BYC behaviour

*BYC = British Youth Council

*UKYA = UK Young Ambassador to the European Youth Forum

Here is the second mistreatment I suffered by another youth organisation.

Humiliated and distraught. Those are just two of the words that came to mind when I received an email in early December 2023, informing me that I was to be relieved effective immediately of my role as UKYA.

Are you shocked? Because I certainly was. Gobsmacked at this email arriving in my inbox, confused at how I had been told I “did not meet the requirements” of the role and was wished the best for the future ahead.

I immediately emailed the organisation and was told that the member of staff who sent the email was new and therefore I would have to wait for a response from another member.

I decided to email a trustee from the organisation to explain my case after seeing that they had ALREADY began hiring for my role. I set out my reasons of confusion and my experience of the role. I received no training and support during my role. In addition, I was elected in January 2023 but there was a delay in announcing my appointment, already hinting to me how professional the organisation seemed to be.

The trustee emailed me to say that they would pass on my information to the CEO as well as the board to understand the situation further and provide an explanation. I was told to expect a reply in January (2024).

The deadline for the UKYA role was Monday 8th January and BYC continued to post on social media of their eagerness to recruit, despite my complaints and confusion at the removal from the role.

Upon seeing this, I emailed the trustee again, explaining how the situation had impacted me and how the way I had been treated was appalling. BYC wants to remove me, recruit someone else, and call it a day. How is this fair when I have no idea why, or did not receive any kind of information?

How can someone carry out the UKYA role after the way I have been treated?

BYC purports to be an organisation centred around youth voice and supporting young people. My time as a youth councillor and Youth MP for Manchester demonstrated how opportunities can allow young people to progress further as people bettering their communities. Despite that, their behaviour in this situation and the way they have handled it is atrocious and contradictory to their principles of youth empowerment.

All I have experienced in my capacity as UKYA is no training, no support, lack of vital communication, and exclusion from events. I have had an incredibly tough year in 2023 and the fact that I have to deal with this as well, in 2024 and in the background of other more important things, is frustrating.

After publishing my blog on MYC, BYC responded to me, using their PR guy to ask me to meet and discuss their version. To be handled this way and not even speak to whoever made the initial decision is an insult, and I still don't have an explanation or any clarity on the situation, but several more questions.

I am not one to routinely air my disagreements on a public platform, but this has become the SECOND time that a youth organisation has not only taken me for granted, but removed me for no apparent good reason.

I’m sharing my circumstances because I want clarity as well as my position that I was ELECTED to, but also to inform others of what organisations can genuinely do. This organisation alleges to put young people first, but I have not experienced this. I stayed quiet about my previous mistreatment experience publicly because I didn't want to affect my role; to then be treated similarly was shocking.

Experiences like this can put off activists like me from even working with organisations. How do I know I’ll be treated appropriately? This was a voluntary role I was elected into; I received no payment because I do it to represent young people, something I’ve been very passionate about since I became an activist 10 years ago. And that is what I want to emphasise, because this isn't me angrily retaliating at the way I've been treated, but a series of posts planned to demonstrate what has happened, for what apparent reasons, and how this is affecting my work as an activist and mentality as a person. First and foremost, my priority is the work I do and the people I want to empower, but this has proved incredibly difficult with organisations failing to support me. I have had to turn down international opportunities because of the organisation mentioned in my previous blog.

The worst thing about this being public is not even the people defending these organisations but the people DM'ing me about their own bad experiences as well as people they know who've suffered. Young people shouldn't be putting up with this and that's why I have to speak out, because if it's happened before and is happening to me, it will happen again.

Thank you to those who have reached out and offered support. If I can’t count on it from the organisations I’ve worked for, I’m grateful that the Little I community and friends of mine are there for me in not just the highs but lows of activism and being a young person navigating their experiences in different organisations.

I will keep you all updated on my progress with BYC. Although their responses don't seem to be giving much hope.

#youthorganisations #youthmistreatment #youthvoice #youthempowerment #youngperson #youthfailure #britishyouthcouncil

Ishaa