international youth day

Every year on the 12th of August, the United Nations dedicates a day to spotlight the aspirations, challenges, and achievements of youth around the world by celebrating International Youth Day (IYD). Established in 1999 and first observed in 2000, it stands as a powerful reminder of young people’s vital role as agents of change across communities and nations.

For 2025, the theme of International Youth Day is “Local Youth Actions for the SDGs and Beyond.” This theme celebrates how young people are translating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into real-world progress—starting at the neighborhood, town, and district levels. It highlights that global goals become meaningful when youth bring them to life in local contexts, leading the charge toward sustainable, inclusive, and resilient communities.

In asphaleia training, we highlighted this day by sharing with students what it means to be an ambassador and introducing roles they can undertake at asphaleia, in the community, and at a national level.

discussing ambassador roles in English class

In our Entry 1 English class, our tutor created a reading exercise that introduced International Youth Day and what it means to be an ambassador. It provided information about some opportunities for young people and asked students to answer some questions from the text.

Introductory text from the lesson worksheet

ambassador opportunities at asphaleia

We want young people to have their say and promote the voices and feedback of their friends/classmates/housemates in asphaleia services.

Our main ambassador role is Young Ambassador, which spans all our services and can involve some or all of the following responsibilities:

• attend and participate alongside asphaleia staff at asphaleia internal marketing events e.g. centre open days

• attend and participate alongside asphaleia staff at asphaleia external marketing events e.g. marketing stands, open evenings

• attend, participate and lead asphaleia young people forums alongside asphaleia staff

• Be involved in asphaleia social media

• Be involved in asphaleia young people events e.g. young people week, takeover challenge, celebrations

• Be involved in asphaleia staff recruitment

We also have other roles such as Volunteer Co-Inspector which is supporting our accommodation services. All available roles can be found here.