Suffolk Young Speaker of the Year 2026 (Ipswich Heat)

The Suffolk Young Speaker of the Year event is a platform for children and young people to share their view of the world through the art and power of spoken word.

Supported by ASSET Education, our purpose in it's short form is to "nurture humanity". We believe this means developing children and young people's agency, giving them opportunities to articulate their hopes, dreams and demands for their future. As members of Ipswich Social Mobiliity Alliance (ISMA) we made a commitment in the current ISMA action plan to create more opportunities for children and young people to be heard and develop their public speaking skills.

This event has been designed by the ASSET Alumni - young people that have left ASSET primary schools to go on to secondary school, and continue to work with us on community based Youth Social Action. You will see them running the event on the day!

To enter you can be a young person aged between 7 and 18, or up to 25 if you have a special educational need or disability; and living, studying or working in Suffolk.

You will need to prepare a 3-minute speech in one of the following categories:

1. My Passion, Hobby or Sport

The government has announced that a key pillar of the national youth strategy will be "things to do", spending £850m on arts, drama, sport and venues for young people. Speakers might talk about how they love to spend time and how they think the government should spend that money. The youngest speakers might talk about their favourite things.

1. How the World Works

Children and young people will speak about how they feel about what’s happening in the world right now. They will suggest their ideas about how we can create a peaceful, compassionate world where people move beyond conflict while staying true to their values and beliefs. More mature speakers might speak about perceptions of politics and themes like democracy. Younger speakers might talk about how we can make sure people get on together and show care and respect.

1. The Future

What do children hope the future holds for them? How do they feel about technology and AI, and how the world is changing? Young people will talk about their hopes and dreams for their life, career and communities.

1. Education

What do young people should learn in school, do they think that the education system is still fit for purpose? What’s most important to them, and what subjects do they love? Children will set out which topics should be more prominent - and which they think we should get rid of!

1. My City of Culture (Ipswich heats only)

As part of the bid for Ipswich to become the City of Culture in 2029, young people are asked to set out how they feel about their town - what makes them proud of where they live? What should Ipswich be known for by the rest of the UK, and why does it deserve to be a city of culture?

Speeches can be delivered in any spoken word format - you can use poetry or rap as well as traditional prose, but they must last 3 minutes. The FAQs below give more detail about the speeches themselves.

Young people in full time education can only attend accompanied by an appropriate adult - this might be a member of staff from school or college, a parent, carer or a volunteer or staff member from your club, church or voluntary organisation.

Registration

You must complete the online registration form on our website at https://www.asseteducation.co.uk/suffolk-young-speaker-of-the-year. If your school or youth organisation is arranging for you to participate they can request an invoice to cover your registration fee. If you are entering independently you can pay here on Eventbrite.

Places are confirmed upon payment, and the registration fee is non-refundable.

Full information for attendees and accompanying adults including agenda, risk assessments and detailed guidance for speakers will be sent out after registration.

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