Planning

Planning

Children and young people’s involvement in

formal meetings:

A practical guide

Participation Works is a partnership made up

of the British Youth Council (BYC), Children’s

Rights Alliance for England (CRAE), the

National Council for Voluntary Youth Services

(NCVYS), the National Youth Agency (NYA),

NCB and Save the Children - England.

Planning

Planning

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Contents

Introduction 1

What are formal meetings? 2

Why involve children and young people in 3 formal meetings?

How to involve children and young people 9 effectively in formal meetings

What gets in the way of involving children and 18 young people?

Case studies 21

Where to find further information 26

Planning

Planning

AcknowledgementsThank you to the residential group made up of children, young people and adults who work in the field of engaging children and young people in formal meetings, who helped develop this practical guide. They are:Ada, East Riding District Youth Council member

Ana Beaumont, Children and Young People’s Participation Strategy Officer, Haringey

Antonia Dixey, Children and Young People’s Participation Officer, Tower Hamlets

Danny, Kent Youth Council member

Gill Hanby, Children and Young People’s Active Involvement Manager, Huntingdonshire Strategic Partnership

Jonathan Arundell (support worker) with the following young people from Medway Youth Parliament: Chloe, David, Gamal, Katie, Megan, Phoebe, Yasmin, Kevin Donovan (support worker) with Andrew from London Borough Barking and Dagenham Council Youth Council

Lara Nolan (support worker) with the following young people from East Hampshire Youth Council: Elin, Ellie, Harriet, Merrin Hunt, NCB

Mike, Thanet Youth Council member

Robin Konieczny, County Strategic Partnership Officer, Norfolk

Trudy Shephard, Young Lives

We are grateful to the following people for their contributions of case studies, quotes and examples of good practice:Gill Barn, Consultant

Samuel Botchey, Senior Participation Coordinator, Harrow Council

Tom Burke, Senior Policy and Change Officer, Children’s Rights Alliance for England

Renata Chavda, Youth Participation Officer, Brent

Anneka Deva, Graduate Programme Coordinator, Envision, along with some young board members

Samantha Dimmock, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Children’s Rights Alliance for England

Antonia Dixey, Children and Young People’s Participation Officer, Tower Hamlets

Melissa Herman, Development Officer, Brighter Futures, Save the Children England Programme

Denise Hollingbery, Company Secretary, NCB

Emma Kirkbride, Training and Development Manager, YouthBank UK

Lara Nolan, Youth Council Coordinator, East Hampshire District Council

Suraya Patel, The Children’s Society, and some of its young board members: Jade, Simon and Patrick Adele Styles, Young People’s Senior Consultation Officer, Chief Executive’s Office, Derby City Council

Specific thanks goes to Darren Matthews from the British Youth Council as our partner on this project.

Compiled by Ruth Dalzell, with Barbara Hearn and Janine Young, NCB, September 2010

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1. Introduction

1

1. Introduction

1.1 Background to this practical guide

Children and young people are active

contributors to many areas of public services.

It is a child’s right to be involved in decision-

making that affects them. As children and

young people increasingly expect to make a

direct contribution in meetings, the pressure

on those who have traditionally run adult-only

meetings is changing. It is more and more likely

that adult-led meetings will need to include the

voices of children and young people.

While consulting children and young people

outside of the decision-making process

remains the most popular way of listening to

them (Davey, 2010), this method is gradually

becoming unsatisfactory. Within some local

authority departments and child related non

government offices we are moving towards

the point where children and/or young people

are included in all meetings where the content

impacts on their lives. This contact may extend

from matters that affect them solely, such as

the design and delivery of youth provision

and the governorship of schools, through to

transport, local planning and NHS provision,

which concern us all.

This guide aims to help those who want to

more effectively include children and young

people in their adult-led meetings. It explores

the way in which children and young people

can make a real and lasting contribution

to a wide range of formal decision-making

meetings. It provides practical examples of

what helps during meetings and gives detailed

advice on planning for those meetings,

on supporting children and young people

and on making the most of their energy

and imagination. Other useful sources of

information are also signposted.

In order to inform the development of this

guide we engaged with children, young

people and professionals who work with them

early on. NCB and BYC organised, facilitated

and analysed the findings from a number of

telephone discussions consultation workshops

with children, young people and adults around

England. This work was undertaken by NCB’s

Chris Thompson (now working at Croydon

Council) and BYC’s Zoe Cumberland, Scott

Forbes and Nadia Shabir.

This guide includes case studies contributed

from across the statutory and voluntary sector,

and will evolve as further case studies and

contributions are added in 2010.

1.2 Who is this guide aimed at?

This guide is primarily aimed at all those

responsible for organising and/or administering

formal decision-making meetings. It offers some

advice to those adults who chair these meetings

as well. Typically these are meetings within

local councils, local strategic partnerships, large

voluntary organisations, health agencies or

other formal settings. The aim is to ensure that

children and young people are effectively

involved in these meetings, that their

contribution is valued and that they genuinely

inform the plans and actions which emerge.

If you are at the start of your participation

journey and, for example, have not yet

engaged children and young people in

your area of work we have developed

Children and young people’s involvement

in formal meeting: an extended guide with

more detail which can be found on the

Participation Works gateway:

www.participationworks.co.uk

2. What are formal meetings?

A formal meeting is a pre-planned meeting

which, in general, has a predetermined set

of topics to be discussed along with a set of

objectives that it is hoped will be achieved

by the end of the meeting. There are many

different kinds of formal meeting.

At a formal meeting the roles and structures

are usually clearly defined. There is a chair who

leads the meeting, a minute taker to take notes

or minutes, and other roles according to the

group’s needs. Those who attend the meeting

are often given a considerable period of notice

before the meeting, preferably through formal

means such as memos. A formal meeting is

likely to have an agenda, which is usually sent

out in advance of the meeting to those due to

attend along with previous minutes or reports

stating what was said at the last meeting, and

what the group has agreed to do. An example

of a formal meeting includes Care Councils

and through individual care-planning meetings,

children in public care have increasingly had

their voices heard in decisions about their care

and care services.

