Raise Your Voice 2007
This event was an opportunity to increase children and young people’s participation in South Gloucestershire, building on the success of last year’s conference, which launched the Council’s Participation Strategy. It was primarily aimed at children and young people, however, councillors and departmental heads were invited to observe the day. The day consisted of a mixture of presentations and workshops covering Peer Mediation, Art, Running A Campaign, Peer Support, Dance, Drama, Photography and a showcase of performances from young people who had gained funding from the Big Stash (Youth Opportunity Fund).
The main aims of the day were:
- To give children & young people confidence and skills to have a voice in matters that are important to them
- Give fun and practical ways to work with each other
- Allow children & young people to discover the benefits of participation
Planning for the event began in July 07 young people supported by members of the South Gloucestershire Council Children and Young Peoples Participation Workers Group were involved in the planning, organisation and delivery of the event, from deciding on the aims of the day to what was for lunch. The planning group consisted of 16 young people aged 13 – 22 drawn from The Youth Service, Connexions, Children’s Social Services, Children’s Fund Projects and the Kids organisation.
An additional 19 children and young people were involved in facilitating the event workshops, contributions coming from Chipping Sodbury School, Kingsfield School, South Gloucestershire Youth Forum, United Kingdom Youth Parliament, Young Peoples Inclusion Network (YPIN), The Big Stash, and The Children’s Fund.
All secondary and primary schools in South Gloucestershire were invited to bring up to 6 participants, a wide range of children and young peoples projects were also invited to attend. In total 68 children and young people ranging from year 5 to year 10 from schools and projects in South Glos meaning in total 103 children and young people participated in the day.
Use Your Voice 2008
Within South Gloucestershire Council there were several consultation exercises to be undertaken and there was a need to find a fun and simple way of consulting with young people on these various strategies. The consultations included the Housing strategy, Locality Hubs and Contact point.
An event was scheduled for February half term where young people were invited to come along and attend workshops. Young people were invited from School Councils, Youth Fora (including disabled, BME and Looked after young people), UKYP candidates and the young people who attended the Raise Your Voice event.
The various departments issuing strategies for consultation were invited to run workshops with the assistance of a youth worker whom would ensure that the workshops were suitable for young people. The opportunity was also used to investigate different methods of involving young people in consultation and decision-making. The day also gave young people the opportunity to find out about ‘Participation Opportunities’ in South Gloucestershire and their Areas e.g. Youth Forums, UKYP, Big Stash and other groups they might wish to join.
Thirty-five young people attended the event, of whom two-thirds were from vulnerable and/or hard-to-reach groups. A significant number of young people had some form of disability and were supported by four workers. The young people were divided into four groups at random so that each group contained young people with different needs. This provided a good opportunity for young people to mix and integrate at different levels.
In conclusion the day provided a good opportunity to engage with young people about a variety of issues, which because of their subject matter are difficult to get young peoples views through traditional ‘adult’ methods. The event provided an opportunity for other agencies to access young people and engage them in consultation. In addition the diverse mix of young people that attended provided opportunities for both adults and young people to learn about each other in a positive way.
OSGARS
The OSGARs is a South Gloucestershire celebration of achievement event for children in care held in March each year, which attracts an audience of up to 280 people. In 2008 a group of five young people in care worked with Nigel Shipley (Partnership Officer) to get feedback from people attending the event and to use this to plan the event for 2009. Their participation was in three stages:
- Before the event, the young people met with Nigel Shipley to hear about the OSGARs and plan how to get feedback from adults, children and young people attending it.
- At the OSGARs, young people informally interviewed members of the audience before and after the event asking them what was good about it and what could be improved, and the interviews were videoed. They also gave out questionnaires with reply envelopes for people to take home and fill in later.
- Two weeks after the OSGARs, the young people met with Nigel Shipley and Lesley Raison (Corporate Parenting Manager) to see the video and review the comments made. This led to a discussion about improving the event for 2009 and an outline for a radically different, and we hope much improved, format for next year.
This consultation heard directly from the people that the OSGARs event aims to benefit (children and young people in care). The young people who helped us with the consultation proved to be very skilled at putting the audience at ease so that we could hear their true feelings about the event. Finally, the young people had some useful ideas about how we could make next year’s event better. For more information about this participation project please contact Nigel Shipley on 01454 865939.
Future Events
Another Raise Your Voice event will be run at the end of 2008. If you would like to be involved in organising this years event please get in touch with us as detailed below. Use Your Voice will take place again in the October/November school holidays which also coincides with National Youth Work Week. The proposed theme is Transport issues for young people in South Gloucestershire. If you would like to come along to Use Your Voice please send us your contact details.
You can find more information about future opportunities via www.YouthUnltd.com
You can contact us about any of the above opportunities by:
Email: getinvolved@southglos.gov.uk or Telephone: 01454 865252