Upon arrival we found a warmly open environment, and we were met with a huge variety of different faces and food as well as food for thought. The Promise Academy is built around the idea that within the right environment young people can be empowered to make changes in their lives and the lives of others to build better futures. The Academy empowers youth to make things change.  A better future is possible.  An energetic will to build it is needed.  It can happen, that is the promise.

Despite this being a hugely inspirational evening it left me wondering where the space for leadership was and is in our society. The riots in August left the UK reeling with a sense that something has gone wrong for our young people. With youth unemployment on the rise as well as a lack of positive role models in our political world, some have suggested the notion of a ‘lost generation’.

For the last 7 years I have volunteered and worked alongside a youth charity that has become close to my heart. The Diana Award is an organisation giving awards to young people to recognise their positive contributions to our society in the name of Princess Diana. They showcase the ways in which, most often through leadership, young people can be a force for good in society.

If there can be nuggets of good such as this through young people in society, then why is it that we have managed to create this ‘lost generation’?

Throughout research into young people at Cambridge University I discovered that there are plenty of youth that are passionately engaged in the world within which we live. However, they sometimes seem not to have any sense of their own agency in society. Thus they lack the impetus to step up and fight for what they believe in. The study I undertook using both engaged and under-engaged young people led me to conclude that since young people are at a transition point in their lives, they could be drivers of a process of transformation in society.  The transformation that the UK requires is one whereby we come to a new understanding of citizenships and the way that we act as members of our society. In my view this is a way in which young people could lead our society into a better future.

I would suggest that we need to see more of organisations that teach young people how to be a part of society and how to enact their change through leadership. Organisations that attempt to empower young people like The Promise academy could go a long way and provide a platform for them to become engaged with and motivated by their own passions. It is time to give young people the access they need to the leadership skills to find themselves again.

Angharad Armistead is currently an intern with Forster

@hadleylouise