My time in Conscious Youth has been extremely valuable for myself as a person and for my professional/academic life. Every meeting was beneficial to me, Serena and Sophie would allow all of us to understand our potential and the opportunities in front of us. They also provided us with many opportunities such as the political conference held prior to the snap election and the women’s empowering event which reached out to every member of the group.

My time in the group has built on my confidence and I have taken this with me to university. As Serena was always encouraging me to participate in public speaking it was down to her support that allowed me to run as the Law year 1 course president which involved public speaking in front of hundreds of students. The confidence the group has built within me allowed me to win the election.

Prior to joining Conscious Youth I didn’t push myself to build on my character. Both Serena and Sophie provided us with a feeling of self empowerment that has stuck with me since I have left Huddersfield. Conscious Youth is an extremely valuable group, every project has been of importance and the group as a whole builds on every member individually.

I gained so many positive things from conscious youth. When I first began I was so surprised to see so many confident intelligent role models around me some of which were my age or even younger. From getting closer to the members I also gained this confidence and have been able to benefit from it in other parts of my life such as in university and in other extra curricular activities that I participate in.

I have also had the opportunity to be a part of and attend some fantastic events such as Councillors meetings and government voting discussions which have increased my knowledge about our economic and democratic system and the way it works!

My experience being part of the Conscious Youth group has given me the opportunity to enhance skills working alongside other youths my age and partnerships. It has provided great experiences which has allowed me to become more confident as well as helped me progress with team work skills, contributing ideas effectively and learning new knowledge.

Being a part of Conscious Youth for nearly two years, I have learnt and seen many different things. Having Serena and Sophie as mentors was amazing. They both share a great passion for helping young people progress and develop into what and where they want to be.

They mainly focused on bettering our wellbeing and mind-sets to make sure that we had healthy minds which were always open to new possibilities. They did this by introducing us to different things such as learning about chakras, planning events and self-evaluating ourselves and then comparing what we think to what others said about us as individuals. I can happily say that my confidence and self-knowledge has greatly increased and benefited from my journey with Conscious Youth. I also now have a greater understanding of business and setting goals for myself to achieve and this will be useful throughout all of my life.

“The session made me realise that my perception of love differs from others which I never really realised before. Now I understand why me and some people do not agree on certain things in an ‘ideal’ relationship.” Female, 17

“This session was a real eye opener to the ambiguity of the true meaning of love and also made me question what is and isn’t acceptable in relationships.” Female, 18

“Today’s session made me think about scenarios I don’t usually consider. As a result, I’ve started to question my morals to be honest.” Male, 17

“Today’s session was great! Loved hearing everyone’s opinions about their interpretation of the ‘ideal’ woman. I learned that no one is perfect and we all have things people admire about us. Also, I learned that people really appreciate personality traits more than appearance.” Female, 17

“It taught us to love ourselves no matter how other people see us and when you love yourself no one can touch you. Opinions change with age what we deem perfect now will not be the same in the future.” Female 19

“This session gave me the overall lift that I needed! This is something I’ll keep for life. Thank you all!” Male, 18

“Today I learned that you attract what you exude, and it has taught me that self-respect and self-love is important, especially when expecting love and respect from others.” Female, 16