Youth voice

Share your ideas and opinions, and get your voice heard

megaphone
At Amazing Futures, your ideas and opinions matter. 
You get to be involved in decisions. This includes big decisions as well as small ones. 
You get a say in what snacks we buy for group sessions, and what activities we do. 
You help us decide what groups and workshops we will run in the future. 
We ask for your help when we hire staff to work at Amazing Futures. 
When we write Amaze’s five year plan for the future, we ask for your ideas and feedback. 
It’s up to you how involved you want to be, and what decisions you want to take part in. 
Some young people are on our board of trustees. Trustees make important decisions about what Amaze will do and how we do it.  
Some young people work at Amaze as staff or interns. 
Our Big Days Out trips are a great example of how young people lead our decisions. 
We also help make sure your voices are heard by people outside of Amaze that make important decisions. 
We’ve helped young people take part in consultations with the NHS, police, councils, schools, and more.  
We give you the chance to attend conferences and events about issues that are important to you. 
How do I get my voice heard? 
Come to our groups and we’ll give you lots of opportunities to share your ideas and opinions. 
Sometimes we share surveys or ask for your views on our Amazing Futures Instagram.
If you have feedback or suggestions about Amazing Futures you’d like to share, you can send them to us through our contact form.  

Youth voice is at the heart of everything we do at Amazing Futures. Here’s what that means:

  • Youth voice is… getting to share your ideas and your opinions on things that affect you and your community.
  • Youth voice is… when you are really listened to, and your opinions matter when decisions are being made.
  • Youth voice is… having a say and being involved

”Amazing Futures gives young people a place to be unapologetically them and have their voices heard.”

Youth voice at Amaze

Amazing Futures is a youth-led project, at every level. This means you get the chance to be involved in decisions about things like…

  • what happens at our groups – what games and activities we’ll do, what food will be available
  • what workshops and sessions we’ll run
  • what staff we hire to work on the project
  • what funding we apply for
  • what should go in our five year strategic plan

It’s up to you how involved you want to be, and what decisions you want to take part in.

There are young people on Amaze’s board of trustees, who make important decisions about what Amaze will do and how we do it. Some of the staff at Amaze are young people as well.

Young people marching down the road with blue jellyfish costumes, one young person holds a large sign reading "making waves in the SEND community"
Young people decided to take part in Eastbourne Carnival in 2023. They planned their entry, ran sessions to create costumes, and designed messages about having SEND to carry while they walked.
Small group of young people pose in front of luminescent glowing art and a large dinosaur model at Globalls mini-golf.
Our Big Days Out project came about because young people wanted to go on day trips. They helped write the funding bid and plan the trips, visiting everywhere from mini-golf to the National History Museum.
Three brightly coloured graffiti style artworks on display in a gallery, including one featuring Stitch from the Disney film Lilo and Stitch.
Young people chose to take part in an art mural project, in partnership with East Sussex County Council, and helped design mural ideas that expressed their feelings as young people with disabilities.
interview
Young people from our groups sat on the interview panels to hire youth workers for the Amazing Futures team.

Youth voice in the community

As part of our youth voice work, we also support you to have a say outside of Amaze.

We do consultations on topics that affect young people, and make sure your voices are heard by the right people. We give you the chance to attend conferences and events about issues that are important to you.

In the past, we’ve taken part in consultations with the NHS, Sussex Police, the council, the Department for Education, schools and colleges, and more.

Brighton Amazing Futures Coordinator Jem and a young person in Birmingham, the Selfridges building behind.Youth voice conference

In 2024 Amazing Futures young people attended the Council for Disabled Children’s annual youth conference in Birmingham for the first time. It was a fun weekend, travelling up together by train and staying in a hotel. After taking in the sights, we attended workshops and talked about our experiences of education and employment with other young people with SEND from across the UK.

How we work with young people

Youth voice board in East Sussex: a pinboard with sheets of paper up with questions and polls for young people about going to the dentist. There are post-it notes with young people's thoughts and experiences, and stickers on a poll.Youth voice can be done in many different ways.

Some of the ways we involve you include:

  • online software like Menti polls
  • in-person consultations
  • youth voice groups and drop-ins
  • “youth voice board” with new topics for you to interact with at our youth groups

We talk to young people at the sessions to give you the chance to share your ideas or talk about any issues affecting you. At our AmazeXtra group we use visuals and PECS so young people who are non-verbal can contribute as well.

How do I get my voice heard?

The easiest way is to join Amazing Futures and come along to a group. We’ll give you lots of opportunities to share your ideas and opinions.

You could also follow our Instagram and keep an eye out – sometimes we share consultations there or ask you for your input.

If you have feedback or suggestions about Amazing Futures you’d like to share, you could send it to us using our contact form.