Surrey Heath Youth Council
Surrey Heath Youth Council (SHYC) is a local youth group set up and previously supported by Eikon, that works to improve the lives of young people in the area and represent their voices on a variety of social issues. It is run by a dedicated group of young people who take on various social action projects and give a voice to other young people in the area. It is a crucial way for young people to share their opinions, helping us to educate the wider community on the kinds of issues that matter to them and to further tailor
services to address their needs.
During the 2020/21 academic year, SHYC worked incredibly hard to set up a series of well-received TEDx talks from a whole range of inspirational people, covering topics including unconscious bias, crime, mental health, different routes into work, and going to university.
Through their involvement in SHYC, these young people build vital skills for life, such as team work, communication, organisation, and public speaking, and make a positive difference to the lives of other young people in their area.
Chair of Surrey Heath Youth Council
I joined SHYC in 2018, when I was in Year 7. After hearing someone speak about it, I was inspired to get involved and help make positive changes in the community around things that matter to young people.
While the past year was tough to begin with due to the pandemic, we were really pleased to be able to get back to meeting in person and to recruit lots of new people.
Despite the challenges of working around COVID-19 restrictions, we managed to complete our TEDxYouth@SurreyHeath project which took place at Camberley Theatre in July 2021. We had seven amazing speakers, covering all kinds of topics, and live-streamed the event given we couldn’t have many people in the theatre in person. Although only around 20 people were able to attend the event, the recordings have been viewed more than 200 times on YouTube.
SHYC is a brilliant thing to be involved in. You can get so much out of it, including developing confidence in public speaking and learning about teamwork in a really practical way. Personally, I have done so many things outside of my comfort zone – including speaking to more than 1,000 people at an event – and made some incredible friends. I love to see the impact we can make and also how the different minds and personalities in the group can come together to help bring a project to life. I’ve also developed an interest in and understanding of everything to do with politics, at both a national and a local level.
