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It’s hard to believe, but a year has passed since I published the results of The Big Ambition survey in Parliament, a large-scale consultation with children to understand how they feel and to gain insights on their experiences of growing up in this country.  

I wanted to use my unique powers as Children’s Commissioner to hear directly from children in an election year, to hear about their ambitions and aspirations for a new Prime Minister. I wanted to take their hopes and concerns to the heart of a new government, when that time came. 

Building on the foundations of my first piece of work, The Big Ask in 2021, which engaged with more than half a million children, The Big Ambition reached nearly 367,000 children, young people and adults responding on their behalf. Together, they have become the pillars of my work and a huge bank of evidence directly from children, about children. 

Responses were insightful and demonstrated a deep understanding of the world. Children spoke passionately about their education, access to healthcare, safety concerns both online and in their communities, and a desire for a fair and equal society.  

The desire for a more just society was one of the strongest messages identified in The Big Ambition. Children want to change the world. They care about it, and they want to be heard on how to tackle key issues facing children across England.  

Yet despite this passion, only 22% of children agreed that people who run the country listen to what they had to say. This inability for children to have their voices heard impacts their daily lives. It means when decisions are made about their education, their healthcare, their communities, they do not have a seat at the table.  

It means when it comes to elections, manifestos and promises from their local MPs, children feel left out in the cold. They feel that because they do not have a vote, they do not have a voice. They are often talked about but rarely provided the opportunity to be heard from.  

In the year following The Big Ambition, I have worked to bring children’s voices to the table with policymakers. I have shared their insights with the Prime Minister’s top team, civil servants across government, and leaders across different sectors to ensure that children’s priorities are reflected in policy making and legislation.   

During the first 100 days of the new government, I shared children’s voices from The Big Ambition in my #100Voices campaign. I invited Young Ambassadors to meetings, events and roundtables with senior leaders to ensure their views and voices are represented. I launched The Big Conversation podcast with my Ambassadors, to give them a platform to bring their views, and those of their peers, to interview and challenge decision makers directly. I appointed my SEND panel to make sure views of children with additional needs are heard by those making decisions on how to improve their support. And I set up The Big Conversation survey, an ongoing chance for children to tell me about the issues in their lives, whenever they want. 

But there is still so much more to do if decisions are to be made with children, instead of for them. Listening to children, and acting on what they tell us, remains the central principle of my work.  

That’s why next week I will be hosting my first Festival of Childhood: Our Future, Our Voice, bringing together young people, politicians, and influential decision makers to explore in more detail the themes children identified in The Big Ambition, as well as over the last four years during my time as Children’s Commissioner. I will be challenging adults to listen to young people and ensure children’s voices shape policies that impact their lives.  

Children’s voices should not be an afterthought, but a driving force for change – children deserve more than just words, they deserve a future shaped by their own hopes and dreams.