By their very design formal meetings can

exclude adults as well as children, young

people.Therefore in formal decision-making

meetings, children and young people sit

alongside adults and have to work within

a framework that feels comfortable and

familiar to adults and which has been

established over many decades. Effectively

including children and/or young people means

adjusting the format and recognising where

compromises need to be made without losing

the involvement of adults. It is important to

remember, however, that the formality of

the structure is not simply to suit adults but

has developed to ensure that all present can

have their say, managed by the chair; that

differences can be debated and resolved;

and that decisions can be made, minuted

and monitored. Throughout this process the

meeting administrator, clerk or secretary plays

a key role. Hence, it is essential that he or

she is informed of, can be proactive in and

does not feel undermined by the inclusion of

younger members.

Children and young people are involved in

formal meetings in the following settings:

• Children’s trust partnerships

• children and young people’s associations

• school councils

• youth councils

• Youth Opportunity Fund panels

• local councils – at all levels from cabinet

to scrutiny

• neighbourhood renewal committees,

community safety partnerships and safer

neighbourhoods groups

• Local Strategic Partnership Boards

– addressing issues such as town

planning, health provision and safer

neighbourhoods

• boards of trustees

• panels of national funding bodies

• police authorities – scrutiny of police

services and consultation

• health commissioning groups – currently

Primary Care Trusts (PCTs)

• careers advice and guidance services –

currently Connexions services.

Their roles include:

• writing corporate plans

• representing the interests of specific

groups, for example disabled young

people, young carers, black minority and

ethnic perspectives, travellers, young

mothers.

They sit alongside senior officers, public

figures and elected members.

.

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2. What are form

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3. Why involve children and young people in formal meetings?

Engaging children and young people in

formal meetings and decision-making

processes means that they are actively

involved in decisions that affect their lives and

communities. Some of the most persuasive

reasons for involving children and young

people are examined below.

3.1 Children and young people’s rights

As the experts in their own lives, children and

young people have the right, as do adults, to

be meaningfully involved in all decisions that

affect them.

The purpose of participation is to ensure improved outcomes for children and young people themselves and also for the organisation and the wider community. Effective participation is likely to mean that the involvement of children actually leads to change (where they identify that change is needed). (Kirby and others, 2003)

The UK government ratified the United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

in 1991 to protect the rights of all children.

Article 12 states that any child or young person

has a right to express their views and have

those views given due weight in decisions

affecting them, in accordance with their age

and maturity. Given that formal meetings are

primarily about making decisions, children and

young people must be included where the

content impacts on their lives. Section 8 points

you to where you can find out more about the

legislative and policy framework relating to

children and young people’s participation

One of the key principles of the 1989 Children

Act is that children should be treated as

individuals, their opinions should be listened

to and that decisions should take account of

the wishes and feelings of the child helping

them to achieve more. This principle is also

strengthened by the 2004 Children Act which

aims to ensure that policies and services are

designed around the needs of children and

young people, and that they are involved in

decisions at a local and national level.

Alongside this, the Local Government and

Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 and

Local Government and Public Involvement

Network Regulations 2008 have developed

new Local Involvement Networks (LINks).

Each local authority must now enter into a

contractual relationship with an independent

body to ensure the involvement of local people

(including children and young people) in the

commissioning, provision and scrutiny of

health and social services.

The Equality Act 2010 will come into effect from

April 2011 and includes a new ‘public sector

equality duty’. This new duty will require local

authorities to show they are promoting the

participation of marginalised groups in public

life. They may do this, for example, by ensuring

that a broad and diverse range of young people

is included in adult decision-making groups.

3.2 Better services

Services designed and developed with the

input of children and young people and driven

by feedback from the children and young

people who know and use those services are

more likely to be relevant to those individuals

and to meet their needs.

3.3 Having a voice

Children and young people can attend formal

meetings to get their own voices heard as well

as to advocate for other children and young

people. This inevitably enhances the democratic

process by ensuring a wide representation of

children and young people’s views.

We can bring a different perspective on those issues that are affecting us and policy that involves us. I think that it is, and always will be, imperative to the work of the board and in turn to NCB as a whole. (young NCB board member)

Children and young people want to contribute

to their communities and play an active role

in debates and decisions surrounding issues

that affect their lives. Participation in formal

meetings helps them to play their part in

influencing change and moving things forward.

3.4 Innovation

Children and young people’s enthusiasm and

fresh ideas frequently have a positive influence

on the process of decision-making in formal

meetings. Children and young people’s unique

experience brings a fresh perspective and can

lead to new solutions.

3.5 Skills and experience

Through involvement in formal meetings,

children and young people can gain skills

that enhance their employability. They often

take what they learn and pass it on to other

children and young people. The development

of new skills brings additional benefits such

as greater confidence, self esteem and the

possibility of gaining additional qualifications.

Confidence is a major factor – If you’d asked me when I wasn’t on the board, I don’t think I’d have been able to speak to a room of adults so freely, but through the board I’ve learnt to talk and question people’s ideas. (young NCB board member)

3.6 Improved communication and understanding

Children and young people’s involvement in

adult decision-making meetings improves

understanding across the generations, creating

opportunities for each to better appreciate the

other’s perspectives and for the development

of positive and supportive relationships. This

improved communication can be a protective

factor for children and young people.

These points reflect the vision underpinning

organisations like NCB, the British Youth

Council (BYC) and the Participation Works

partnership. One young person involved in

this project commented:

Perhaps we don’t spend enough time explaining all this to adults who haven’t really thought about it before.

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4. How to involve children and young people effectively in formal meetings

4.1 Getting started

One of the most important messages emerging

from research and children and young

people’s experience of participation is that

good planning is a key to success. A number

of questions can usefully be asked at the

beginning of the planning process. Firstly, do

you need the support of a participation worker

or someone who has experience of working

with children and young people? Unless you

have experience of talking or working with

children and young people, you will probably

need this help. It may be that once the

participation worker has helped you to identify

and gather the initial young members for the

meeting, you can manage without further

assistance. You will, however, need to ask

further questions, such as those covered in this

section.

Where are you now and where do you want to get to?

