The NYA Blog
Why England Needs a Youth Card - Belinda Fumai
31 March 2011
A few weeks ago on the 9th of March I found myself at a European Youth Card Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.
My mission was to find out how some European countries had introduced, implemented and adapted a youth card which offers young people the opportunity to mainly access discounts and in other countries to also use it as a health insurance or a student card. .
From speaking with the other young delegates at the conference I found out that there were three different versions of the Youth Card; the classic card which is the standard European Youth Card Association card, the student card which is supplied for by schools and designed accordingly, and a co-branded card which can be issued by a partner for example in Scotland, the Young Scot are the issuing partner. All cards have the EYCA logo on them.
So why does England need a Youth Card?
I definitely think that England would benefit from such a card because it would create and open up new opportunities for young people. They would feel they are part of a national society but it would also qualify them to be part of the big European Youth Card community as it strengthens the relationships between countries through an idea of believing in a shared identity of one Europe.
This could also be one of the many long term benefits of having this card in the county. And also the fact that it is successful in places like Italy and Serbia, they have set the precedent for the country to follow.
The National Youth Agency currently holds the license for the European Youth Card in England and is actively seeking a backer to support its implementationv - if you would like to get involved with this opportunity contact the NYA.
The young people of England should not continue being deprived of such a brilliant opportunity.