now worked through the Award nominations to produce the final Room for Young People shortlist of potential winners. They have collated an inspiring shortlist whose stories showcase why we should always begin from a place that believes in people. There is much we can learn through these examples of inspiration, resilience and positive change, as the highlights summarise below:

 

Under the award for Community Action, we can learn from: how one mother’s passion to improve her community launched the Reach Up Youth programme that uses a focus on sport to positively engage and connect young people; the activism of a young person at Heather Court Foyer to advocate for Black Lives Matter by organising a peaceful demonstration attended by 3,000 people in their local community; or the inspiration of a self-taught programmer to set up and develop the work of ‘Coders of Colour’ to support under-represented BAME groups to get ahead in the tech industry.

 

Under the award for Staying Healthy and Creative, we can learn from: the dedication of young people at Bright Futures to create a magazine that provides useful content to help children and young women deal with increased pressures during the pandemic; the work of The Youth Association to sustain its ‘Healthy Holidays’programme,  delivering the equivalent of 975 healthy meals while sharing information about Covid-19 regulations and helping people to overcome fears; or, again from Reach Up Youth, whose specific focus on physical and mental health through sport provides young people with a safe community of belonging, creating bonds and role models that transcend gang conflict or the pandemic.

 

Under the award for Using Strengths and Talents, we can learn from: the personal resilience of an amazing young person at Newhaven Foyer to progress from living in a car with few belongings towards a positive pathway for independent living; the determination of a young woman at Ravenhead Foyer to overcome her family loss and realise her talents as a key employee at a local social enterprise; or the inspiring story of a strong young person who drew from their own experience of adversity to help others deal with mental health challenges during the pandemic as a befriender at Peabody Community Foundation.

 

Under the award for Service Stars, we can learn from: the selfless way a young person volunteered to help fellow residents at Doncaster Foyer, reminding us of the vital role young people play to support communities alongside service professionals; or the positive energy of a staff coach at LiveWest, working to ensure that young people could achieve move on goals during the pandemic period; or the inspirational founder of Herts School Outreach Service, drawing from their lived experience to offer early intervention and resources for those in need of mental health support that has been sustained over the pandemic.

 

Under the award for Outstanding Practice, we can learn from: how Braintree Foyer believed in young people’s willingness to help out and be active during the pandemic by channelling their energy into a new painting and decorating project; the efforts of Clarion Futures’  lead youth worker at Roman Road Adventure Playground to ensure the playground could be managed safely during the pandemic while allowing children the freedom to play; and the work of the London Football Journeys project at Peabody Community Foundationto re-imagine its delivery model through an online programme that has continued to focus on youth leadership.

 

Finally, under the award for Wild Card entries, we can learn from: how Braintree Foyer’s ‘Saving Lives Award’ has used positive recognition to encourage young people to lead their own ideas to improve lives during the pandemic; the work of Bright Future’s Young Mum’s Network to sustain a positive space for peer support during the pandemic; or the inspiring story of a young woman at Verve Place, whose focus on safeguarding the life of her future child has enabled her to achieve personal change and overcome various health challenges over the pandemic period.

 

The truth is, society’s belief in young people is too often tempered with a mix of doubt, caution and self-interest. Whether we don’t like sharing our power with young people; whether we are sometimes more comfortable with safeguarding against negative risks than taking positive ones; whether we know more about how young people from disadvantaged backgrounds might struggle to offer insights and talents than how they can thrive if we give them the chance to do so. These are the question areas that we must continue to test with greater consciousness to believe more authentically in young people and ensure what the #IWill campaign calls the #PowerOfYouth.

 

The Room for Young People Awards offers a welcome reminder of why and how we can all believe in the power of people to achieve. The stories show us what can happen when we focus on strengths, trust in youth, and use our experiences to invest in good for others.  Who wouldn’t want to be part of their community?  Celebrate these talents by attending the Awards night on 3rd November from 4.30-6pm when the winners will be revealed. Register your interest at: https://www.livewest.co.uk/room-for-young-people-conference

A letter from Team Young People

We are writing to you from ‘Team Young People’, a group of young individuals supported through the work of InspireChilli. A number of us in the Team have turned or are turning 26, inspiring us to question what it means to suddenly find yourself ‘counted out’ of the normal age range for being valued as a young person. We would like to draw your attention to the experiences of those aged out of youth opportunities, and ask for your time to consider whether this could be changed in the future.

We recognise that reaching 26 brings a different stage of being – an evolution in how we think and experience ourselves physically and emotionally as individuals.  But the change has far more significance externally in terms of what being 26+ means you are supposed to have done and what you can’t do anymore, than how you actually feel as a person and what you would still like to do with your life.  This seems particularly true for how funders and youth charities appear to view those aged over 25.

