"The board consisted of loads of senior council members with opinions. But I saw the work at a different level because it was actually affecting me so I was able to give them a different view," says 18-year-old Jason Thompson.
Jason was young people's chair of the council board that developed the London Borough of Enfield's Myplace project. The scheme was heavily youth-led, he explains, so it meets the needs of young people offering programmes such as Unity, which focuses on breaking down postcode barriers between local gangs.
The case for youth participation has been made time and again by the youth sector, and was supported strongly by the previous government through policy such as Aiming High for Young People.
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