Devon Youth Council
Devon Youth Council is a group of 11-20 year olds (up to 23 if you have a protected characteristic) who aim to get the voice of young people heard and make a positive change.
Devon Youth Council works with decision-makers and leaders to help make Devon a place where young people can thrive. We do this by:
- helping to design and deliver the Make your Mark survey
- working on one countywide campaign per year as decided by the Make your Mark survey
- consulting with Devon young people in a range of different ways to understand issues better, making sure that we hear from communities with protected characteristics
- presenting our research to decision makers
- co-producing change with decision makers
- supporting decision makers to understand youth perspectives and views
- considering the different geographies and contexts of Devon
- promoting the growth and development of youth representation across Devon
- having fun together and working as a team!
If you want to make a difference in your community or bring about a positive change surrounding a specific issue, then Devon Youth Council can help support you to do this!
The Devon Youth Council Network incorporates our SEND Network for Change and our Stand Up Speak Up council for care-experienced young people, but anyone can join the broader Youth Council. Our only ask is that you are prepared to represent the views of other young people as well as your own views. The diagram below sets out how we all work together.
Join us!
If you’d like to join the Devon Youth Council, please complete the membership form. You can also sign up to receive the Devon Youth Council newsletter or follow @devonyouthcouncil on Instagram.
For more information about Devon Youth Council and associated groups, please email participation@devon.gov.uk.
SEND Network for Change
Our SEND Network for Change aims to create youth voice opportunities for young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
Find out more about our SEND Network for Change.
👉 Follow @networkforchange_devon on Instagram.
Stand Up Speak Up
Stand Up Speak Up is The voice of Devon’s care-experienced young people. You can meet others with similar experiences, have fun and help improve the services that support you.
Find out more about Stand Up Speak Up.
👉 Follow @standupspeak on Instagram.
What’s being done?
Our action tracker sets out what Devon County Council and its partners have done taken in response to the issues that you have said matter most to you.
Youth Town Council Network
We are developing a network of Youth Town Councils. There are currently youth town councils in Barnstaple, Crediton, Okehampton, Teignmouth and Sidmouth (through Sidmouth Community College). These councils support local youth voice and local improvements but also share findings and projects with the Devon Youth Council. If you are part of or facilitate a youth town council that is not listed here or are keen to start a youth town council please email participation@devon.gov.uk
Youth Parliament
In 2024, we made the decision not to run UK Youth Parliament elections here in Devon, as we want to focus our attention on growing our Devon Youth Council Network. This means there are no elected Members of Youth Parliament for Devon, but our Devon Youth Council Network will be working together to get the voice of Devon young people heard. This will include linking in with other national organisations so that the voice of Devon young people is heard locally, regionally and nationally.
We aim to re-launch the Devon Youth Parliament at some point in the future, but our priority for now is to grow the Devon Youth Council.