Update in regards to UK Youth Parliament:
Today, the British Youth Council (BYC) has announced that after over 75 years in the youth voice space, they are closing their doors. BYC was known to run UK Youth Parliament, the Youth Select Committee, APPGs on Votes at 16 and Youth Affairs, and more. They also represented the UK at the Commonwealth Youth Forum and the European Youth Forum.
Citing financial distress, BYC’s chair Zara Khan said that “Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to provide a sustainable future for the charity. The economic environment has significantly impacted our ability to generate income. This was further cemented by the recent administration of our dedicated and passionate partners The Body Shop.”
What will happen to BYC programmes?
Update
I have contacted organisations that had programmes that were supported or facilitated by BYC to see what the future plans are. A list of those contacted is below. Italics indicates a response, which can be found below.
- DCMS – regarding the Youth Voice Programme and UKYP
- House of Commons – regarding the Youth Select Committee
- Youth Futures Foundation – regarding the Future Voices Group
- The Careers and Enterprise Company – regarding the Youth Advisory Group
- WWF – regarding the Sustainable Futures Youth Advisory Group
- Access for All Campaign – regarding itself
- Commonwealth Youth Forum – regarding Youth Ambassadors to the Commonwealth
- European Youth Forum – regarding delegates to the EYF
- Sir Peter Bottomley MP – regarding the APPG on Votes at 16
- Lloyd Russel-Moyle MP – regarding the APPG on Youth Affairs
I will update this page as I get responses.
WWF-UK
WWF-UK was truly saddened to hear of the immediate closure of the British Youth Council yesterday, an organisation that for 75 years, has been championing youth voice and campaigning for positive change.
We have contacted members of the WWF-UK Sustainable Futures Youth Advisory Group to offer immediate support and will be following up in the coming days to work through next steps, ensuring their roles can continue, with as little disruption as possible.
WWF-UK is fully committed to ensuring young people can take action and use their voice, to help bring our world back to life.
Jack Abrey, Head of Youth Engagement
Youth Futures Foundation
Youth Futures Foundation is deeply saddened to hear about the closure of The British Youth Council.
The British Youth Council has worked hand in glove with us to design and build youth participation into the heart of Youth Futures Foundation, including partnering with us to set up and run our Future Voices Group. We are immensely proud of the work we have done together to date.
Last week we had immediate conversations with the BYC staff we work directly with to agree a plan to for immediate continued support for the young ambassadors we work with. For the time being the Future Voices Group will be supported wholly by our internal youth participation team and this has been communicated to all members of the group.
Youth Futures Foundation remains committed to ensuring youth voice is heard and present throughout our work to help marginalised young people into good employment. We are working through next steps internally to decide the best course of action to ensure we are set up well to do this going forwards.
Sarah Yong, Director of Policy and Communications
House of Commons
I’m afraid we don’t have oversight of whether the BYC has completely wound up its operations, however in their news article dated 21 March, they reference beginning “preparations to cease operations” which suggests they may still be winding services up. You may therefore, wish to try contacting the BYC via the details still up on their website.
This article goes on to say: “The charity will work with partners and the UK Government to secure the future of our programmes as much as possible.” As a partner organisation, we have not been briefed on the implications for the Youth Select Committee as of yet.
House of Commons Enquiry Team
Department of Culture, Media and Sport
Lloyd Russel-Moyle MP
Access for All Campaign
While we acknowledge the unfortunate collapse of the British Youth Council and its potential impact on our campaign’s support network, we are appreciative of the groundwork established through our collaborations with esteemed accessibility specialists and organizations such as UCL: Make Things Accessible. Our resources, accessible via https://www.makethingsaccessible.com/aaa/, remain steadfastly available and independent of any association with the British Youth Council. In anticipation of such transitions, we have proactively safeguarded our progress by maintaining comprehensive backups of all campaign-related materials. Moreover, our communication channels, including our email infrastructure, remain entirely unaffected by the closure, as we do not operate under an @byc.org.uk domain. This ensures uninterrupted connectivity with our stakeholders and constituents. In this transitional phase, we are unwavering in our commitment to supporting the young members of our community through any necessary restructuring efforts. We are actively exploring various avenues to ensure the seamless continuity of support, including forging strategic partnerships with other youth-centric organizations and harnessing the power of online platforms for sustained engagement and advocacy. We extend our heartfelt gratitude for your continued support and understanding during this period of adjustment. Together, we remain resolute in our pursuit of accessibility and assistance for all.
Tom Ashforth, Youth Member
Organisations like UKYP and the Youth Select Committee are likely to return to a Government tender process, meaning a new organisation will be picked to run them. In the meantime, MYPs should contact their local authority workers to stay up-to-date on any developments. Events like YouthCon and MYP inductions may not be able to go ahead until the tender process is complete.
Groups like the Future Voices Group and the Careers & Enterprise Company Youth Advisory Group will be in the hands of their associated organisations, and the decisions will be made by them. Young people in these groups should await further instructions, and failing this, get in contact with their main worker.
It is unknown what will happen to our international delegates, but it is highly likely that they’ll be transferred to different management, much like UKYP.
Services offered by BYC are likely to shut down without replacement or new management.
The above is an estimate based upon the current situation. It may not reflect what actually occurs. Details are sparse at the moment, and therefore the above should only be taken as illustrative. If you are a young person in a BYC-managed group and are unsure of what happens now, you should get in touch with your worker.
On a more personal note, it is truly a shame to see the end of BYC. They played a formative role in my youth voice journey so far, and the future for all MYPs, and all young people for that matter, looks unsure without them. The organisation and it’s workers have touched so many lives and hearts, and today marks a great loss in the youth voice scene.
A special shout out to Danny Brown, the South East’s local coordinator. He was loved by every MYP, and his goodbye message was truly heartbreaking to read. He served us all well and events will feel empty in the future without him. I wish him, and all the other workers at BYC, the best of luck in these uncertain times.
Read more at BYC’s website below:
Hadyn Cutler MYP 
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