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The Young Mayor’s Programme began formally with the 2004 Young Mayor Election, which was the culmination of a decade-long successful young people’s participation project based in what was initially the Lewisham Youth Service. It was intended to mirror the political structure of the borough, particularly given the change to a directly elected adult Mayor of Lewisham, so that there could be a formal recognition of the voice of young people and its need for representation in the borough. The initial idea of a Young Mayor had been piloted in Middlesborough but had only lasted for one year. In developing the Young Mayors programme in Lewisham, a number of key challenges were being addressed – including increasing the participation of young people in the life of the borough through a formal structure that worked centrally and closely with elected politicians. The Lewisham programme, which was also initially on a pilot basis, recently elected its 19th Young Mayor in February 2024.

 

The programme sits in the Early Help team of the Children and Young People’s Directorate within Lewisham Council, in order to effectively support young people in their formative years, but also interacts closely with the Executive Decision Maker (Directly Elected Mayor) in the council's Mayor's Office and takes part in civic duties. The programme is part of the base budget of the Council.

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The programme enables young people, politicians, council officers and partners to work together to develop ideas, while also addressing issues of concern and interest. In doing so, young people’s active and effective participation in democratic processes and local governance is genuinely enhanced. The Young Mayor’s Team continues to play an active role in helping to develop community solidarity and cohesion particularly necessary in an era of austerity and uncertainty, both locally in the borough., nationally across the U.K., and globally, taking into consideration the global events that young people are exposed to and care about.

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To do this, the Young Mayor's team works closely with Lewisham schools and in youth-led spaces, such as borough's youth clubs. Work with schools and sixth-forms in the borough can take shape during the Young Mayor election season, through campaigns that the young people get involved with about, such as ending child poverty or climate change, or through workshops led by the Young Mayor's team, such as the Race Equality workshops we began in 2021 in a rotating cohort of schools, that give the young people the opportunity to think critically about race equality, and the skills to autonomously deliver the workshops to their younger peers, ensuring the knowledge they gained is passed on and dialogue can be formed.

 

 It continues to be important to the Young Mayor and Young Advisors to work as a collective and support each other in challenging ourselves and others to continue to find new ways of making the world a better place. We remind ourselves and young people that other ways of doing things and being in the world are both possible and viable through our active engagement with each other and the world around us.

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This is also achieved through the Young Mayor and Young Advisors working locally, regionally, nationally and across Europe.

 

Despite the United Kingdom leaving the EU during Brexit, the Young Mayor's team continues to maintain close relationships with  partners and young people from many European countries that were developed in the 10+ years we spent initiating and participating in Erasmus+ (European funded) projects. Developing friendships, sharing experiences, learning and understanding between young people and their communities in the wider world is something we strive to do, and we are hopeful that, despite Brexit, we will be able to continue to do this through national and international projects that can continue to bring young people together, regardless of where we come from or what challenges we face.

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As well as meeting every Monday at 5-7pm in Lewisham's Civic Suite, the Young Advisors also have their own self-organised groups that are run by the Advisors themselves, giving them the space to focus on parts of civic life and engagement that time may not allow for during the weekly meetings. Examples of these are the Champions of Inclusion, who meet bimonthly to discuss how to support and empower young people with SEN (Special Educational Needs) and Disabilities and the Radio Lewisham pilot group who have been working to get Radio Lewisham off the ground whilst training as radio presenters.

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The Young Mayor and Young Advisors continue to make a profound impact on the lives of young people in the borough of Lewisham and beyond. 20 years after the program's inception, Young Advisors are at the forefront of youth democracy and giving young people the voice they need and deserve.