Occupying a space in the third sector as a young person and someone with lived experience is a distinctive position to be in. As my time at Youth Access draws to a close, I want to explore how those with lived experience can be supported to take on meaningful work in the third sector, as I have been able to in my career so far.
In the spring of last year, I joined Youth Access as a Policy and Public Affairs Assistant. This was a step into a part of the third sector I’d never accessed before. I have been involved in this sector for a long time, as a service user and as a Peer Researcher for member organisation, Young Person’s Advisory Service (YPAS), but I had little knowledge of the policy landscape. I soon began wearing multiple hats: Young Person, Policy Assistant, Peer Researcher.
Yes, it’s a difficult balance to tread sometimes. Yet there is no reason why my professional life can’t exist with my lived experience.
At both Youth Access and YPAS, my lived experience has been respected. I have been trusted to engage with this for the development of projects, campaigns, and insights, while also being supported to develop my skills and knowledge. Combining lived experience with a professional setting has only amplified what I feel I am able to achieve as a young person.
In the campaign to fund early support hubs, I’ve found it invaluable to bring my newfound knowledge of policy and my knowledge of participation together to ensure my work speaks to the current political landscape and is led by those it affects. Enabling a young person like me to access multiple spaces within the third sector has also allowed me to facilitate connections between myself, organisations, professionals, and projects. I hope that this has not only expanded my own opportunities, but the prospects of those I have been able to engage with as we have connected the dots together.
Change doesn’t lie in one place; that’s why we must do what we can to help young people understand the different aspects of the third sector to maximise their impact and opportunities. Whether they enter your door as a volunteer or an employee, young people should be supported to engage with the third sector proactively and with a critical eye. Help them understand policy, politics, public affairs, and participation. Wait and see what happens when they combine this with their lived experience.
I’m not just writing an endorsement of Youth Access and YPAS (though they do deserve one!). There is real, tangible learning from my experiences that can be built and expanded upon.
Working within the third sector can have its challenges, and it can be even harder when you’re a young person who wants to make a real difference. We don’t always get the win we want or have the resources we need. What keeps us here is knowing we are valued, we can keep on learning, our work is relevant to us, and that we are part of a collective working towards the same goals.
As a sector, we are still learning how to work with those who have lived experience, particularly young people. I encourage you to reach out to colleagues and organisations to learn from one another, implement examples of good practice in your own organisation, and be vocal about your successes.
If you follow any of what I’ve set out, you’ll be taking a big step forward to transforming current ways of working so that one day working with those who have lived experience will become standard practice. We will no longer be facilitating lived experience engagement in the occasional project, wondering how best to conduct meaningful participation. Instead, those with lived experience (including young people) will be working alongside colleagues as valued team members and leaders, helping to shape services, policies, and campaigns that are pertinent to them and reflective of their experiences.
In my mind’s eye, this is the future of the third sector, if we are brave enough to embrace the unknown.
