Posted 20/01/2023

Foyer customers inspired by Houses of Parliament visit

Young people from Swan Housing Association foyers gained insight into the inner workings of the Houses of Parliament this month.

On Wednesday 11 January, young people from Dovecott House and Swan House Foyer attended the Houses of Parliament as part of The Youth Power Fund project.

The project is about empowering young people to have control over their lives and the funding enables organisations, like Swan, to explore and deliver youth leadership and power-sharing initiatives.

The aim of the visit to the Houses of Parliament was to provide the young people with the knowledge of how decisions are made at the highest levels.

They really enjoyed their visit and were surprised by some of what they learnt especially that the King does not have as much influence as they had previously thought.

Grace* said: “I really enjoyed today, I think it went really well and it was really fun to get to learn new things, as well as look inside the Houses of Parliament.”

George* added: “I enjoyed the day and was good to see the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and the London Eye in real life.”

When asked how he found the day, Theo* replied: “Interesting, I enjoyed seeing places I have learnt about when studying History.”

Another awayday is planned for February, where the residents will be placed in a forest and will have to make some quick decisions that will decide how their day turns out.

Fourteen Foyer customers also attended a residential trip to Fairplay House, in Wickham Bishops, where they explored the decisions they make and how they impact their lives. Some of the young people are also keen to have a voice about improving Swan’s service and currently sit on the Help Us Get It Right (HUG) panel, the new formal customer involvement panel.