Amnesty UK Youth Festival 2025

Young voices have always driven change, but for the first time in history, 16- and 17-year-olds will soon have the power to vote.

With the right to vote, young people will have a direct say in shaping our society and in decisions about our lives, education and communities.

But a vote only matters if it’s backed by the freedom to speak out, share ideas and push for rights respecting schools, communities and futures.

Join us in Birmingham for Amnesty International UK's annual Youth Festival to make your voice - and your vote - count.

Build skills, grow confidence and connect with other young activists from across the UK. Together, we’ll stand up, speak out and learn how to take change-making action!

Come and learn about what Freedom of Expression means to you and your school or sixth form and make our voices impossible to ignore!

The day will include exciting workshops, inspiring speakers and opportunities to take action.

• You’ll leave full of inspiration and ideas for your group to take action for Freedom of Expression

• Learn new campaigning skills at a range of discussions and interactive workshops.

• Meet young people from all over the UK and find out what other Schools, Sixth Forms and Amnesty Youth Groups are up to

Don’t miss this chance to be part of the Youth Festival and make sure young voices are listened to, but can also lead the way.

Tickets and Cost

This event is FREE to attend for all teachers and student groups, whether they are current Amnesty Youth Groups or not.

School Group Ticket – this covers access to the event for a group of 10 students

Teacher Ticket - this covers access to the event for a max of 2 teaching staff

Please note: this event is open to groups of Secondary School or Sixth Form students aged 11-18 attending with a teacher or college support staff member.Over 16s may attend without a teacher by purchasing an 'Individual' ticket. Under 16s must attend with a responsible adult.

What's on offer

Planning for the Youth Conference is shaping up as we put everything in place to welcome you to the Midlands Arts Centre in November. You can expect:

• An array of interactive workshops delivered by incredible activists and campaigners
• Vegetarian food and refreshments throughout the event - lunch will be provided

• The opportunity to meet students and activists from all over the country and to ground yourself in the UK human rights movement

In advance of the event, you will be sent through a full Youth Conference programme, giving a brief description of each confirmed session, details of when each session runs and how long for.

More details

The conference will be held at the Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham

Registration will be at 10am on Thursday 20 November. The event will finish at 4pm.

Lunch and snacks will be provided for all attendees. We will ask you to confirm if your group has any dietary or access requirements you have not yet made us aware of.

Safeguarding

Photography and filming will take place throughout the day. Students who do not wish to appear in either photography or filming should let us know upon sign in and will need to take a sticker so we can make sure they don’t appear in final images. Throughout the day, we will be filming short interviews with interested students around their experiences of the conference and being part of an AIUK youth group.

Details of our safeguarding policies and procedures and a full event Risk Assessment will be made available to teachers on request.