A county-wide conference focused on improving life chances for young people will take place in Oxfordshire on Wednesday 04 March, convened as part of the High Sheriff’s year in office.
Titled Hearing the Young Unheard: Early Intervention and Life Chances, the morning event will bring together practitioners, civic leaders, businesses, statutory partners and youth organisations from across the county.
Beginning at 8.30am, the conference is designed as a moment of reflection and renewed commitment following a year of listening and collaboration.
Over the past 12 months, the High Sheriff has spent time engaging directly with young people, visiting youth organisations and convening conversations centred on early intervention, belonging and prevention.
The March conference will reconvene those partners to reflect on what has changed, what has been learned across the system and how to sustain progress beyond individual roles or initiatives.
Rather than a policy showcase, organisers describe the event as reflective, practical and forward-looking. The emphasis will be on honest discussion, shared learning and collective responsibility for supporting young people across Oxfordshire.
The programme will feature keynote reflections from Catherine Johnstone CBE, Chief Executive of the Royal Voluntary Service, who will set the national context and argue the case for early intervention as a matter of fairness and community.
Professor Mina Fazel, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, will ground the discussion in evidence and lived experience, while Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, will reflect on early intervention as a core element of public safety and crime prevention.
Short updates from local partners will outline actions taken since earlier county-wide conversations, followed by structured discussion focused on what should stop, change or be taken forward collectively.
The conference will be hosted by BMW Group UK Manufacturing at its Cowley Plant, highlighting the role of business alongside public and voluntary sectors in creating the conditions for young people to thrive.
Arrival is from 8.00am for a prompt 8.30am start. Booking is available online using the access code HSBreakfast.
