A massive thank you to everyone who helped promote the vote, to the 30+ schools and youth groups that signed up and took part, and, of course, to the 2,780 of you who voted in Make Your Mark and the Devon ballot!
Thank you to everyone who took part in the Make Your Mark 2025. Over 7,000 young people from across Devon voted during March, and we can now reveal that the top voted issue was ‘Places to go, things to do’.
20% of those who took part made their top priority ‘Places to go, things to do’, believing that all young people in Devon should be able to access “affordable activities and places in our local areas; somewhere to go with friends for fun, relaxation and to try new things”.
Mental health and public transport came second and third in the ballot, receiving 16% and 13% of the votes respectively.
Speaking about the top issue, one Devon Youth Council member said, “This is such an important topic. There’s nothing to do for young people in so many places in Devon; we’re just stuck at home. So, it would be great to see this improve.”
Full results
More than 30 schools and youth groups hosted ballots, with 7,160 young people across Devon casting a vote.
The full breakdown of the results is as follows:
- Places to go and things to do – 1,449 votes (20%)
- Mental health support – 1,173 (16%)
- Public transport – 957 (13%)
- Vaping and smoking – 716 (10%)
- Our future – 701 (10%)
- The environment – 684 (10%)
- Safety and crime – 488 (7%)
- Poverty and inequality – 488 (7%)
- Inclusion – 323 (5%)
- Healthy relationships – 181 (3%)
You can download our full sized infographic as a PDF here.
What happens next?
The Devon Youth Council has the responsibility to follow up the results from Make Your Mark.
- Peer-led research – We prioritise and research the top Devon issue from Make Your Mark. This will help us identify our direction and the specifics of what needs to change.
- Youth Voice Saturday – We bring our plans to the top decision makers, with the help of young people who can share their thoughts and ideas.
- Youth Voice Action Plan – Based on the decisions made at the Youth Voice Saturday, we create an action plan to ensure that we are making the right changes in the chosen issue!
If you are interested in contributing to this campaign, you can join the Devon Youth Council in order to attend our upcoming meetings, where we will discuss the topic of ‘Places to go, things to do’ in more detail. However, if you don’t want to attend in person or join the Council directly, you can always send your ideas to one of our participation workers or email us at participation@devon.gov.uk.