Young people will have the chance to tell politicians about the issues that affect them next month.

Waltham Forest Council has teamed up with youth engagement groups Spark2Life, the Youth Independent Advisory Group and Young Advisors to arrange The Big Youth Conversation on July 13.

The event has been designed by young people, for young people and will be led by young people as they have frank discussions about the issues they face.

Head teachers from all Waltham Forest secondary schools have been informed of the event and organisers are expecting at least 200 young people.

Jameel, a 24-year-old member of the YIAG, has attended all of the planning meetings for the event.

He reassured councillors and other young people at a meeting last night.

He said: “This is an initiative that the council is doing that is really, really focused on young people.

“From what I feel, as a young person, it’s really exciting.”

Organisers will make use of interactive real-time data capturing technology and as young people are asked questions during the discussion, the group’s responses will be shown up on a projected screen.

The results will be recorded and organisers and the council plan to use this to inform council policy.

Members of the Youth Independent Advisory Group (YIAG) emphasised the need for young people’s voices to be heard in policy making.

The council and its partners say they are putting young people “at the helm” of their young people’s strategy for the year.

The hope is that the young people not only inform but directly influence the council’s youth policy through their feedback at events like this.

Cllr Grace Williams, cabinet member for children and families, attended the department’s scrutiny committee meeting last night where details of the event were discussed.

She said: “We are committed as a council to improving life chances for young people in our borough. How do we make Waltham Forest a better place to grow up? It’s a really big ambition.”

The event will be hosted by Spark2Life at the Emmanuel Christian Centre in Walthamstow, which has a capacity of more than 300 people.

Councillors, members of the YIAG and youth officers have been spreading the word about the event and want to put out the message that this event is not just token youth engagement.