We think that, post 25, you should feel able to put off some of the greater responsibilities of adulthood until you have found yourself. It is certainly true that, aged over 25, something shifts that means you are no longer just a young person; but neither are you a fully formed independent adult.  There still seems a need for opportunities to fit this ‘in between’ stage of emerging adulthood to help people complete a healthy transition.  Instead of being able to find and create these opportunities, our experience is that young adults end up excluded from the things they recognise as increasingly useful. 

What this means is that, as you approach 25 and beyond, you feel an enhanced pressure to ‘get your life together’.  This leads to a sense of anxiety and failure that you have somehow messed up by 26 if you haven’t nailed a series of almost impossible expectations. It’s an unfair cut off age because young people might miss some of their growing up time looking after others and dealing with disadvantages rather than having the luxury to embrace wider opportunities. True in our case. Then, when you reach the point you can do things, you find out that any years you have lost are not accounted for – you are all judged to have aged out of youth at the same fixed point, regardless of what stage you have reached in your life course.  Even worse, the markers being used to judge that ageing point at 26 no longer even reflect the experiences of those in transition to adulthood – for whom the traditional markers of having a home, having a job and secure income, are all more uncertain.  Never more so than now. 

According to current data from the national office of statistics, the transition to employment occurs at a later age than ever before, with only 50% of young people starting a full time work experience by the age of 19.  Young people are also living with their parents longer, with 10% more 26 year olds in 2017 than in 1997. Only by the age of 30 do the figures between 1997 and 2017 level out, suggesting that the transition beyond the family home takes 5 years longer than before. It is not until 34 that 50% of young adults are able to own their own home. Instead, the majority of 25-34 year olds rent, 20% more than in 1998.

Nearly half of young people want to be able to support themselves financially by the time they reach the age of 23, with two fifths hoping to be earning up to £30,000 a year by the time they're 25. But, according to an article by Sophie Christie in the Telegraph (March 5, 2015)  ‘with rising house prices, high university fees and falling savings rates, "Generation Y" is finding this goal out of their reach’. Similarly, Kate Hughes reports in the Independent (Oct 8, 2018) that ‘half of 25- to 34-year-olds simply aren’t financially robust’ while a third are also reported to not feel emotionally resilient enough to cope.  We share these views.

Why then, we ask, would any funder or youth organisation draw the line at 25? We wonder if you, our reader, are aware of how this limitation impacts on those over that age, who feel a failure not to have achieved the goals we might experience through the impacts your particular opportunities and funded programmes promote?  The life of being a young adult has changed.  Your funding and investment parameters have not ‘grown up’ to keep in sync with us.  At 26, you might need opportunities to complete your transition into a thriving adulthood; you might still be overcoming gaps left from previous experiences of disadvantage; but, according to most funders and youth charities, you simply no longer count. The door is closed on you.

We’d like to hold you accountable for why your programmes for young people choose to exclude those over 25. Not by criticising what you do fund and provide, but by inviting you to reflect on the logic of that age definition, its appropriateness to the experiences of young adults today (even more so post covid-19), and its negative impact on the levels of anxiety and exclusion increasingly experienced by our generation. 

We’d also like to share with you how crazy it is for us to even be worried about being too old when we’re all still under 30!  However, that is the logical conclusion of putting age-based restrictions onto programmes. Looking in from outside, we are influenced to see ourselves as too old – and feel we have failed because we still have things we want to achieve. Even at 26 we have potential ahead of us, don’t you agree?  We are still ‘opportunity youth’ evolving into adult identities, seeking to take control of our lives and do meaningful things with and for others.

One meaningful thing we would like to do is share 4 future options for you to consider:

1. Could you recognise that the age of 26-30 is a more accurate phase for ‘emerging adulthood’ than 21-25, given the statistical evidence on changes in behaviours, beliefs and access to resources, and thus consider supporting specific opportunities for this age range in your future portfolio for investment?

2. Could you consider changing the use of strict age boundaries for programmes and at the very least allow up to 30 years of age as a cut-off point to allow the possibility to include people who might merit funding over 25? 

3. Could you offer a special ‘pass’ for those over 25 who still have relevant opportunity needs due to lived experiences that may have prevented their access to these opportunities at a younger age?

4. Could you just avoid age specific markers altogether, and instead make funding and programme opportunities more theme or life-stage specific, able to consider personal needs outside of limited fixed ages? This would be our most preferred option.

