48-hours in Brussels - Our experience attending a two-day policy event hosted by the YES Forum
What is the YES Forum?
The YES Forum is a European network of forty organisations, including the Together Trust, who are dedicated to improving the opportunities of young people who face disadvantages stemming from their socio-economic background, educational difficulties, discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation or ethnicity and geographical seclusion. The YES Forum provides support for ‘participation in society’ through civic and political education.
About the event
This year is the European Year of Youth. In the spirit of this, the event aimed to build bridges between grassroots work and policymaking. It brought together professionals from the youth and social care field, members of the European Commission and young people. During the event, discussions occurred around the European Pillar of Social Rights and its implementation at a national and local level.
Why did we attend the event?
Although the UK has left the European Union, participating in this event was an excellent opportunity to meet European colleagues and learn from each other. By attending the forum, we were able to raise awareness of national issues in children’s social care and the SEND system and hear about related projects and research being done by partner organisations on the continent. We look forward to applying these learnings to our work.
Our participation
Lucy Croxton and Styliana Pasiardi, who lead on campaigning and policy work for the Trust, were invited as speakers at a roundtable panel discussion.
They were asked questions about the role of charities and civil society organisations, their hope for the future of youth work, and the challenges and opportunities which exist for the social inclusion of young people within the UK.
Over the course of the two days, Lucy and Styliana shared best practice with organisations based in France, Germany, Netherlands and Italy (as well as others) who provide similar services and share the Trust’s vision for people to thrive because they are valued within their communities.