Understanding the level of experience of and

mechanisms for involving children and young

people within your agency, organisation or

local authority will provide a baseline on which

to build. Defining your starting point and being

clear about what you want to achieve can help

in developing a shared vision. This vision may

include how children and young people might

be involved in the future and reveal differences

in the aspirations and expectations of the

adults involved. Before inviting young members

into the meeting, time should be set aside to

discuss with the chair and other adult members

of the group what it is that you want to

achieve. Best practice would be to have these

discussions alongside the children and young

people you want to involve to ensure their

involvement is sustained and meaningful.

Why do you want to involve children and young people?

This question provides an opportunity for

you to assess the levels of understanding

and commitment that exist among the adults

involved. It also provides an opportunity

for consciousness raising and sharing an

understanding of the drivers for and benefits

of involving children and young people. It is

important that everyone is clear about the

relevance of why you are engaging children

and young people to ensure that it is not

tokenistic and short lived. It will also help you

to enthuse others to engage with children

and young people with this clarity of purpose.

Ultimately, success will depend upon good

leadership from the chair supported by the

administrator. If the chair is keen and the

administrator is confident that the elements

of the meetings can be sensitive to younger

members, you are a long way down the path

to success. If the chair is ambivalent then there

may be a case for encouraging conversations

with chairs of formal meetings that already

include children and young people. The

administrator can search these out and may

also benefit from talking to his or her opposite

number in other places.

What support and resources do you need to effectively involve children and young people?

Involving children and young people requires

commitment and resources, including:

• senior level sponsorship

• commitment of an officer’s time in initially

organising, contacting and preparing and

then continuing to support children and

young people (although young people

over 18 may, after initial induction and a

few meetings, manage themselves, only

demanding help if they need it, unless they

have specific difficulties due to disability or

reading ability, for example)

• support offered to individual children and

young people, regardless of their age or

background, or particular disability, and

may change over time. This support will

vary in what is offered and how much is

offered but time needs to be taken to find

out what it might be.

• training and induction for adults and the

children and young people

• publicity to attract the right mix of children

and young people for the specific meeting

and so to ensure that children and young

people are adequately represented

• agreement about the type of rewards or

recognition offered to children and young

people for attendance

• resources to help communicate the

outcomes of children and young people’s

involvement.

It is important to think carefully about these

commitments, and map out what is affordable

and deliverable as cutting corners at this stage

can lead to frustration and disappointment

later. Above all, you need to put aside enough

time to ensure that children and young people

are involved effectively.

Who are the children and young people that you want to involve?

You need to decide whether you want to

engage children and young people with

specific experiences or who have a special

interest in a decision-making process relevant

to their experience. For example, children and

young people with specific health needs may

be most appropriate to sit on a Primary Care

Trust board. Alternatively, your formal meeting

may have a very broad remit and so you may

wish to increase children and young people’s

representation in a number of dimensions, e.g.

ethnicity, age or locality if for a community-

based forum, such as neighbourhood planning.

Children and young people who are rarely

engaged in decision-making processes because

services find them a challenge to engage or

locate must also be considered for involvement,

for example asylum-seeking children and

young people, disabled children and young

people, or the unconvinced and unenthusiastic

such as youth involved in anti-social behaviour.

It is important to explore these issues at the

planning stage to ensure that your young

members reflect the issues with which your

formal meetings are concerned.

As a rule of thumb, you should never construct

your meeting to involve only one young member.

A minimum of two ensures mutual support

and a chance to share thoughts with a peer.

Ideally, up to four can be nominated or identified

but with an optimum attendance of two at any

one time. As young people have many demands

upon them, a group of four will usually mean

that two can make it to the meetings.

The Home Office, former Department of

Children, Schools and Families and the

Ministry of Justice together held a Youth

Crime Action Plan steering group of key

stakeholders. Within that group there

was a changing group of four young

people (seven over time) who haddiverse

experiences, such as being victims of crime,

which inform the debates. Their ages, 13–

17, reflected the focus of the youth crime

agenda and their home locations ensure a

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diversity of experience. Their contribution

helped to shape the presentation and

development of the policy so that it

engaged children and young people.

You may need to agree the age of the target

children and young people in advance. If the

limit is under 18s, for example, there also

needs to be a plan for 18-year-olds leaving the

group. As with other members, there need to

be explicit rules about behaviour, attendance

and retirement. The younger members need

to understand all this before making their

commitment.

Who holds the power?

The format of the decision-making meeting

needs to be clear to everyone taking part.

Decisions should be made about children

and young people’s voting rights and about

issues such as commissioning and budgetary

responsibility. Giving children and young

people voting rights and a share in the

responsibility for budgetary decisions is a way

of demonstrating that their involvement is not

simply tokenistic and that there is a willingness

to hand over some power. You may need to

check your constitution to see if decision-

making by voting is allowed for all ages and if

it is not, if there is another method, which can

be used to show that the children and young

people do influence decisions. This could be

through the mode of chairing and recording

of decisions taken. The extended guide on

engagement of children and young people

summarises the rules of engagement for the

voluntary and community sector.

4.2 Before the meeting

It is important to think through any access

issues that may occur before, during and after

a meeting and to take the necessary steps to

ensure that the meeting will be experienced as

welcoming and open to the younger members.

Once you have agreement about the purpose

of the children and young people’s involvement

and who is coming, there are further steps you

can take before the meeting to maximise the

chances of success. Section 7 contains some

helpful resources to assist you in being inclusive

Adult members

It is essential to discuss the involvement

of children and young people with adult

members of the meeting so they have a shared

understanding and expectations. Explain how

the meeting format might change to ensure

the meeting is engaging for all members.

Outline the benefits of the children and

young people’s engagement and reassure the

adults of the value of their contributions (see

section 3). Create a process in which the adult

members can share their views and possible

concerns. This may be via email or at the end

of a formal meeting prior to the inclusion of

younger members. (See personal development

and support in section 4.4 for more ideas.)

Chair

The chair should enable children and young

people to participate effectively by establishing

the right format and ensuring that children and

young people are able both to speak out and

to understand the content of the discussions.

