Youth Voices: Jorja on Hope, Trust and What Young People Need From Our Leaders

As part of our Youth Voices series exploring the issues shaping young people’s lives, we spoke to Jorja, a young person from Manchester who grew up as a young carer and is passionate about ensuring young people have an active voice in their communities.

Jorja reflects on division, the cost of living and declining trust in political leaders, while sharing what gives her hope for change. She discusses Andy Burnham’s record in Greater Manchester, the pressures facing education and young people, and why the next generation needs to see meaningful action – not just promises.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 

My name is Jorja. I’m from Manchester. I grew up as a young carer, and I’ve always been extremely interested in Youth Voice and ensuring young people have an active role in the city.

How are you feeling about the country at the moment? Do you think we are in a good or bad place?

I feel that we are in quite a bad place, due to the lack of community. It feels like there is a lot of division regarding political views. Over the last couple of years, the country has seemed to be at a standstill. The cost of living has been rising, and nobody knows where
we are headed. We need a spark and something that gives us hope.

What do you think of Andy Burnham? Do you think he offers anything different?

I have mixed emotions about Andy Burnham. I want to know more about him. Obviously, he has improved transport for Manchester and played an important role in Our Pass, a pass for 16- to 18-year-olds that gives you free bus travel and tram discounts.

I know he wants to roll this out nationwide, which is great, as it will massively support working-class young people. It will help us get to work and go to extracurricular activities. So I do feel optimistic, especially around what he has said about work placements and in-
work support for mental health. This could be a huge benefit to many young people.

I do think he needs to tackle the train situation in this country. They just seem so unreliable; they break down so often, get cancelled, and this is such a massive issue. We need this country to be connected.

I also worry about the lack of trust my community already has for those in power.

I think this stems from other governments and prime ministers who have continuously let us down. We’ve had so many prime ministers over the last few years, and very little has changed.

Why don’t you think it worked out for Keir Starmer? What did he get wrong?

Personally, it just felt so rocky. I think the main issue was that it just felt like there was a lot of talking, but nobody was seeing any real positive change, especially around the cost of living and getting young people into work. The cost of living is such a major crisis right
now, and it never felt like he was tackling that. I also think he got things wrong around foreign policy and global affairs.

Before he became Prime Minister, Andy Burnham was the Mayor of Greater Manchester. How do you think he has done? Do you think he has improved the region?

Yeah, I do think so. There has been a lot of rejuvenation, and it does feel like he has tried to engage with local communities and allow people to have their voices heard on matters. He did really well at communicating the positive change happening in the community and
within his team.

What’s one issue affecting your generation right now that you feel Andy Burnham needs to address?

The education system needs to improve. It still feels very selective in the way it supports young people. It doesn’t give young people the mental health support they need. At the end of the day, young people are the leaders of the future. Educational settings need to
feel supportive. Classroom sizes are so large at the moment; how can the educational experience be personal when there are 30 young people in one classroom?

You can’t expect everyone to learn at the same time or at the same level, since every young person learns differently. I’m not surprised teachers feel so overwhelmed at the moment. They went on strike last year, and I totally understand why. I can so understand why teachers are stressed out, as they have to manage such big classrooms. They don’t get paid enough, and they don’t get given the necessary resources.

Many teachers have to pay for and bring in their own resources. Which feels unfair.

If Andy Burnham walked into Rekindle tomorrow to pitch his vision for the country, what would you say to him?

Don’t let us down.

This interview is part of our Youth Voices series, creating space for young people to share their perspectives on the decisions, challenges and changes shaping their lives and communities. Check out our news feed for more articles