25 Mar Are you listening? Torbay youth lead the way forward

Not being listened to sucks.

You’re saying something, sometimes the same thing over and over, but the person you’re talking to is just not listening.

Or maybe they are listening, but they’re too absorbed in their own thoughts to really hear what you’re saying.

Even worse – you are being listened to, you feel good about sharing your opinion, your idea, only for that feeling to hit the ground with a thud when it’s clear that what you said has had absolutely no impact.

I’m sure you will be familiar with some of these. You may also be familiar with the feelings that bubble up as a consequence of not being heard: feeling detached from the people around you; feeling like you don’t belong in your community; feeling like you don’t matter; feeling powerless. From here, the future can seem pretty dull.

You know who else feels a bit like this?

Children and young people.

Schools and other statutory services go some way to supporting young people to be heard, but often the systems don’t work as well as they might. And what about home educated children? What about older young people (our definition goes up to 25) who are trying to shape their lives independently?

Luckily for Torbay, we have a vibrant community sector, including many organisations who work with children and young people. Imagine This is a partnership of those organisations, and together we are driven by the aim of making Torbay a great place to grow up. From the hours upon hours of dedicated, professional work these organisations do, they know that children and young people are fed up to the back teeth of being asked for their opinions, only for either nothing to happen as a result, or that they are not told what changes their opinions have helped to shape. Either way, children are left feeling undervalued and detached.

In 2025, organisations within the Imagine This partnership questioned how we could do things differently. We knew that trustworthy relationships are key to any child or young person being able to speak openly and honestly, and we knew that there are limitless ways of expressing ourselves.  And so, the concept was shaped:

Create meaningful spaces where children and young people in Torbay can say what they want to say, in the way they want to say it – and be heard by the people and systems that can help make change happen.

We were very clear from the outset: this was not consultation as usual.
There was no pre-set agenda, no tick-box questions, and no expectation that young people respond to adult priorities. Powered by Youth started with young voices – and built outwards from there.

The shift we saw was immediate.

The influential decision makers who attended that day left with new levels of understanding of what it means to be a young person in Torbay. Known issues were seen through a new lens; previously unknown (or under considered) experiences were given the spotlight.

One of the most important things about Powered by Youth is it didn’t stop at listening. Some of the things young people shared were heard, understood and acted on quickly — showing what’s possible when the right people are in the room and young voices are centred.   Other things will take longer, but as a direct result of listening to young people on their own terms, wheels have been put in motion.

We are busy working together to shape Powered By Youth 2.0, to keep feeding back the impact those young voices had.  The aim is to shift how we listen to and hear, children and young people in Torbay, in a way that is authentic, effective and impactful.

It starts with trust: trust in young people; trust in relationships, and trust that we can ALL listen well enough to respond differently.

You see, being heard is central to being valued. And when we’re valued, we show up more, we use our energy more effectively, we make a difference. If the children and young people in Torbay can do this, our future starts to look a whole lot brighter.

To find out more, visit imaginethis-torbay.co.uk/powered-by-youth/