The chair must be aware of the need for jargon

to be kept to a minimum and may suggest

some mechanisms to deter people from using

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it, such as raising a red flag or card every

time any member of the meeting does not

understand what another has said. As some

meetings can have a competitive flavour, the

chair should ensure that younger members

have a space to share their views. If there is a

cover or vice chair, or when the chair changes,

it is essential that he or she is briefed on these

points too. Co-chairing alongside a young

person has proven successful in the past if

the adult and young person work together to

prepare the meeting and establish how their

relationship will work. It may be appropriate

for a child or young person to char a meeting,

particularly where a ‘rotating chair’ system is in

place, or where children have put forward their

main agenda items.

Effective meetings that involve young people and adults need to have time spent up front to plan and prepare. It is vital to build confidence, trust and, therefore, relationships. Structures and processes should be designed around both the needs of the meeting and the people, and time should be given for groups to capture their learning. (Youth Council Coordinator, East

Hampshire District Council, February 2010)

Accessibility

To ensure that all children and young people

are able to participate effectively the following

steps should be taken.

1. Look to the allocated support/participation

worker for advice about the children and

young people’s individual needs – for

example, communication methods or

support requirements. Where appropriate,

set up the mechanisms to manage these.

2. Check the processes to ensure accessibility

within the meeting with the chair

beforehand.

3. Provide children and young people in

advance with the terms of reference of

the meeting (with simplification if needed)

and a summary of the typical issues that

will be covered. This will enable children

and young people to think these through

and formulate their thoughts, and they will

find this reassuring if they are unsure or

nervous about attending.

4. Offer the children and young people the

opportunity to meet with the chair and

clerk and/or a member of the meeting

in advance of attending the first formal

session.

Top tip The engagement team within Harrow

Council suggests that a consultation and

meeting template (designed by children

and young people) is completed by

adults and sent to children and young

people before meetings. Children and

young people then have time to study

the briefing notes to ensure that the

outcomes will benefit children and

young people before agreeing to attend

meetings.

Communication plan

It is important to have a standard format

for all meetings. The format will typically

include having a named person responsible

for calling or texting the invited children and

young people in the days running up to the

meeting to ensure that they have their papers,

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know where they are to attend and who will

meet them (this could be an administrator,

chair, staff member, participation worker or

administrator).

Documents

All relevant documents should be presented in

a format that is easy to read by all participants

and be sent out before the meeting. Children

and young people should be contacted and, as

part of the communication plan, asked if they

have any questions about the documents.

The young people in my group stated that they would prefer either all attendees to receive a ‘young person’ friendly format of the documents or not to receive them at all. Participation Worker

Time and place

The meeting should ideally be arranged at

a venue that the children and young people

feel comfortable in or have been able to visit

in advance of their first meeting. If this is

impossible, think about how you can make the

venue more welcoming, e.g. by informing the

receptionist that children and young people

will be attending meetings; making sure

security staff are aware if there is a check-in

place which can be intimidating; putting their

names on cards where they are to sit and

having name plates for everyone attending

the meeting; starting the meeting with drinks

or snacks so there is a chance for informal

engagement with the adult members before

the formal business begins.

The meeting should be at a time when children

and young people can attend and, where

possible, not during school hours or too

late into the evening. However, this can be

difficult as meetings are primarily designed for

adults whose working day is typically limited

from 8am to 6pm or thereabouts. Where

adult members themselves have childcare

responsibilities it may not be possible to extend

meetings, or to reschedule them to weekends

or holidays when the adults expect to be with

their own children. However, options should

be discussed with all members. An email

questionnaire to all members of the board

could produce options for the chair to put to

members.

Involvement in decision-making meetings can

enable children and young people to learn

new skills and develop knowledge of benefit

to them and to their school or college, but

timing in school hours should be through

agreement with parents and schools. It should

be made clear to children and young people

that flexibility may be required around timing

before they put themselves forward as a

young member in order to avoid unnecessary

aggravation.

Getting there

You need to ensure that the children and

young people can get to the meeting and

have their costs reimbursed before they set off

for the meeting unless tickets are sent out in

advance. In some cases parents or carers may

escort and will need their costs reimbursed as

well. Where the formal meeting has a regional

or national remit the travel costs may be

significant. This needs to be factored in at the

outset. If the meeting is local then it may make

sense to make transport available if required,

e.g. cab or bus.

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Top tip Brighter Futures who work specifically

with asylum seekers suggest:

• confirming with all the participants the

day before

• organising transport to and from the

venue for young people

• organising interpreters well in advance,

if needed.

Contributions to the agenda

Children and young people should be invited

to contribute to the agenda in advance. They

can be given a dedicated slot on the agenda

or just be invited to comment on everything as

it arises or both. If they have dedicated time,

they should have choice as to where their

items are placed in the agenda.

Informed consent

Informed consent is the responsibility of the

support/participation worker. Contact should

be made with the child or young person’s

parents/carers and school in advance of the

meeting, as appropriate to their age.

Consideration needs to be given to the

consents that may need to be given by parents/

carers and the information that is provided to

them about the process in which their child is

engaging. Parents/carers could be invited to an

induction session to address these issues.

Briefing

Before the meeting, the children and young

people should be given a refresher on what

meetings are like. The aim of this is to get them

out of ‘classroom mode’ and enable them to

feel comfortable about speaking up or taking

comfort/toilet breaks, for example. This may only

be necessary for the first one or two meetings.

Case study – Derby Chief Executive’s office My role is the effective engagement of

young people in a city-wide youth forum

called Voices in Action that feeds into the

children’s trust partnership arrangement.

I support young people attending the

children’s trust partnership (City for

Children and Young People Executive)

meetings, where Voices in Action always

have an agenda item.

We normally meet for an hour before the

meeting to go through all the papers. I

explain the terminology used and what each

report is trying to say, and ask them what

they think about what is being suggested.

I get the young people to write their

comments, thoughts and questions on

the papers, and if they ask me why certain

things are being done, I encourage them to

ask those questions in the meeting.

