The Southampton Cultural Education Partnership (SCEP) has responded to a call
from the organisation Participation People, which has been commissioned by DCMS
to facilitate a series of pop-up consultation events with young people aged 10–14,
helping to inform national policy thinking linked to the Youth Transformation
Programme and Young Futures Hubs. SCEP is supporting Participation People to
understand the regional landscape and to make connections in the area.
Participation People is seeking host groups and settings for pop-up consultations in
the Southampton, Hampshire and Isle of Wight area to take place ideally in the
window of 20-23 July 2026 over 1.5 days (though they will aim to be flexible to align
with existing activity and maximise participation).
The team at Participation People will facilitate the consultations and will provide
support directly with logistics and planning. They are open to running consultations in a range formats and settings, including: school-based engagement; youth clubs;
after-school provision; community and cultural settings.
Within the target age range of 10-14, they are particularly keen to open up this
opportunity to young people who may experience barriers to opportunity and
participation, including:
- Young people experiencing deprivation
- Young people at risk of exploitation or involvement in crime
- Young people accessing mental health support
- Neurodivergent and disabled young people
- Young people whose voices are often less represented in policy spaces
Further details are provided in the below flyer:
Participation People have assured us of their commitment to ensuring that all young
people involved in the pop-up consultation events are supported within safe,
inclusive and well-managed environments. As part of their engagement process for
the DCMS consultation programme, Participation People have robust safeguarding,
consent and risk management procedures in place to support young people,
parents/carers and partner organisations throughout engagement – they will work
collaboratively with host venues to embed these procedures in the engagement
activity.
More details on safeguarding:
If you think you may be able to give 10-14 year olds in your community a voice in
national policy by hosting a pop-up consultation in July, please complete this short
form:
DEADLINE Friday 5 June 2026, 12noon.
SCEP will share all responses with Participation People, who will follow up with you
directly to discuss next steps.