This July 2024, Oasis GM Navigators joined the Hope Collective ‘Hope Hack’ at Emirates Old Trafford for the annual Greater Manchester Hope Hack. This year's event, arranged by the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit (GMVRU), brought together over 70 young people from across Greater Manchester, alongside facilitators, and community leaders to discuss how we can create safer and fairer communities.
A platform for change
Hope Hack is an all-day workshop designed to empower young people by giving them a platform to express their hopes and visions for the future. The key goal of the Hope Collective is to ‘change the narrative’ for young people, focusing on solutions, not symptoms. Young people engage in group discussions to share their thoughts and develop solutions for the issues impacting their lives and communities. These events are organised by Violence Reduction Units (VRU) across the UK, providing local youth the opportunity to collaborate in workshops and brainstorm ideas to address significant community challenges.
Our involvement
Several of our Navigator youth workers were there to facilitate and ensure all voices were heard. We were really impressed by the overall range and depth of topics covered, with young people passionately sharing their lived experiences with the room. Team highlights also included an engaging music performance from ‘The Message’, and a powerful monologue by 'Breaking Barriers'.
Sessions with impact
Our facilitators noted that young people from UTC Media City expressed concerns about safety and the lack of recreational activities. Youth ambassadors from Wigan articulated the need for accessible spaces, while another table discussed relationships and the impact of violence. Younger participants showed great engagement with the monologue on gendered violence, leading to very thoughtful discussions.
Challenges and solutions
Common themes included the need for more safe and accessible spaces, the impact of social media, and the importance of discussing these issues in schools. One young person said, “I feel like our generation has missed out on a lot. There are no safe places for us to go or hang out, just Maccies, but that doesn’t feel that safe anymore.” There was also discussion about discos for young people or possibly some funds for youth to access activities that cost money.
The impact of social media replacing “real connections” was also heavily discussed. Issues such as knife crime, racism and gender were also frequent topics. Participants discussed that social media often replaces real connections. Other participants suggested more targeted events for different age groups to ensure appropriateness and engagement. Drama performances led to debates about safety, the lack of safe spaces for young people, and government neglect of youth groups due to lack profitability, which sparked important dialogues on funding and support. Personal stories of gang involvement highlighted the real dangers that young people face.
Reflections and future direction
This year’s Hope Hack highlighted the extent to which many young people do not feel safe in their communities, a message that will help to shape our Navigators’ future work. Valuable connections were formed with teachers and other organisations, building the way for future collaborations and assemblies to spread our support further. Young people were also signposted to appropriate services following discussions.
Hope Hack was a great day, showcasing the resilience, creativity and insight of Greater Manchester’s young people. The views collected from Hope Hacks across the country, will now go on to form the basis of a new report, ‘Reimagined’ produced by the Hope Collective. This ground-breaking report will outline what young people would like to see happen to make the UK a better place to live and grow up in and will be delivered to the government later this year in 2024.
Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester, Kate Green, said: “The themes that came out of the day will rightly be used as part of the Reimagined Manifesto, but I’ll take these away also to see what we can do at a Greater Manchester level to support our young people to feel safe and excited about their futures.”
