On Saturday 27 September 2025, a range of organisations involved with the Imagine This Partnership assembled together at Torre Abbey’s Spanish Barn for a special event – Powered By Youth. Months in the planning, this gathering was a concerted partnership effort in finding new mechanisms to directly hear, amplify and respond to youth voice. The aim was to use trusted relationships – i.e. organisations & facilitators who work with young people regularly – in order to create a space where they could be supported to share their views through whatever medium felt most available to them.
We heard/saw live theatre performances (thank you DAS Wed seniors!), saw films created by young people (thank you Sound Communities!), listened to audio clips recorded from live sessions (thank you Play Torbay and Moor to Sea Music!) and witnessed gallery exhibitions (thank you Orchard Forest School young carers!). The presentations were compered by Ivy and we loved hearing the voices of young people who came along on the day to listen, contribute and support others.
We also held ‘Imagineer’ conversations about topics that mattered to young people, and these conversations were attended by local policy-makers, councillors, and budget-holders. The fabulous Sue from Maker Arts hosted a ‘Doodle & Dream’ station where ideas could quietly bubble to life.
Big thanks to the organising team and to the Imagine This partners for their work in bringing this event to life. It felt like proper partnership collaboration, with a real sense of collective shared purpose. We’ll now move into a zone of ‘deep work’ now, working to distil the ideas which came up, and finding ways to respond and act upon them.
Interested in the larger process? Here’s a diagram which captures a bit of a ‘you are here’ roadmap.
Want to get involved or find out more? You can reach the Imagine This team here.
There is more to come from this process – below is the info we passed out on the day, which explains a bit more. We’re hoping to put together a set of proposals which will then move toward a youth voice from the wider pool of young people in Torbay. Exciting times!
This event was planned to be the first of two – so there may be another youth voice event in 2026. Stay tuned!
