The Politics Project - At the Table Toolkit

GLA Democratic Participation Grants Team
The Politics Project’s ‘At the Table’ (ATT) project focused on the development of a toolkit for youth practitioners to support political literacy discussions in informal youth settings. The aim of the toolkit is to encourage learning through play with activities that connect young people with mechanisms for getting their voices heard on issues that matter most to them and to address low levels of social trust.
A group of professionals sitting in a circle engaging with a training session on how to use the ATT toolkit

The ATT toolkit includes facilitation advice and easy-to-use short games (nine in total) that make discussion accessible and engaging. The activities are designed to be fun while allowing space for meaningful discussions. They support youth practitioners and young people to explore their right to participate in civic and democratic life; and support participants to develop confidence in expressing their views.

The Politics Project reached a total of 179 under-registered and under-represented Londoners during their grant project. The toolkit is designed to continue its reach and impact beyond the grant delivery period following its official launch on the 18th September 2025.

  • 44% of survey respondents were more likely to engage with an elected official, e.g. write to or book a face-to-face meeting with a councillor or Member of Parliament (MP) and to take part in a campaign or peaceful protest.
  • 90% of trained youth practitioners reported increased confidence in talking to young people about democracy, politics, and voting. Youth practitioners stated that they will use ‘all of the toolkit’ in their work.

During the road-testing phase, The Politics Project team found that, at these sessions, young people expressed a willingness “to keep an open mind and partake in political conversations” and demonstrated political agency.

During training for youth practitioners, The Politics Project team received positive feedback.

“[This was] engaging, fun and thought-provoking training! Probably my favourite training I’ve ever done – will be taking away so much from this.”  - Youth practitioner, attended training

“Today’s ‘At the Table’ training session delivered by the team at The Politics Project has left me inspired. We were able to look through and even trial out some of the games during the session, and I’m excited to run them in real life. Impactful work.” - Youth practitioner, attended training