I find an hour directly before the meeting

works best because if it’s a week before

they forget. I set the scene, saying that the

meeting will be full of people in suits and

it can be scary because they all look at you.

This makes them laugh, then I go on to

say that it’s OK to feel nervous. By the end

of the meeting they will say to me that it

wasn’t that bad at all.

I write the papers about young people’s

views and the young people then decide

who is going to speak in the meeting and

practise beforehand. They read their part

when it’s the Voices in Action agenda item.

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Child protection and safeguarding plan/risk assessment

You or your support/participation worker should

ensure that a child protection and safeguarding

plan/risk assessment is in place to deal with any

situations that may arise that could put children

and young people at risk. You need to check

that this has happened and inform the chair. If

you think that members of the meeting including

the chair are likely to be spending time alone

with the young members they must have been

vetted in line with current statutory vetting and

barring procedures, including CRB (Criminal

Records Bureau) disclosure. It is preferable to

avoid adults spending time alone with a young

member, even when appropriate checks have

been carried out.

Buddying or mentoring system

A buddying or mentoring system that supports

children and young people in preparing for and

attending meetings is extremely useful. Buddying

involves one person befriending someone in a

new situation and taking responsibility for

introducing them, showing them the ropes,

explaining things, answering questions and

providing support where necessary. Mentoring

has a more complex personal development

function in that the mentor supports and

encourages the mentee to manage their own

learning in order to maximise their potential.

The chair or other members of the group may be

able to identify potential buddies/mentors, or

members may volunteer themselves, although

this does not necessarily produce candidates who

are best suited to the role. However they are

selected, buddies/mentors should be provided

with a clear role description including the required

level of involvement inside and outside meetings

and the time they will need to set aside for the

role. Ensuring that you have sufficient numbers

of buddies/mentors at a given meeting can be

a challenge. You will need to encourage both

buddies/mentors and children and young

people to let you know in good time whether

they will be attending, so that you can ensure

you have the correct numbers.

If the mentor is an adult (i.e. over 18) different

considerations will need to be taken into

account with regards to unsupervised contact

and having access to their personal details.

Child protection procedures need to be

followed and the mentor will need to be CRB

checked. See section 7 for more details of how

to safeguard children and young people.

Case study – NCB’s evaluation of young people on the board of management In order to support young board members, a

mentoring system was introduced, whereby

each young member was paired with an

adult board member who would sit with

them during meetings. Recent changes to

the timing of board meetings have made it

easier for young board members to meet

with their mentors in advance, and this has

provided greater opportunities for young

members to discuss the papers and to

develop relationships with their mentors.

It’s been really useful actually because we sit down before the meeting and talk through anything in the papers that I wanted to raise or I didn’t understand and they give a basic summary of each one … and then we’d talk at the break and lunch as well to see if there was any questions I thought needed raising.(young NCB board member)

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Top tipThe Children’s Society suggest the

following:

• The role of the chair is important in

terms of drawing young people into the

discussions without putting them on the

spot.

• Create informal space for young people

and adults to come together. At the

Children’s Society, for example, the

trustees and the senior management

team have an open invitation to the

young people’s evening meal or lunch.

Also, once a year, all the adults and

young people have a meal together after

the AGM.

• Use visual aids. We put the commentary

from the prep meeting on a flipchart at

the board meeting. The commentary

could be a question, an opinion or

reflection – anything the young people

think is of significance to share. Then

once the item is introduced and has

been presented, young people share

their commentary before the bigger

discussion starts, so it starts with the

young people. One young person said of

the commentary on the flipchart that it is

a ‘good idea, so it is there to remind us

what we talked about in the prep’.

• The culture you create in terms of a

space of mutual respect and value is

important.

As one young person said, ‘[it’s] good to

see what the adults talk about and what

they think about what we have said. We

want to see what the impact is.’

4.3 During the meeting/the day of the meeting

What are the ingredients of the ideal meeting?

A few simple ideas will not only make the meeting

more enjoyable for the children and young

people to participate in but adults will find it more

engaging too. The suggestions below include

children and young people’s ideas, based on their

own experiences of attending formal meetings.

Welcome

There needs to be an emphasis on a warm, friendly

welcome which values all people. Children and

young people could be shown the room before

the meeting without adults in it and choose where

they (and their buddy/mentor, if appropriate)

would like to sit. It is important to make sure

everyone is introduced and not to assume all the

children and young people will know each other.

If a system has been set up, children and young

people can be met before the meeting by their

mentor or buddy. The young person and mentor/

buddy could sit for ten minutes together and

talk through the meeting, focusing on what to

expect, the content to be discussed, anything

they don’t understand and any anxieties they

might have. The child or young person should

ideally sit next to their buddy/mentor during

the meeting but should not be forced to do so.

It may also be useful to seat the chair opposite

the younger members, and to seat the young

members near to one another.

Comfort

Comfortable seating, air conditioning or fresh air

and having a room at a comfortable temperature

are all important. Thought should be given to

the length of meetings too. All contributors are

likely to lose concentration and enthusiasm if a

meeting is too long or without breaks. You

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should make it clear to young participants that,

like adult attendees, they are entitled to get up

and leave the room (for example, to go to the

toilet) without seeking permission.

Young people we spoke to liked a mix of

venues that are adult-and-young-person

appropriate rather than just using young-

person focused venues.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere at a meeting should be relaxed

and friendly. Children and young people recognise

the need for seriousness when appropriate but

also respond well to active meetings. At the

initial meetings there may be a value in using

brief ice-breakers and creating opportunities to

influence the terms of reference, parameters and

agenda for the meeting wherever appropriate.

These can promote a friendly, welcoming

atmosphere, which in turn encourages

participation and interaction between all

attendees. While children and young people do

not expect adult participants to dress more

causally than usual when children and young

people are present, you might consider this if it

is likely to put them at ease. Children and

young people don’t want adults to pretend to

be cool, however, just because they are there.

