Kate Hardy

One thing that particularly influences my input as a young advisor is the area I grew up in and the people I grew up with, where knife crime and child criminal exploitation were not uncommon but sometimes the ‘only option’ to provide for families or keep themselves safe. In addition to this, I feel particularly vocal about mental health services after losing loved ones to suicide and other mental health related issues. I have also accessed mental health services myself so am greatly appreciative of how necessary they are.

I’m very keen on projects surrounding child criminal exploitation prevention and youth knife crime prevention also having grown up around young people facing these issues. I’ve been a young advisor since 2020 and am most proud of my work with the 0114 Project which I helped deliver in schools. Alongside this, I’ve done media work for the charity, such as speaking on local radio stations and to local newspapers about young people’s issues and helped create the Sheffield Futures ‘Acting Up’ podcast in 2019. Finally, I had the honour of being appointed a Trustee of Sheffield Futures at the end of 2021 to ensure that young people’s views are at the focal point of everything the charity does.

There is a great missed opportunity nowadays by not involving young people in decisions being made in the city, particularly in the services that are youth facing or new commercial developments across Sheffield. Young Advisors continue to prove the need for the service it provides; the consistently positive feedback we receive from recipients who are always pleasantly surprised with the input and support we give.