My Youth Voice journey - from mentor to decision-maker

I’ve been involved in youth work for a long time. I can confidently say that it is one of my greatest passions; I love being a voice for young people just like me, and I love saying that I am part of the fight for change. I’ve even been labelled as a trailblazer.

My journey into youth work began when I was a fourteen year old student in secondary school. My teachers signposted me to an opportunity to become a peer mentor, which meant supporting year seven students who struggled with adjusting to new environments. For example, they might have been getting bullied or found it hard to make friends.

While I hesitated, my teachers knew I would be perfect for the role. They encouraged me to go for it because they saw something in me. They always told me that I had more patience than most, and a strong ear that was always ready to listen. But not only that, when I first started school, I myself struggled with self-confidence. I had no idea how to stand up for myself, so I knew first-hand what it was like to be in that kind of situation. Becoming a peer mentor was an amazing way for me to put my skills and experience to good use. It helped me to help others, and it made me realise just how much I wanted to do that – to help others. If I can credit anything as the start of my journey, it was peer mentoring.

To think that was over seven years ago now! I’m now 21 and have recently graduated from university. I studied Computer Science and am currently looking for a full-time career in the tech field. I love programming – it’s challenging but rewarding, and there’s always a tangible product at the end that you can be proud of. During my time at university, I also developed a love for writing poetry and short stories - even research essays!

But most importantly of all, my passion for youth work continued to grow. I started working with young people in my local borough, and continued this work while studying. I even volunteered with the local youth zone and at children’s after school clubs. I always nurtured that desire to help others, so when I eventually found an opportunity to join The National Lottery Community Fund as a member of Young People in the Lead (YPIL), I leapt at the chance to represent young people nationally.

YPIL was an advisory panel that would meet prominent youth organisations and advise them on how to improve their services for young people. Sometimes we would gather feedback from service users to share with these organisations, and other times, we would connect young people with funders, allowing them to have a sit-down conversation about the support young people needed most. I was trailblazing once again!

Since then, and most recently, I was given the amazing opportunity to sit on the Million Hours Fund decision-making panels as a voice for other young people. The Million Hours Fund is dedicated to financially supporting youth-led projects across the country by giving young people places to go and things to do, especially in areas where they may be at risk of anti-social behaviour. We received hundreds of applications, which meant that no two panels ever looked alike. With each panel, we would get an application that really blew us away, presenting us with new ideas and activities that we would never have thought of.

Each application comes with its own strengths, but as a Youth Voice representative, I’m always looking out for the ones with incredibly strong Youth Voice representation. These typically come from organisations that have gathered young people’s feedback authentically and moulded their activities around what they want and need. By doing this, they always manage to clearly articulate why their program is so important.

Some of the best ones, I’ve found, are the ones that demonstrate strong community links by targeting the places and spaces young people frequent. My absolute favourites, however, are always the ones that submit videos of their young people, because they honestly tug at my heartstrings, especially as someone who frequented these clubs and projects growing up. The videos show just how much of a safe place these organisations have created for their young people, and it’s always good to be reminded of who we’re doing this for.

It has been an absolute privilege to sit on the decision-making panel, even though it felt intimidating at first. I’m still a young person myself, after all! I wasn’t used to my voice carrying the same weight as experienced decision makers, and sometimes I still have to remind myself to speak up. But I’ve learnt a very valuable lesson during my time working with The National Lottery Community Fund. Even if you don’t think that your opinion adds to the conversation, you have no idea how impactful your words can be or whose perspective you could completely change. That’s just one of the many lessons that I’m going to be carrying with me for the rest of my career, and I look forward to a future where I see many more young people take on roles just like mine.

Rachael Olumuyiwa

The Million Hours Fund is a £22 million jointly funded initiative from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK. This funding was for organisations to give extra support to young people in areas where they may be at risk of anti-social behaviour. We funded extra hours of youth work for additional activities that give these young people more places to go and positive things to do.

Rachael began her youth work journey in 2014 while volunteering for a funded project known as Headstart Newham. Rachael had the opportunity to sit on a number of youth panels, where she and others advocated for better mental health resources in school settings, youth zones and in the home. Rachael was part of a group of almost 30 young people, all of whom were dedicated to improving the lives of others.

From there, Rachael was successful in being recruited on to the The National Lottery Community Fund’s first Youth Voice Team [Young People in the Lead] in 2020.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the team aimed to improve the quality of Youth voice across the UK through funding and running events to help others to improve youth voice within their organisations. The team held virtual events to celebrate key awareness days, including International Youth Day.

Read about the Young People in the Lead advisory panel

In late 2023, Rachael was asked to sit on the Million Hours Fund decision-making panel, where she could provide her insights on what matters to young people and once again be a part of the push for change.