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Hi all. As part of my blog series on youth engagement, I spoke to Meera – a former member of the #BeeWell Youth Steering Group here in Greater Manchester. We discuss her time with #BeeWell, what she got from it, how she feels young people influence the work we do, and what she thinks we could do more of to help the wellbeing of young people. – Fran, #BeeWell Youth Co-Creation Lead in Greater Manchester.
Fran: Hello, Meera – thanks for talking to us. I can’t wait to hear more about your time with #BeeWell. To kick off, I’d like to ask you how you heard about #BeeWell in the first place? And what made you want to join the Steering Group?
Meera: This will potentially be a convoluted story, but let’s go. I don’t know if you’ve heard of a youth activist called Lauren Barclay, but she was kind of working adjacent to #BeeWell at the very beginning and she invited me to a youth advisory group. That’s where I met Huw (former #BeeWell Project Manager) and had my first, initial conversation about #BeeWell.
I’d been a member of Youth Parliament in Trafford before and one of the big things we’d talked about was the lack of mental health information for young people, and particularly young people of colour and young women of colour.
And when I had that initial conversation about #BeeWell and talked about those things, it felt like ‘oh my gosh, for once someone is listening to me.’ When I think about that first conversation, they listened, they were very respectful, and they really wanted to understand my point of view. It was refreshing.
I think that was it, for me. I didn’t feel like we were being ticked off a list, they actually learnt our names, where we want to school, and our interests. They understood where I was at. I was 17 and on my way to university and I wanted more responsibility, so they listened to that and gave me more things to do. Everyone I met on the #BeeWell was receptive and wanted to give us the best from the experience.
Fran: That’s great to hear. As you know, I’m quite new in my role and still figuring things out – so I love that you have always felt so welcome and understood, that gives me a great place to start from. You may have already started to answer my next question, but I would love to know more about what kept you involved with #BeeWell once you’d started working with us?
Meera: Well, particularly at the start, it felt so exciting. It felt like something that had never been done before, and the whole idea of co-creation was new to me.
But also, I thought we were doing a good job. I thought everything that was happening needed to happen and that we were making progress after years of being involved in conversations about mental health and what needed to happen in schools. It had felt like things were at a standstill, and this work made it feel different.
A lot of us who had been involved in the youth world felt like we were ageing out, and the system was sort of giving up on us now that we were getting jobs and going to university. But #BeeWell gave me the chance to stay involved.
And at the same time, my brother was working as teacher in a school and said that all the kids were talking about doing the survey and teachers were viewing #BeeWell in such a positive way. It would have felt silly to walk away when I could be a part of all that.
Fran: That’s really cool – it’s great to hear that those natural conversations were happening, as I suppose that’s a side we don’t see as much of. OK, so if you could think of a couple of highlights of your time with #BeeWell, what would they be?
Meera: Well, all the energy in the first year was so exciting – with all the national coverage and the #BeeWell festival and things like that. And from my own experience, I was on the radio – that was definitely a highlight.
And I really enjoyed looking at the data and helping people to understand and use it – going and talking to youth councils and youth cabinets about the data and things like that. I remember we supported some sort of sports programme to look at the data and use it to influence their work, and that was exciting.
But then I’ve recently had another highlight which came as a bit of a surprise. #BeeWell actually came up in conversation while I was at university recently, while talking to some people who teach about research. It was this cool moment of people bringing up the work we’d done at #BeeWell independently, mentioning the data they’d seen and what they thought of it. And I got to say ‘wait, I know what you’re talking about – I was there, I was a part of it’. And they talked about how it was inspiring them to move forward with work they wanted to do.
Fran: Brilliant, thanks Meera. That’s a great story. So, how do you think you were able to influence the work that was done at #BeeWell? And how do you think the voice of young people is listened to more generally?
Meera: Well, I think young people have a say on everything – from the logo to the name, to the designing of the survey. I remember playing a big role in meetings and deciding what worked and what didn’t, really shaping some of the survey functions and questions. I feel like I personally put a lot of energy into making sure that it was readable and accessible.
But one thing I think I really had an impact on in the early days, was that I wanted to make sure that #BeeWell was a celebration of wellbeing and all our differences and that we weren’t just talking about things in a negative light. A lot of the early conversations we had were about language we were using – that it’s not about good or bad, it’s just about what has happened and what’s happening. I think that was one of the most impactful things that came out of our work, and I think that’s really carried on throughout.
And it just felt like young people were being given a lot of platforms to use their voice and talk about their experiences, writing blogs, going to meetings, talking in their schools and communities. It was cool to see all of that happening, to see that #BeeWell were working with young people to keep the conversation moving forward.
Fran: Thanks, Meera. It’s lovely to hear so much positivity. But I do wonder, is there anything you think #BeeWell should be doing more of to support the well-being of young people?
Meera: I think the answer to that is always ‘yes’. I don’t think we’re at a point of 100%. I think we could be doing more online, on social media – places like TikTok. My peers at university talk about how they only retain certain information if it comes at them from the right channels, and frankly I think that there is a disconnect between where information is and where we access it.
I think to get to 100% it would mean meeting young people where they are and using their channels, but that’s something I’ve always said. Maybe social media needs to be used to get the message across to young people and not just to other people who work in this sphere.
I understand there’s a fear of social media, of the affect it has on young people, but so many people are living their lives online and if that’s where they’re talking about wellbeing and mental health then we should be doing the same.
Fran: Thanks for that Meera, you put it really well and it’s hard to disagree. I just have one more question for you, really: now that you have moved on from #BeeWell, can you see any ways that being a part of it has helped you in what you’re doing now?
Meera: Yeah, 100%. I’m so proud of the work I did with #BeeWell, I can’t believe how far it’s all come and how it’s exceeded expectations. And that has given me so much confidence in this space.
I came in at a unique point, I was a bit older than some of the young people, and it gave me a real sense of purpose – it helped me to feel like everything I had done previously, things like the Youth Parliament, was all worth something and I was building on the skills. But I was also going into my community and doing good work.
But I also think I just picked up so many soft skills, from being in the meetings and things like that. I was always allowed to attend various meetings related to #BeeWell and could just sit there with my camera off if I wanted, learning from the team and how they worked. I was like a sponge. I took part in everything I could, sat in comms meetings, helped plan the festival and some operations events. It’s still the biggest thing I talk about and the biggest example I use when I go to interviews and things like that. It gave me a real structure.
I’d worked with so many youth workers at that point, and spoken about all these different things – but this was one of the first times when I felt like I was being treated like I was equal, like I was having important conversations and my points were as important as everyone else’s. That really helped me to feel like I belonged there. I think it’s had a very big, positive impact on my first few years of actual adulthood.