I remember one young person wrote me a note asking me what one of the professionals did, so I encouraged them to ask that question and suddenly the tables were turned and the professional suddenly felt slightly shy as other professionals were saying, ‘Yes. What do you do?’ This generated a bit of laughter … laughter is always good. (adult who supports young people

engagement in informal meetings,

Derby Council)

From the briefing session the children and young people I worked with did not want councillors to dress differently but wanted children and young people and councillors to feel they could dress as they usually would. My youth council are also happy with this arrangement and have never suggested that members wear alternative clothing. (adult who supports young people

engagement in informal meetings, East

Hants Council)

Layout and equipment

The layout of the room at formal meetings

is important. Children and young people we

spoke to tended to feel most comfortable

seated in a circle or other layout where they

can see and hear everyone. This promotes an

atmosphere of equality and openness. Tables

can sometimes act as a barrier but are practical

when people are making notes and referring

to paperwork. Microphones may be necessary

in formal meetings so that everyone can hear

and be heard. Use of other technology, such

as hearing loops, should also be considered

to ensure accessibility. Giving members red

cards or flags to wave when they are confused

by the content of the meeting or the use of

jargon, can lift what might otherwise be a

barrier to full involvement for some children

and young people – and some adults.

Contributing

Children and young people need to know how

the meeting usually proceeds and how verbal

contributions are usually made – whether they

are expected to engage in open discussion

or make contributions through the chair or

whether they have a timed contribution slot.

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Children and young people should be given

choice about whether they wish to remain in

the meeting after their slot (if they have one),

or to leave if they need to do so. Children

and young people should be encouraged to

participate in the entire meeting, as adults

would be, so plans for the meaningful

engagement of children should run throughout

the whole meeting. It is important to ensure

that when children and young people have

made a contribution this is acknowledged and

valued. However, it also important to avoid

behaving like ‘proud parents’ as one young

person put it. Children and young people are in

the meeting as equals and their ideas must be

treated with the same scrutiny as any adult’s.

Written information and tools

A clear, accessible agenda which is followed

during the meeting is important to maintain

children and young people’s engagement and

participation. Agendas and supporting papers,

perhaps produced in different colours to help

everyone move from one item to the next with

ease, should be sent to children and young

people well in advance of the meeting,

especially when they are expected to consult

with peers as elected representatives prior to

the meeting. Bear in mind that some young

people’s email accounts cannot receive large

packages and not all will have access to a

printer. So always send a set of papers in the

mail. Have a spare set for them when they

arrive as well in case the papers are left at

home. Each paper should have a short

summary box at the top and indicate clearly

what decisions are expected by members of

the group. The format and language used in

the papers needs to be accessible and inclusive.

Accessibility

A venue that children and young people can

feel ownership of, or are familiar with, can be

helpful but if this is not possible, thought should

be given as to what can be done to make the

venue more welcoming and accessible.

Accessibility includes wheelchair access, translation

facilities for children and young people with

hearing or sight difficulties or for whom English

is not the first language and provision of

equipment such as hearing loops. There may

be other factors that make a building less

accessible to children and young people because

of what they might associate it with or the other

people using it. If possible, consult the children

and young people about this. The administrative

support given to adults in the group should also

be extended to children and young people.

Depending on the venue chosen there may be

security provision to get through. Explain this

to children and young people and remind them

about any identification they may need to

bring. See section 7 for further information on

learning more about accessibility.

Personal development and support

Personal development sessions can take place

before formal meetings start and can continue

throughout a meeting calendar, if needed. For

example, if young members want to present

their perspective on particular issues in a formal

manner they may need to develop presentation

skills. Some adults have lost their confidence in

talking to children and young people and this may

need to be addressed through their personal

development. Children and young people could

lead on a development session in this area. If a

buddying or mentoring arrangement has been set

up, regular slots could be arranged for buddies/

mentors to work in pairs with the children and

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young people during meetings or for mentors

and mentees to communicate together, perhaps

identifying and addressing ongoing training needs.

Style and language

Children and young people do not want adults

to dumb down their language but they will

appreciate adults speaking clearly, in simple

language avoiding jargon. This has positive

benefits for adults too. Where technical

language is unavoidable a glossary or jargon

buster could be provided, which explains some

of the more complicated terms, and red cards

or flags could be used as referred to earlier. See

www.participationworks.org.uk or the extended

guide for a basic jargon buster. There are also

ways to make discussions, voting and problem

solving more visual and interactive. For example,

breaking into smaller groups often allows more

people to contribute to decision-making – use

sticky notes and spider diagrams for feeding back.

You could be brave and take away your tables

and get people to swoop seats in the meeting

or at least consider some of the wide range of

published tools that can help you to change

the style of your meetings. See section 7 for

sources of information to help you with this.

Top tip Here is a tip from the youth participation

worker in Derby Council that can be

adopted by the buddy/mentor:

I often take a note pad with me into meetings

so when professionals use words that may

lose the young people, I interpret what

they are saying. For example, with the term

‘financial implications’ I will jot down ‘the

cost of something – so if there isn’t enough

money they can’t pay for certain services’.

Case study – Harrow Youth Parliament attends cabinet meeting In order to be listened to and be able to

influence decisions taken by local politicians

that affect children and young people, the

Youth Parliament meets Harrow Council

Cabinet three times a year, the leader of

the council three times a year and the

Director of Children Services monthly.

The process The officer from the Children and Young

People’s Empowerment Team, which is

responsible for the management of the

Youth Parliament, meets up with the

children and young people to decide items

for the cabinet meeting.

A presentation slide is then prepared

which is discussed with the Director of

Children’s Services, for guidance on cabinet

presentation methods.

The children and young people then

negotiate a suitable time on the cabinet’s

agenda, usually after public questions

between 7.30pm and 8.30pm. This is to

avoid a protracted and lengthy cabinet

business discussion.

Children and young people delivering their

presentation are seated around the same

table as cabinet members and are allowed

enough time to deliver their presentation

and to discuss action plans and next steps.

Actions from the meeting are recorded in

the cabinet’s minutes for circulation to the

general public.

Follow-up meetings are held immediately

and include meetings with the leader of the

council, portfolio holders and directors to

ensure that the Youth Parliament is able to

accomplish its priorities and campaigns.

