EALING YOUNG CHAMPIONS
Who are the Ealing Young Champions?
The Ealing Young Champions are a group of young people who have come together to make a positive difference in their local community and ensure that young people's voices are heard when it comes to decision making locally.
From saving a local youth club, to co-creating the UK's first ever youth mental health crisis café, the Ealing Young Champions get involved in a variety of projects across the year and always welcome new additions to the team.
Our Young Champions meet weekly on a Tuesday (term time) in Ealing Broadway.
If you are aged 14-19 (up to 25 for SEND) and live, work or study in Ealing, please email [email protected] to find out more about becoming an Ealing Young Champion.
We can't wait to hear from you!
A brief history of the Ealing Young Champions
Youth Voice Facilitators
With many organisations wanting to embed youth-voice but not knowing where to start, the Young Ealing Foundation launched the Youth Voice Facilitator programme in November 2023.
A pioneering programme, the Ealing Young Champions will facilitate co-production training for local professionals, with the support of Young Ealing Foundation.
The first cohort were recruited in November 2023 and began their training with Hollie.
Absolute zines in Parliament
Off the back of the findings of Get Connected, the Ealing Young Champions created a zine around mental health support and activities for young people in Ealing, called "Why Am I Stressed?".
As well as distributing the zine to local youth hangouts such as youth clubs and libraries, they also took it to Parliament and shared it with the shadow minister for mental health, Rosena Allin-Khan, MP.
YEF Awards 2023
After the success of the first ever Awards, the Young Ealing Foundation Awards were back for another year with the Ealing Young Champions co-producing the entire event, as as well as hosting and presenting the awards.
The Circle Café
The Ealing Young Champions were invited by Hammersmith and Fulham, Ealing and Hounslow Mind to co-design the UK's first ever Youth Mental Health Crisis Café – Circle, in South Ealing.
Get Connected
Co-produced by the Ealing Young Champions in partnership with the Ealing Arts and Health Alliance, Get Connected was a creative peer-research event for young people held on the 16th January as an antidote to ‘Blue Monday’ the most depressing day of the year.
The event consisted of nine different activity stations based on things that the young champions do to support their own mental health, followed by a film screening. Over fifty young people attended.
YEF Awards 2022
The Ealing Young Champions co-produced the first ever Young Ealing Foundation Awards at the University of West London. From sitting on the judging panel, to co-hosting the ceremony, the Awards were a huge success with over two hundred people attending including local MPs and Councillors.
"The Oscars have nothing on this, because this is 100% Ealing”.
- Rupa Huq MP for Ealing Central and Acton
#SaveTheYAC
After hearing that the Young Adult Centre (YAC) in Southall (one of only three youth clubs in the borough) was at risk of being demolished, the Ealing Young Champions launched a campaign the #SaveTheYAC.
Their petition reached over 1,500 signatures and, after presenting it to Ealing Council at the Town Hall, the Council reversed their decision to demolish it and thanked the Ealing Young Champions for their campaign.
Our first ever Ealing Young Champions meeting
In the height of the global pandemic, our first ever meeting takes place online with fifteen brilliant 14-19 year olds who live, work or study in Ealing and are passionate about making a positive impact in their local community.
They make history as the first ever Ealing Young Champions!
