About this Event
This is a conference with a difference – designed and delivered by young people for young people. Youth Voice Matters is delivered as part of the Making Participation Work programme, bringing together disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs from across England, and providing an opportunity to develop their participation skills and to recognise the impact they can have when taking part in strategic participation.
This conference will be an all-day, in-person event on 18th February 2027 in Manchester.
Feedback from past conferences includes:
- “It was very informative and gave me more of a vision to what I want to achieve”
- “It was great to have young people deliver at the event”
- “I enjoyed being in a fully inclusive environment”
You can find out a bit more about the day by reading about past Youth Voice Matters conferences here and here.
Important things to consider before booking your places:
Who can attend?
- This event is for disabled children and young people and/or those with special educational needs between the ages of 11-25.
- Children and young people can attend with a group (such as their school, youth group, or participation group) or independently.
- Those attending in a group should be supported to attend by an adult group leader, who will support them to travel to and from the venue and take part on the day.
- If a young person attends independently, they should think about the support they might need to take part. Those attending independently are encouraged to bring a supporter or carer if needed. Council for Disabled Children staff hosting the event will be unable to provide any one-to-one support on the day. Please add a ticket for a group leader/adult to your order if you are bringing a supporter.
How many tickets can I reserve?
- Only reserve the number of tickets you need, to allow as many groups as possible to attend. You can register for a maximum of 7 child/young person tickets and 2 group leaders/adults. If you require any additional tickets, please get in touch with us directly.
Please do not sign up for tickets for your group without speaking to them before to see if they are interested in attending the conference before you register.
- Each year, we have a lot of people who overbook tickets without speaking to young people first and ignore emails from us following booking. This year, if we do not receive good communication following booking or suspect that you do not intend to come, we will cancel your booking and re-release your tickets.
How much to tickets cost?
- This event is free for children and young people and their supporters to attend!
Will there be able support with arranging travel?
- You will need to arrange your own travel to and from the venue. We do offer a travel bursary to help with the costs of this. Please note there is limited funding for a travel bursary, and this will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
If you have any questions, please email [email protected].
Registration will close on 9th October at 9 am, or beforehand if all tickets are reserved. Once registration closes you will be sent further information about the day and asked to return information on the individual attendees by 30th November.
When registering, please complete the registration form with at least one person’s name and contact information. Partial registrations will be deleted, and tickets will go back on sale.
Event venue & nearby stays
Manchester Central Convention Complex, Windmill Street, Manchester, United Kingdom
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.