To mark International Youth Day, Ed Powell, Chair of the ELF Youth Group, joined the ELF office and stepped into the role of leading the team for the day. His visit brought fresh energy and new perspectives, as well as a reminder of the important role young people play in shaping ELF’s work and strategy.
The day began with Ed leading the team’s daily catch-up, where colleagues shared updates from across communications, patient input, advocacy and events. He reflected on how impressive it was to see the different parts of ELF come together, each contributing to the shared goals of ELF and people living with lung conditions.
A large part of the day focused on youth involvement in ELF’s activities, including:
A priority for Ed was thinking of ways to strengthen links between young patients and early-career professionals. Ed joined the European Respiratory Society’s (ERS) Early Career Members’ Committee (ECMC) Chairs to share his insights.
Ideas from this discussion included more opportunities for informal online meetings between members of the Youth Group, medical students and the ECMC. This would create space for open conversations while ensuring youth representation in their activities, such as educational webinars. Plans were also made to highlight ELF Youth Group activities in ECMC assemblies and recruitment of ECMs for Healthy Lungs for Life for Schools.
Throughout the day, Ed also underlined the importance of youth engagement in ELF’s wider activities. He suggested that young people could join ELF’s cross-disease working groups to ensure youth perspectives are included when setting priorities. The Youth Group’s involvement in the ELF Mental Health Working Group was seen as an important first step, as well as opportunities to raise awareness on issues such as smoking, vaping and air quality.
In discussions with the communications team, Ed explored how youth-centred and user-generated content campaigns on platforms like TikTok can provide powerful and accessible ways to reach younger audiences with key health messages.
As the day ended, the team looked ahead to next steps, including sharing highlights from International Youth Day through ELF’s communications channels, preparing a schedule of Youth Group involvement at ERS Congress 2025 and planning a post-congress catch-up to gather feedback and ideas for the future.
Ed’s leadership for the day was an inspiring reminder of the value of youth voices in shaping ELF’s activities. His visit highlighted not only the progress already achieved, but also the exciting opportunities to come as young people continue to play a central role in ELF’s mission.
