Young people aged under 25 who live in low-income households can now access a fund that will help them achieve their full potential.

Every young person who needs help to buy sports equipment, or clothing for an interview, digital devices or software to support their online learning, for example, can apply for a small grant from £100 to £2,500 (see details and guidance here).

Newham’s Youth Empowerment Fund aims to tackle inequalities among young people, encouraging them to pursue their dreams and aspirations in the year that Newham Council has defined as the Year of the Young Person.

Geeta Subramaniam-Mooney is the first person to fill the post of Children and Young People’s Commissioner at Newham Council. She describes the post, announced in October 2019, as “a huge opportunity but a huge responsibility.”

In an interview with three members of the Newham Voices youth panel, she said: “I can’t do this job from an adult’s perspective. I’ve been listening to and hearing young people’s voices and trying to understand what the world is like from their perspective.”

One of the key tools to ensure that young people are heard is developing the roles of “trusted adults” within the community. These people, often teachers, will help young people navigate through what they find difficult in their journey or obstacles they are struggling with.

The Commissioner admits that “all adults must listen.” But how the Council will get adults to listen to young people is one of the main challenges of the Year of the Young Person. “

Those who are working on the frontline and directly with young people get it and are doing it,” said Geeta, but how can that happen at a senior level? The Council is trying to answer that with a strategy called Next Gen Newham, which aims to get those in leadership and influential roles, transferable to all areas, to listen to young people and trusted adults to ensure that their needs and perspectives are taken on board in all decision making.

Mental health and wellbeing, especially during the pandemic, is a topic of great concern for the Council, mainly due to the stigma that is attached to it. Solutions such as the online platform Kooth or the HeadStart services were already in place before Covid-19, but the Commissioner was challenged to promote preventative as well as crisis approaches.

Surely it is important to ensure that school and health care staff, for example, receive appropriate training? Geeta mentioned “a culture competent response”, admitting that everybody has biases and only by acknowledging them can they be challenged and that’s the only way to diminish the impact they can have in listening to and supporting young people.

This report is based on an online interview with Newham Children and Young People’s Commissioner, Geeta Subramaniam-Mooney, by Newham resident Mufeeda Chowdhury, 22, recent graduate in Psychology, Daniel Harry, 18, and Mir Tasin, 18, both students at Brampton Manor Academy in East Ham.

This piece was originally published in our March/April print edition and was updated on 19 May 2021.

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