Chelmsford College Learners Join Citizens Essex to Influence County Wide Transport Changes
Citizens Essex, an alliance of schools, colleges, universities, charities and faith institutions launched a massive listening campaign between September and December of last year, gathering testimonies from over 7,500 local citizens. As dedicated members of the alliance, the organisations worked together to contribute 100s of stories to this process.
As the testimonials began coming in, it was quickly identified that transport issues came high on the list of priorities. In response, organisations within the alliance came together to run workshops that transformed thousands of personal experiences into practical proposals, drawing on successful Citizens UK campaigns in Brighton, London and Manchester. This collaborative work paved the way for direct engagement with senior officials at County Hall.
On the 8th June, representatives from Chelmsford College, USP, Westborough Primary and Westcliff High School for Girls amazingly presented direct testimonies to Transport Officers at County Hall. All proposals received strong support, with officials agreeing to work jointly on key actions:
• Safety: Co-designing and displaying safety signage across the network
• Reliability: Launching termly accountability forums at County Hall, starting this Autumn, bringing learners, transport planners and operators (Arriva and First) together to realign timetables with school/college hours.
• Cleanliness: Establishing a better system to monitor bus conditions.
This work was a demonstration of real leadership in action. In a world where the voices of young people are often overlooked, this meeting, as part of Citizens Essex’s Transport Campaign, saw young people supported to step up, speak out and begin to achieve change. By turning personal frustrations into a powerful strategy, these learners proved that they are not just future leaders, but active changemakers capable of holding decision-makers to account and shaping the community they live in today.