Column 28.08.26 Participants of Jack Abbott’s Summer School share their thoughts on the experience

For my column this week, I'm doing something different by handing it over to some brilliant young people on my Summer School - Anna, Charlotte, Erin and James - so they can tell you about their experience.

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Youth engagement with politics is often low, or at least it is assumed to be. Yet, the two-week Summer School run by Jack Abbott MP offers a clear rebuttal to that assumption. Over a fortnight, we joined a group of young people from across Ipswich for a whirlwind introduction to the world of politics, culminating in two very different, yet equally well-executed, local campaigns.

Many of us came to the Summer School at a place of transition, either between leaving university and looking to future careers, or having just left sixth form and looking towards future study. Despite being at different stages in life, all of us had a curiosity surrounding what a career in politics could look like.

This is how the first week of the Summer School helped a lot of us. During the week, we were offered an insight into politics which began with the familiar roles of MPs and councillors, but quickly moved beyond them. From talks by trade unions and public affairs firms to hearing from journalists about how political stories take shape, by the end of the week we were fully aware of the wider political ecosystem that operates beyond elected office.

Regardless of whether we were attracted to all of the variety of roles, we quickly learnt that there is as much value in finding out what you don't like as there is in finding what you do. The two weeks therefore served both to broaden our horizons of the lesser-known paths into politics and offered us some direction towards the careers that had particularly caught our interest. Without a doubt, we gained a greater insight into the opportunities and potential pathways available as we work towards our future careers.   

However, the Summer School was not purely an educational exercise. As it became abundantly clear to us in the first week, working in politics often means getting stuck into more on the ground activity. So, in the second week, we were tasked with running two campaigns on issues that mattered greatly to Ipswich, putting the knowledge we had gained in the first week into practice.

The first of the two campaigns focused on tackling littering in Ipswich, called ‘Litterally Ipswich.’

Whilst some of us in the group were initially hesitant about what a week-long campaign could achieve, in our first two days we had achieved much more than we expected. We surveyed a dozen independent businesses around Ipswich town centre, carried out a litter pick with local educator and campaigner Jason Alexander of RubbishWalks, and spoke on BBC Radio Suffolk. 

Throughout the group we all threw ourselves into learning new skills, from producing materials for the press, designing social media content, or working to develop positive relationships and endorsement from local stakeholders such as councillors. As a result, you can now find leaflets in shops around Ipswich providing links to free litter picking equipment from Ipswich Borough Council and contact details if you find piles of litter or fly-tipping around the town! 

The second campaign took on an equally important issue, period poverty in the town. Called Period Rights Ipswich, the campaign began by spotlighting local businesses and organisations already providing free period products, with the aim of encouraging others to do the same. Throughout the week, we surveyed businesses across Ipswich and created an interactive map showing where free products could be accessed. Following our press release, the campaign also gained great local media coverage, featuring in Ipswich.co.uk, the Ipswich Star, and on Greatest Hits Radio.

One of the most rewarding parts of the week was a talk and discussion we organised at P.H.O.E.B.E, a charity supporting black and ethnic minority women and children in Ipswich. We also learnt about local organisations such as the Hygiene Bank and distributed posters and leaflets across town encouraging donations.

The campaign ended with an open letter, signed by more than fifteen local businesses and charities, urging Suffolk County Council and Ipswich Borough Council to provide free period products in public toilets across the town. Running the campaign really proved to us just how much meaningful change can begin in a week!

Overall, we are very grateful for the skills and experience the Summer School has provided us. We’d certainly encourage anybody who has an interest to apply next year.