CYUK at Labour and Conservatives’ Conferences with UK Year of Service

The autumn has been a whirlwind of exciting activity so far, as our City Year/CYUK staff, volunteers and alumni attended conferences held by the Labour and Conservative parties, with UK Year of Service. There were panel talks, and plenty of networking and insightful conversation. Here’s what our team got up to…

First was the UK Labour Conference for British Future, where CYUK alumni Cory Tomlinson spoke on the panel. He shared his experience with UK Year of Service & NCS, as well as discussing how to build strong and well-connected communities.

This event focused on how Labour’s vision for ‘Levelling Up’ can help to build a closer and more socially connected Britain. The panel (Cory, Seema Malhotra MP, Kim Leadbeater MP and Stephen Greene) discussed the vital role that young people can play in helping bridge current divides, the potential for volunteering, grassroots organising and community-oriented job opportunities to empower young people. They also explored building relationships between people of different ages and social backgrounds.

A highlight was a video from NCS and UK Year of Service featuring Cory and a member of our Impact Officer team, Zhauni Walker – who was also a School Service Leader last year. Watch the full video here.

Dean Thomas-Lowde, our Head of Programmes, says of our volunteers who attended, “Huge thank you to Ella, Hope, Imogen, and Jenny who represented UK Year of Service and City Year UK at the Labour Party Conference on Tuesday. We had lots of lovely feedback from the UK Year of Service team and guests and they were delighted to have such a strong representation from CYUK. From engaging with politicians, reflecting on their experience, and engaging in discussions around how we can help to build a closer and more socially connected Britain.”

The following week, we were at the Conservative Party Conference, again with UK Year of Service. We were delighted to be joined by our colleague AnnMaura Connolly from City Year, Inc. in the US. As City Year’s Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, AnnMaura spoke with Matt Ilic in a panel discussion on the importance of a year of service, and how more young people can make an impact.

Our City Year Mentors and Impact Officers/former School Service Leaders were also at the Conservatives’ conference, Here they are with their banners and stand, as they spoke to visitors and held insightful conversations on the power of service, and how they’ve made a difference to those around them.

Dean also added, “These events have been a great opportunity to take an active part in engaging others in conversations that were focused on supporting and empowering young people in helping bridge current divides. It was great to take an active part in engaging others in conversations that were focused on supporting and empowering young people in helping bridge current divides.”

Both events were a huge success, and we would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone involved!

Learn more about UK Year of Service here.