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4.4 After the meeting

Minutes

Minutes are crucial evidence from meetings,

with summaries and action points helping to

make clear what has been agreed. For some

meetings, children and young people feel that

the use of video recording or conferencing

equipment can offer an alternative to written

minutes. Whatever method is used for

recording the meeting, this should serve to

feedback and follow up on the action taken

after each meeting in a clear and proactive

way. Some organisations produce child-friendly

minutes or abridged minutes for children and

young people whereas others produce minutes

that are the same for everyone and can be read

and understood by everyone.

Following up on issues

Once an issue is brought forward there should

be a transparent process for responding.

Timescales should be agreed at the meeting,

resource implications identified, feedback on

progress given and children and young people

should be able to track that process and see

tangible outcomes or understand why change

or support was not forthcoming.

Communication; follow ups and receiving feedback

As part of the first meeting’s communication

plan, children and young people should

be given a follow-up call the day after the

meeting. This can be repeated after each

meeting, if thought appropriate and helpful.

The purpose of the call is to capture anything

that may have occurred to the child or young

person since the meeting, and to check that

the child or young person is clear about what

will happen next. Personal thanks from the

chair or administrator can be affirming and

motivating for children and young people.

Make sure children and young people can see

the results of their participation or how they

have influenced what happens next even if this

is a slow process. Outcomes from the meeting

that can be made public should also be shared.

Adopt a ‘you said – we did’ format in which

children and young people can see clearly

the impact and reach of their participation.

Again this is good practice to share with adult

members too so they can see the benefits of

their engagement. The limits of children and

young people’s influence and impact should be

made clear at the outset.

The involvement of children and young people

should be publicised as widely as possible

to raise the profile and encourage further

participation. This will increase the confidence

that children and young people have in the

process and lead to increased buy-in.

You may wish to consider letting the school,

or parents/carers know how things went if the

children or young people agree this would be

useful for them. This increases support and

appreciation from a range of sources and helps

to raise the self esteem of the participants.

Keep the communication channel (between

administrator and children and young people

or the supporting participation worker) open

between meetings. This will make children and

young people feel more valued, rather than

being called upon just when it suits adults.

From time to time call for feedback from all

meeting participants as this will help you

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to evaluate the engagement and impact of

having children and young people take part in

the meeting. Take on board areas of concern

or development to make the meetings more

effective in the future. Experience suggests that

over time adjustments may need to be made

to the timing, the breaks, the chairing style and

the structure of the meetings. If the dialogue is

open this will not be difficult to achieve.

Ongoing personal development

Ask children and young people who leave

or retire from the meeting to assist with

developing or mentoring new children and

young people who join. Provide written

references for children and young people

who have contributed to formal meetings.

Help them craft a section for their CVs.

Encourage the chair to write a thank you

letter and to formally record the thanks of

the entire meeting membership when they

attend their last meeting. Find out about any

formal development opportunities, awards

or qualifications that children and young

people could gain credits for through their

involvement in meetings.

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5. What gets in the way of involving children and young people?

Children and young people at a workshop

held to generate ideas for this guide told us

about some common barriers to engaging

children and young people, based on their own

experiences of being involved in meetings.

Alongside these, some examples of overcoming

these barriers have been added.

5.1 Not being heard

Some children and young people feel that

once at a formal meeting, ‘people don’t

listen’. Making sure that children and young

people’s views and perspectives are respected

and listened to, and acted upon as equal to

those of any other member of the meeting

is a key responsibility of all those involved,

but particularly the mentor/buddy and the

chair – both during meetings and afterwards.

Failing to feedback to children and young

people about what has happened to their

contribution, compounds the sense of not

being heard.

I do think that the suggestions I make are listened to as despite only being a trustee for a short period of time I feel like I have made a contribution to the board. One example of this is the meeting with our young people’s panel where we decided that a forum should be used as a basis for increased communication between the young people’s panel and the trustee board. (Young Trustee, Envision)

5.2 The language barrier

‘Adults using language we don’t understand’ ‘So many abbreviations’

The use of management-speak, jargon and

acronyms remains an obstacle. Anyone

attending a formal meeting in a social or

professional context that they do not normally

operate within is likely to encounter a

language barrier, which without a means of

translation makes it almost impossible to play a

meaningful role in decision-making. The chair

and all those present at the meeting should

work to overcome the natural tendency to use

language which cuts corners for those who

understand it, but excludes and risks alienating

everyone else. See www.participationworks.

org.uk or the extended guide for a basic jargon

busting list and don’t forget to consider using

red flags/cards.

Top tips Harrow engagement team suggests the

following for overcoming the language

barrier:

• Briefing notes for meetings are sent

to children and young people prior

to meetings with explanations of the

jargon.

• Someone attends a pre-meeting briefing

to acquaint him or herself with possible

jargon, and shares this with children and

young people prior to the meeting.

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Obviously as I have no business experience I have struggled in some ways with the language. Nick always explains any acronyms to the board as a whole and I think the fact that I went to an induction last year really helped me get an understanding of the language which Envision uses and this gave me a good grounding to understand the trustee meetings.(Young Trustee, Envision)

In Derby Council the youth engagement

officer gave the following example of how

they explained the term ‘commissioning’ to

a young person using an example that they

were familiar with – a fast food restaurant.

Your favourite fast food restaurant needs to

buy in a cleaning company.

There are three companies that could clean

for this restaurant. The prices for cleaning

vary from cheap to expensive. You are

the manager who needs to decide which

company gets the job.

Expensive doesn’t mean that it is the best

and the cheapest doesn’t mean it’s the worst.

You have to ask each company a set

of questions to see if they are the right

cleaning company for the restaurant. Do

they have the right cleaning products and

health and safety certificates? Are they

based in Derby? Can they work all hours?

The answers that you get to these questions

will enable you to decide who to commission.

5.3 Tokenism – the T word

Tokenism means any part of the meeting

process that serves to undermine the

involvement of children and young people’s

participation, such as inviting children and

young people too late in the planning cycle of

the meeting, or in a way that keeps up

appearances without empowering them to

contribute effectively or involving them on a

level playing field with adults. This damages

relationships and confidence among children

and young people and adults alike, and is likely

to lead to disengagement and disillusionment.

