TODAY we’re publishing our first annual report, setting out the work we’ve accomplished over the last year, and looking ahead to our plans for the year ahead.
From the successful roll out of the 2025 internship class, to the publication of our first UK Youth Poll, to the launch of the John Smith Memorial Lecture – given this year by Gordon Brown – we’re really proud of our efforts over the last 12 months and we want to let everyone know about it too.
You can also take a look at our newly refreshed homepage which contains our new strap-line – “Creating the Opportunity to Serve”.
The inspiration for that comes straight from John Smith himself. Famously, he ended his final speech as leader of the Labour party by declaring “The opportunity to serve our country – that is all we ask”.
At an away day session earlier this summer involving the staff and board members, we decided (OK, it was Elli Loose) that this phrase summed up what we wanted to achieve too. As our new mission statement puts it, we want to open doors to public life for young people, no matter their background, beliefs or experience. That’s not necessarily in order to create a new army of 20-year-old politicians. It’s to give ambitious, driven young people from all walks of life the belief that they can be part of the decisions that shape their lives, their communities, and the future of the country.
Our research shows that there are many young people who want to get involved. It also shows that there continue to be barriers that stop them or deter them from doing so. That has helped us understand where we can make a difference – helping young people understand the political culture we live in, giving them opportunities to work in it too, and using our events to inspire young people who may feel that public service isn’t for people like them.
In short, we think every young person who wants it should have the opportunity to shape the world they live in – to take up the purposeful and practical public service that John Smith’s life embodied.
Please do read our new mission statement and let us know what you think.
