Youth Justice Convention 2019
Youth Justice Board (YJB) invited Youth Ink Peer Support Navigators as representatives of Southwark YOS young people to the “Youth Justice Convention 2019 at Birmingham NEC.”
More than 600 people attended this event where the Peer Support Navigators held a Peer-Led Conversation Hub. The Youth Ink Team were away for two nights in Birmingham, with the team and young volunteers doing a fantastic job.
Throughout the three-day event, the team attended breakout groups such as: “The Journey towards desistence – identity shift” led by Professor Neal Hazel Board member YJB and “Children’s social media use as a driver for youth violence and offending” led by the Dr Kris Christmann University of Huddersfield.
On the second day, the PSN team took over by recreating the Peer-Led Conversation Hub at the Convention. The Peer Support Navigators led the day from organising and setting it up, networking, and promoting the event. Eighty-five delegates, ranging from Wetherbee to Lewisham, attended the Youth Ink Peer-Led Conversation.
The Peer Support Navigators represented Youth Ink and Southwark YOS as knowledgeable, innovative and intelligent young men with a clear grasp of the issues affecting other young people today. With bright ideas of how as a society we can coproduce strategies than enable communication within the criminal justice system without adopting
“Absolute pleasure and privilege”
Hazel Williamson – Chair of the Association of YOT Manager. 2020
Further feedback from those that attended included; “caring/real/reality” “Thought Provoking” “Trustworthy” “Inspirational” “Educational” “Asst understanding” “Amazing”.
“It has allowed me to meet with a group of people that I wouldn’t have thought possible for a young man like me. I feel as though my voice is important and that the opinion of my community is important. It was a great experience going to the YJB convention and being able to run my own workshop with colleagues, and it is something I will never forget.” Peer Support Navigator
“In 2019 I attended the Youth Justice Convention I was on the main stage discussing my experience and how we can support other young people like me. It felt brilliant that so many people were willing to hear me and that it mattered. I also led my own workshop, it was a brilliant experience and an opportunity to meet so many people and all my colleagues supported me. Andrew the boss of Southwark Youth Offending Service said, ‘Thank you’. That made me smile when I spoke to my family about my job involving working with YOTs and the police. They are very proud of me because I am no longer in ‘that life’.” Peer Support Navigator
