On Monday 7th November, London Mayor hopeful, Ken Livingstone visited Waltham Forest.

In the early evening he met with representatives from the council’s three main Youth Engagement groups at the YMCA.

Young people attended from the Young Advisors, Youth Independent Advisory Group and the Forest Flava Press Gang and highlighted their areas of work to Ken. This included organising a debate in the Town Hall chamber after the riots, participating on the ‘Riots Panel’ organised by the Department of Communities and Local Government as well as being involved in the borough’s well publicised Gang’s Prevention programme. The young people also answered questions from Ken about their views on safety, policing and training and employment opportunities. Taliha Gazi, a 15 year old Young Advisor, said that young people “got to speak about the type of work we do, as well as highlight the impact we have within the community.”

Waltham Forest Young Advisors are trained agents of social change in their locality; in simple terms they engage with the community, they drive and deliver social action projects and they ensure that the voice of young people in the area is heard. Young Advisors get paid for most of the work they do in their communities; projects work to a social enterprise model, which means the young people gain real experience and respectful wages in return for their contribution.

The Young Advisors (YAs) work out of the Community Engagement team at Waltham Forest town hall, they are an integral part of the way in which the local authority engages with young people in the area, but they operate as an independent group. The YAs might organise and take part in community clean up days, deliver training to local councilors, or work with the Young Advisors National in delivering participation events for young people. Their roles are varied, responsive to need, solution centered and always youth led.

To commission the Waltham Forest Young Advisors email Jane.Brueseke@walthamforest.gov.uk