Cliona Kennedy appointed UK Youth Advocate for Scouts
Cliona Kennedy
UK Youth Advocate for Scouts
My name is Cliona Kennedy and I live in Edinburgh, although I grew up Girlguiding and Scouting in Aberdeenshire in the northeast of Scotland. I am currently an Assistant Beaver Leader while also working full-time, which means that I have been involved in Scouting in some capacity for almost twenty years!
Having just been appointed as a UK Youth Advocate for Scouts, I am excited to share what this role involves and explain how I can use my position to support young people in Scouting, including you!
What is a UK Youth Advocate?
Scouts Youth Advocates are part of a dynamic team of around 10 individuals under the age of 25. We actively engage with national decision-makers to drive positive policy changes. By meeting with MPs, attending conferences and holding discussions with various organisations, we aim to create a better world for young people.
This role focuses on creating a unified youth voice. Our goal is to place both Scouts and our ambitions at the forefront of the minds of those in a position to drive change. We aim to establish active and consistent relationships for a more connected and long-term impact through engaging in conversations with politicians and the wider public. In our efforts to advocate for change, we bring personal stories and lived experiences to meetings and events, giving life to the policies we support.
What do we do?
Our role as advocates involves identifying current sector challenges and suggesting policies to address them. Our diverse voices and opinions, representing different corners of the UK, provide valuable insights into local issues. Through our shared ambition, we seek to amplify our voices – making them clearer, larger, and louder!
By working with the government, attending conferences, and teaming up with other organisations such as Girlguiding, St Johns Ambulance, and UK Youth, we help more young people create lasting adventurous memories and have a say in their future.
What is Our Scouts’ Manifesto?
As the largest uniformed youth movement in the country, our team of volunteer UK Youth Advocates aims to lead the sector in identifying shared policy asks. We launched Our Scouts’ Manifesto earlier this year, a clear, impactful document that resonates with the needs of our community. This document outlines nine policy requests that unify the voices of UK Scouts and other youth sector organisations and is designed to encourage the new government to take action.
Developed in collaboration with young people and volunteers, our Manifesto calls for policies to help young people and support our communities in building a brighter future for all.
Broadly, to make these asks happen, we need the government’s help with:
- Creating opportunities for all young people to be heard and be active citizens
- Empowering the next generation with skills for life
- Recognising the power of volunteering and the importance of building stronger, closer communities.
Our Manifesto is not about politicising Scouts or supporting any one party. It’s a tool for influencing the government to create a better tomorrow for our young people and volunteers. And we’re taking a cross-party approach to make it happen.
Time is of the essence; childhood is short, and we can’t keep the UK’s young people waiting any longer. The benefits of out-of-school and extra-curricular activities are clear. Across the country, families and young people see the value of Scouts in developing skills for life. With over 100,000 young people waiting to join our groups, the time to act is now.
If you have any ideas or suggestions about how I could use my position to benefit the local scouting groups in our region in a way that aligns with the Manifesto, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me! Thank you.
