Youth Voice: How CHISPA Is Leading Change in Gloucester

Youth Voice: How CHISPA Is Leading Change in Gloucester.

Across Gloucester, a youth-led organisation is proving what happens when young people aren’t just consulted on decisions – they lead them. CHISPA CIC works with young people to co-create programmes, spaces and partnerships rooted in the strengths and stories of their local communities, building the kind of leadership that reaches far beyond a single project or event.

From an idea to a cultural hub

One of CHISPA’s clearest examples of youth-led change is Gloucester Bar Park. Conceived and championed by CHISPA’s youth team, the space was co-designed with input from parkour, calisthenics and acrobatics professionals to create a versatile, multi-use training ground. Funded by Gloucester City Council, it has since grown into a youth cultural hub – a place where young people and the wider community train, learn new skills, and build connections.

The impact goes well beyond fitness. Youth leaders who came through the Bar Park’s programmes have gone on to run it themselves, coaching others and shaping the culture of the space. As one young leader put it, running the programme gave them a chance to develop their own character while making the space better for everyone around them.

Leading the Gloucester Youth Fund

CHISPA is a co-lead partner on the Gloucester Youth Fund, delivered in partnership with The Music Works as part of the Universal Youth Services contract. The Fund sits within the national #iWill movement and exists to help young people shape opportunities in their own communities.

Rather than being on the receiving end of decisions made elsewhere, young people are at the centre of designing the programme itself – developing funding briefs, identifying priorities, and taking part in selecting delivery partners. It’s a youth-led approach from the ground up, helping commission a summer of activities that genuinely reflect what young people in Gloucester want and need.

A model built for lasting leadership

Underpinning all of CHISPA’s work is the Ganz “Snowflake” model – a peer-led leadership structure where influence grows outward rather than downward. Each core youth leader mentors and develops their own team, creating a self-sustaining network of young people who support, challenge and hold one another accountable.

This isn’t leadership in the abstract. CHISPA’s young people co-lead real programmes, drive peer research, shape advocacy, and build partnerships with councils, services and cultural institutions across Gloucester – from advising Gloucester Guildhall’s youth programme, to contributing to the city’s Live & Work homelessness prototype, to informing public realm and regeneration strategies.

Why it matters

CHISPA’s approach shows what’s possible when youth voice is treated as a structural driver of change rather than a one-off consultation exercise. It’s a model that builds shared ownership, grows long-term capacity in young people, and creates a genuine pipeline of leadership embedded directly in community life – exactly the kind of youth social action the #iWill movement exists to champion.

Find out more about CHISPA’s work at www.chispa.uk

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