We would love to hear back from you and invite you to share your views on:

i)                    Why you currently restrict funding and opportunities at 25 in your definition of young adulthood

ii)                  Whether any of our options might be practical for you to implement

iii)                If you would be up for working with us to find ways to count more young people in rather than counting all young people out after 25  

We appreciate that we have limited power to change how the youth sector works, but we offer our thoughts and passion in the hope we can inspire you to take action with us on this cause.

With greatest respect and thanks for all that you do to benefit young people -

Team Young People

Team@inspirechilli.com

Judging the 2020 #R4YP Inspiration Awards

InspireChilli's talented Team Young People will be returning to judge the 2020 Room for Young People Inspiration Awards, with winners announced at an online event on November 3rd.

The awards showcase the strengths of young people, staff and services in the youth housing sector, with a particular focus in 2020 on inspiring stories and experiences from the Covid-19 pandemic period.  A celebration event to recognise the achievements of shortlisted nominations and announce final winners will be held online at 4.30-6.30pm on November 3^rd.  

The awards form part of the annual Room for Young People conference organised together with our partners Clarion Futures, Foyer Federation, the Housing Association Youth Network, and LiveWest. Since the main conference has been postponed until 2021, the online awards will feature as the main flagship event for this year – even more reason to make a nomination and attend the final show. Check out the details below on what to do.

There are 5 themed categories for nominations, with an additional open ‘wild card’ category for any nominations that do not fit into one of these.  The categories all focus on activities and experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic period.

1. Community Action award – for young people positively impacting on a community

Judges are looking for individuals who went above and beyond to support a local community, help keep others safe in their service, or take action on an issue such as Black Lives Matter; or helped their peers by offering support, advice or motivation.

2. Staying Healthy and Creative award – for young people or projects making positive use of any arts or health related activities

Judges are looking for individuals or projects using the arts to entertain, engage and connect people, or to stay active; or examples of people or projects boosting health and wellbeing through any food-based or physical activity.

3. Using Strengths and Talents award – for young people who have demonstrated a strength-based or ‘Advantaged Thinking’ approach

Judges are looking for individuals who kept their focus on strengths and noticed the positives during the pandemic; or where they have challenged themselves to develop new skills/achieve goals.

4. Service stars – for staff or volunteers who have inspired others

Judges are looking for individuals who achieved significant improvements in the lives of young people through campaigning, boosting participation or other activities; or who have shown leadership skills to help sustain services and keep people safe during the pandemic.

5. Outstanding practice award – for services leading the way through their approach

     Judges are looking for services who involved young people’s voices and ideas to shape their operational response over the pandemic; or services who made adaptions through the use of digital technology to sustain and deliver support during lockdown.

6. Wild Card – any other example of inspiration suggested by an organisation      

• Judges are looking for examples that demonstrate positive action by a young person, staff member, volunteer, or project, that do not fit in the first 5 categories and introduce a different theme to showcase an inspirational response to the pandemic.

The deadline for nominations is Friday 28^th August.  Nominations only require a 300 word entry and are easy to make. Visit the main awards page for full details – https://www.livewest.co.uk/room-for-young-people-conference

Top tips from InspireChilli’s judges: be clear on what the individual or service being nominated has actually done that fits the category of the award, try to detail the impact this has achieved, and explain why you think what/who you are nominating is inspirational. If you decide to handwrite your nomination then please make sure it is actually legible. Also, do nominate against a named award category. Don’t think your nomination fits anything in particular? Submit it against the Wildcard category.  If your nomination is not made against a specific category it is likely to be dismissed. It is possible to nominate the same person or project against more than one category, but it will help to submit a separate form for each category you are nominating against to ensure you can make your nomination really fit the category. 

To complete your nomination, you can either fill out the online form and export this from the website as a pdf file to send, or fill out a word doc following the same areas outlined in the online form.  You are also invited to send a couple of relevant photos that can be used at the awards ceremony if shortlisted and/or a short video should you have one.

Nominations should be emailed to roomforyoungpeople@livewest.co.uk. If you are sending large files due to photos and/or a video, you are recommended to rely on a file transfer programme such as wetransfer.com which is free and easy to use.  

InspireChilli’s team of judges will produce a shortlist of top nominees to be shared over the week of 5^th October, before the final winners are announced at the live online event on November 3^rd. 

Who are the judges? Team Young People include a former #R4YP award winner and 3 winners of the Bootstrap Charity Enterprise Bootcamp.  They have experience of working with InspireChilli on the development of innovative youth programmes such as the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Blagrave Trust’s Opportunity Fund and have various interests in mental and physical wellbeing, the creative arts, positive asset-based approaches, youth enterprise, international development programmes and social justice issues in the fight against disadvantage.  After judging the 2019 awards, they are looking forward to being inspired by this year’s entries.

