On Friday 5th July, young people from Amplify, Lancashire Music Hub’s Youth Board, are travelling to Birmingham for the second national Young People’s Citizens Assembly hosted by Music for Youth.

Joined by More Music’s youth voice ambassadors, the event will see young people from across the country to join together to influence the future of music education within the UK.

For the past 6 months, members of Amplify have been meeting regularly with young people from Wolverhampton Music Hub and members of the Music Mark, Music for Youth and Sound Connections teams to co-produce this year’s Citizens Assembly.

After conceiving the idea for a national, youth led conversation about the future of music education in 2023, members of Amplify have helped to devise the theme for this year.

Following consultations with young people from across Lancashire in January to find out what issues relating to music and music education mattered to them, Amplify concluded that when asked ‘why is music important to you?’, the most common answer young people cited was the positive benefits of music in supporting their mental health.

Discussions ensued about peoples lived experiences of mental health and how music is intrinsically interwoven and the theme for this year’s Citizens Assembly, Music, Mental Health and Resilience was born.

The event is set to be an inspirational day, bringing young people from diverse backgrounds round the table to discuss issues the matter to them alongside music and health professionals. It will provide a platform to cultivate leadership skills by debating and recommending solutions to key music industry leaders.

Excitingly, some of the young people from Amplify have taken on paid roles this year and are co-hosting, performing and working as content creators as well as leading the discussions.

Lancashire Music Education Hub set up the Amplify programme in 2018 to ensure young people have a voice and can influence change at a strategic level. They have been working with Hub partners More Music for 6 years and have engaged young people across the county, including those who are not taking part in any formal music making activities.