The Forest Youth Forum is a group of young people aged 13 to 19 years who live in the Forest district and meet fortnightly to discuss issues that matter to young people.  Since October 2006, the Youth Forum has been responsible for managing the Youth Opportunity Fund and has distributed over £168,754 to youth projects, benefiting 10,750 young people in the Forest area.  They organise events for young people, including youth conferences, art exhibitions, live gigs, performance events and fashion shows promoting recycling.  They meet regularly with District Councillors to discuss issues ranging from recycling to policing to transport.

During March 2006, the Forest Youth Forum surveyed 741 young people from across the Forest area to find out more about the experience and fear of crime amongst young people, and their perceptions and experience of the Police and policing issues locally.  Dr Mandy Nelson helped the Youth Forum to publish and present their report to the Gloucestershire Police Authority.  The report was also shared with the Gloucestershire Constabulary, Forest of Dean District Council and the Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership. 

In January 2007, the Youth Forum designed and produced a survey to find out which health issues concern young people the most.  Questions about diet and exercise trends were also included.  1,000 copies of the survey were distributed to secondary schools in the Forest, asking them to survey 30 young people in each year group.  427 responses were received and used to plan the workshops and activities for the 'Healthvoice' youth conference held in February 2007.

In February 2008, the Youth Forum held the 'Down to Earth' youth conference.  45 young people took part in discussion groups around local climate change and renewable energy, and completed questionnaires about environmental issues.  The Youth Forum collated responses to identify the top priorities for the Forest area.  These were then incorporated into a Youth Environment Manifesto.

In January 2009, the Youth Forum conducted a survey to find out what activities and services young people want in their local area, what they are currently taking part in, and what changes they would like to see.  The results of the survey helped in the planning of the 2009 conference, ‘Activoice’.  Workshops included ‘Meet Your Councillor’, a session aimed at improving communication between young people and District Councillors, and ‘Planning and Regeneration’, allowing young people to give their views on the Cinderford Regeneration Project.  In the afternoon, various activities including battlesports, circus skills, visit to SoundSpace, Wii Sports, and creating a radio braodcast were available.