Bucks Youth Summit 2025
An Overview by Young Journalist Thannista
This article was written by a young person called Thannista. Thannista acted as a Young Journalist with Aylesbury Youth Action at the Youth Summit 2025.
Welcome
2025 is the third year running of the Bucks Youth Summit, where schools from all over Buckinghamshire come together to share their opinions on topics affecting our youth today.
However, I know that not everyone will have been able to come – even more so, some of you may have not even knew this happened!
Hence this article, which aims to fill you in on a few of the events that took place as well as some of the students’ opinions on how the Summit went.
The Mental Health Space
One of the bigger spaces was the Mental Health Space, which took place within the Norman Bragg Studio. With interesting decoration they chose to fill the stage with colourful umbrellas, a nod to how the term ‘Neurodivergent’ is an umbrella term which covers many diagnoses.
I talked to Emily and Nick who are a part of the Young Mental Health Champions, who revealed they were in the process of launching ‘Heads Up’, a website which contains all the information and different services for young people to get advice and seek help – an interesting take on improving accessibility and ease of use.
Another interesting activity they had was a ‘Graffiti Wall’ where students were allowed to take markers and write on printed sheets, about any mental health challenges they are facing. One of the organisers of the Mental Health Space, Tim, mentioned how ‘We have a lot of information on adult mental health and the challenges they face, but not nearly as much as on what health challenges children face.’ It was great to see so many students taking part and interacting; helping to break apart stigmas surrounding Mental Health.
LGBTQ+ Space
The LGBTQ+ space was lively, with a lot of vibrant colours and creativity within the area such as bracelet making, a world cloud on what makes people proud to be in Buckinghamshire, as well as surveys on whether or not students felt supported within their schools – which does not simply serve to gather information yet to take action, as the responses will be brought up with the corresponding schools; a progressive take which will hope to make some necessary changes in order to make students feel more comfortable whilst learning.
Life After School
Life After School took place within the main auditorium, where there were mason jars set up for different career paths, and a sticky note wall of places students decided on going after GCSEs.
Two things that particularly stood out to me was a table where students were invite to do ‘Zen Tangles’ which were intricate repeated doodles within a square. Zen Tangles improve creativity, problem solving skills as well as increasing retainment of knowledge and reducing stress hormones. Students reported feeling more relaxed after the session was over.
Another table discussed careers in healthcare and what they thought it took to become a healthcare professional, with many students discussing how they viewed it as a ‘well respected’ and ‘hardworking’ profession.
Marketplace
The marketplace was bustling with many stalls such as Buckinghamshire Archives, Healthwatch and Kooth.
Kooth is an online platform which provides support for those who are struggling. There’s no sign up required and you don’t need to get details – you’ll be connected with a counsellor/practitioner within 15 minutes to an hour for up to a 50 minute session; which can be broken down onto chunks if the student finds it difficult to concentrate for long periods of time.
Kooth emphasises the importance that someone should be aware of what you’re going through, and that you should not suffer in silence. If you, or anyone you know, is struggling, make sure you reach out to a trusted person.
Conclusion
Overall the Bucks Youth Summit 2025 was a resounding success within the community, the students felt that everything ran smoothly with excellent signposting and people to help always on hand. All the spaces were enjoyable and it was engaging to meet students from difference schools and share perspectives.