Alongside the excitement of the awards, a special online webinar series is also due to be announced featuring young people exploring themes of significance to them.  Watch out for further details and follow #R4YP on social media. 

Please get involved so we can celebrate the inspiration of the youth housing sector together.  Don’t miss the final deadline of 28^th August to make your nomination count!

This week sees the publication of a research report I produced for the Listening Fund, exploring how the Covid-19 pandemic impacted on the ‘listening’ work of 11 youth organisations from the fund in England and Scotland. The report’s title, Strength in Solidarity, tries to characterise how organisations used listening practices to respond to the crisis. Feeling solidarity is, after all, a natural response to a crisis – a quality very evident in the rise of mutual aid groups and the diverse voices connected with Black Lives Matter.  The research for the Listening Fund focused on the experiences of practitioners and young people to identify six main findings to learn from:

1)  The ability to listen to young people improved how organisations responded to the crisis

     Drawing on intelligence and involvement from young people strengthened the likelihood that organisations could respond to the right things and communicate decisions clearly. There was also a positive impact on young people: feeling listened to increased personal wellbeing and generated greater levels of trust, both key for organisational impact. 

2)   Organisations reacted quickly to the crisis by listening to young people first

Frequency of contact was increased, and services adapted, based on understanding the personal needs and preferences of young people for social connection, communication, and support. While a crisis might suggest that taking immediate decisions should be the priority, organisations demonstrated how ‘listening first’ was a more important step to accelerate an effective response. 

3)     Organisations were able to sustain and grow their listening practices during the crisis

Most organisations felt that prior involvement in the Listening Fund had equipped them to deal with the pandemic by becoming more mindful of listening.  A ‘listening mindfulness’ equated to three things: growing listening practices through an organisation’s person-centred ethos and culture; the development of processes to codify and respond to what is heard; and, where possible, enabling young people to have more direct power to lead activity areas. Investing in the capacity of staff also helped organisations adjust to demands from changing support environments and increased service personalisation.

4) Effective listening activity promoted increased solidarity with young people 

What the crisis did most of all was put pressure on practitioners to respond to young people’s individual preferences for communication and support. The research concludes that the principle of ‘solidarity’ offers a powerful way to describe the increased relational approaches used by organisations to connect with young people.  To learn from this, the report introduces a ‘solidarity health check’ for organisations and funders to reflect on ten listening areas where solidarity with young people proved most likely to be nurtured.

5) Young people were interested and able to influence their services and other stakeholders during the crisis, but were not always fully aware of this impact 

70% of young people felt they had been able to influence their service, reflecting that organisations made decisions rooted in the listening practices used to understand young people’s personal needs. While young people valued knowing that their organisation was seeking to influence others, they were frequently not fully aware of those activities or their impact.  This is an area where stronger feedback loops (and more #PowerOfYouth) would improve young people’s engagement in influencing. 

6) Funders and decision makers can actively support the listening work of organisations to respond to a crisis

The research suggests that funders should review how far their own communications, assessment processes and funding programmes encourage listening practices. In the context of a crisis, listening work appears to benefit from flexible approaches to grant making and monitoring that can match increased needs for personalisation and service adaptions. Funders prepared to invest in the core ethos and culture of organisations are most likely to help listening practices flourish.  

Beyond these findings, what also struck me in the research was how ‘solidarity’ offers a brilliant way to promote an asset-based ‘Advantaged Thinking’ approach to a wider audience. Referring to solidarity bypasses the need for labels such as ‘asset’, ‘strength-based’ or ‘person-centred’ that often limit people’s understanding when we try to communicate the virtues of this type of work. In a more immediate way, showing solidarity expresses the humanity of seeing people in terms of strengths rather than problems; of working with people, not doing to them; of involving people in shaping their own solutions; of investing in people’s capacity to thrive, not just survive; and of taking action with and for people to bring about positive change. The features of solidarity remind me of all the human qualities that make a service great for those who use it.

Finally, it is important to be mindful of the message from young people in the full Strength in Solidarity report, that ‘listening is the bare minimum’. What matters most is what we choose to hear and do in response. The report’s forty recommendations identify how and where we can all take concrete steps to support stronger listening practices. Hopefully, these recommendations, drawn from the voices of practitioners and young people, will provide positive impetus to future actions. 

You can read the full Strength in Solidarity report HERE 

For a conversation about making listening practices or asset-based approaches work for you, get in touch at hello@inspirechilli.com.