Territorial Justice and Reconciliation Youth Forum: ‘It’s important that young people have a voice’

Tilly, chair of the Territorial Justice and Reconciliation Youth Forum, introduces its latest chapter.

What is the Territorial Justice and Reconciliation Youth Forum?

It’s a forum for young people aged 14 to 25. It’s essentially a space for young people to speak about justice issues, and to hear young people’s opinions and views. At the moment, we meet every other month.

How did the first meeting go?

It went well! Everyone was talkative and ready to speak, which was really good. Everyone definitely had a passion for justice and reconciliation and had things they wanted to bring to the group, which is really positive.

How many people are in the forum?

There are currently 12 people, including myself. We’re a group of different people who live in different places with different life experiences representing the whole territory. We bring that to our conversations, which means we’re getting a really good picture of young people across the territory.

How does the forum work?

Departments within The Salvation Army can submit things they want the forum’s thoughts on. As chair, I look through those submissions with Captain Luke Cozens (Justice and Reconciliation Officer) and Jo Taylor (Youth Specialist, Discipleship). We decide what to focus on for each meeting.

What kind of topics have you spoken about so far?

We’ve spoken about the Army’s child poverty strategy and the government’s Growing Up in the Online World consultation. When discussing the consultation, a lot of us thought social media could be used as a positive resource to share positive messages, but we also recognised that children are getting into social media at a younger age, and that has a big impact on mental health and how people grow up. We didn’t reach a conclusion, but we recognised the positives and the negatives. It’s an issue that directly impacts young people, so I think it’s important that – if The Salvation Army did say something about it – young people have a voice in it. We've also talked about hypermasculinity, Christian nationalism, and moving from serving to collaborating with people experiencing poverty.

Why does having the forum matter?

It’s important for the Army to listen to young people. It’s quite easy to think of people as children, adults and older people, and young people sometimes fall between the gaps. The forum also allows young people to speak up and speak into topics they might be thinking about, but not have anywhere to share those opinions.

Where did your passion for justice come from?

I’ve had it for quite a while: when I was in reception, for example, I did a fundraiser for a refugee camp after hearing my parents speak about people in need. I think I was always aware of injustice, and it annoyed me, so I was like, ‘What can I do about it? How can I help others understand what’s going on so that we can do something about it as a collective?’ I think the forum is a really good opportunity for all of us to speak about the things we’re passionate about!

What are your hopes for the forum?

I hope it has an impact, that members will feel they are listened to and that we see things coming out of that. And, on a wider scale, I hope it will be a place that other people go to for young people’s opinions. For people to think: ‘Let’s go to the forum, because it’s a resource we can use to hear their opinions.