Young Voices project - young people respond to the 2011 riots

Young Voices, a project that has now been completed, was centred on responding to the 2011 riots and related public attitudes. The project was developed through different strands of work:

• Working with groups from four London schools
• Developing a trust-building session with police involved in the riots
• Creating a youth survey written by young people, answered by over 70 young people

Part of our Intergenerational Community Cohesion project in Peckham, Young Voices hosted a number of workshops that led to the creation of The Riots Remembered, a newspaper written by young people involved in the project.

Though this work, young people were challenged to think about their views on the events of summer 2011. Through a press conference and by distributing a newspaper to commuters, the voices of young people were communicated to the general public, professionals and the media – rather than the other way round.

Listening to young people's 'detailed and thoughtful opinions' on the riots

Georgina Bednar, Project Worker on Young Voices, said: 

'While talking to young people about why we need the Young Voices project, I realised that the majority of media and social responses to the riots were written by adults. From the survey, I have been reminded of how much young people from a range of areas and backgrounds know about society. . . . Young people have detailed and thoughtful opinions to share on their city and on the events going on around them. And they want to talk, if people will listen.'

Please read the young people's newspaper, The Riots Remembered.