By encouraged two-way communication

between the adults and the children in the

meeting can be an important tool in avoiding

tokenistic behaviour.

An example of tokenism – ‘a waste of time and money’ A youth representative attending a regional

council meeting encountered a ‘vague

agenda’ and turned up to find that it

was ‘a tick box exercise’ with six elected

representatives. The youth representatives

felt ‘patronised’ and that there was no real

opportunity to contribute their views on

relevant issues. Overall, nothing happened

and no one seemed to benefit, apart from

those who would be able to confirm that

a meeting with children and young people

had taken place.

The willingness of the trustee board to involve young people and listen to their opinions on decisions being made really shows that they value the contribution of young people. Moreover, the fact that they rely on

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me to be the connection between the two bodies really demonstrates that they feel that the graduate trustee position is valuable to the trustee board as a whole. (Young Trustee, Envision)

5.4 Need and relevance

Children and young people we spoke to fed

back that meetings could and should be fun

while being relevant. Many children and young

people can recall experiences of being invited

to ‘meetings for meetings’ sake’, where the

wrong people have been brought together to

discuss the wrong issues at the wrong time, or

at the wrong level. Children and young people

tend to pick up on this issue immediately.

5.5 Practical barriers

There can be some practical challenges to

involving children and young people in formal

meetings, such as lack of transport, problems

over payment of expenses, or meetings

being held at times and in venues that make

attendance difficult. Issues around payment

and rewards or lack of recognition for children

and young people attending formal meetings

can create tensions.

Practical barriers vary greatly depending on

individual children and young people. For

example, disabled young people, refugee

children, traveller children, young parents

and children looked after have very different

support needs. These can vary on a one-to-one

basis within these ‘groups’.

Within Harrow Council, meetings are

held where possible at the children and

young people’s choice of venue. Seating

arrangements are then organised by

children and young people to avoid

intimidation. Children and young people

suggest agenda items – in this way they

have in-depth knowledge of what they

want to discuss and what they expect from

the meeting.

They have overcome some practical barriers

in the following ways:

• Meetings are mostly after school hours

(after 5pm).

• Children and young people are dropped

off near their homes after meetings.

‘Envision always offer a variety of dates in good time before the meeting so that if I need to rearrange anything in order to attend the meetings I have plenty of time to do so.’

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6. Case studies

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6.1 Local Youth Partnerships – London Borough of Tower Hamlets

As young global citizens and members of local

and international communities, Tower Hamlets

children have a voice. The issues are how they

express that voice, who listens and what happens.

The Local Youth Partnerships have been

developed following consultation with young

people. Instead of hosting forums or meetings,

we have developed locally based campaign

projects to ensure that children and young

people can affect local services. As part of

these projects, two young people from the

group attend and report their work to the

Local Area Partnership (LAP) steering group

– a meeting with the police, National Health

Service, head teachers and others.

Young people are given training in

communication skills, meeting skills and

confidence skills. We then provide training

to the LAP steering group members to create

awareness of the importance of involving

children and young people in formal meetings.

Before the youth representatives start their year-

long role, they meet with the chair, co-chair

and neighbourhood manager, to make sure

they feel welcome in their first meeting. They

are assigned a mentor in each meeting, so that

they can discuss the agenda and minutes from

the previous meeting and ask questions about

any jargon that might pop up. These mentors

are also offered training specific to their role.

If a young person is not very confident in

speaking, they can speak to the other youth

representative, or to their mentor to ensure

that their voice is heard.

Over the years, youth representatives and other

young people have come up with a jargon

buster (some of which has been incorporated

into a basic jargon buster which can be

downloaded at www.participationworks.org.uk.),

which helps young people and adults

understand some of the language used.

All costs are covered for the youth

representatives, including transport, food and

training. They are seen as volunteers and are

given as much support as possible to complete

their role, including a role description and

regular meetings with a youth worker.

Meetings are held from 6.30pm to 8.30pm, so

that young people can attend after school.

I have helped adults see that young people can have a say too. This role has given me so much more confidence, and I can understand my local area a lot better. (Faiza Mukith, Deputy Young Mayor, 2008)

6.2 Involvement and engagement of young people in Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings – Brent

Currently at Brent we try to involve young

people in the Overview and Scrutiny

Committee (OSC) meetings. Although it is not

the most child-friendly forum, we have some

elements of success:

• The chair of the committee is a keen

advocate of listening to children and

young people and has a proactive

approach to involving children and young

people’s views and concerns.

• The chair asks the youth parliament

to bring issues to the attention of the

committee (so that the committee can

respond to concerns raised directly by the

children and young people).

• The issues that are highlighted by

the youth parliament are taken into

consideration and on one occasion became

a piece of work that was taken on by a

task group of the committee.

• The OSC meetings take place in the

evenings and the chair always makes sure

that the agenda items where children and

young people are present are dealt with

first so they can leave after that, if needed.

• Transport costs to and from the meetings

are reimbursed to children and young

people. Also, refreshments are provided to

all attendees.

• Our chair is quite keen to have children

and young people involved so he makes

sure any jargon is explained and also

gives them a platform to speak during the

meetings.

• Copies of the agenda and supporting

documents are sent to the children

and young people attending and the

participation worker beforehand.

• As the participation lead, I brief the

children and young people in advance of

the meeting so they are not going in cold.

• The children and young people and I

usually attend the pre-brief for the OSC

meeting so we get a feel of what to expect

at the meeting.

• The chair meets with members of the Brent

Youth Parliament (BYP) on a quarterly

basis inbetween meetings (in a less formal

setting) in order to get a better idea of

the issues that affect local residents and

especially the children and young people

themselves so he can then plan the work

of the committee based on resident need.

• The minutes of the meetings always

acknowledge the children and young

people present and any contributions

made by them.

• It has been recommended that where

applicable, reports submitted to the OSC

that may have a direct impact on children

and young people should have a section

entitled ‘young people’s views’. This should

demonstrate how children and young

people are involved in discussion and that

their views are given due weight. We are

working towards implementing this in the

future.

• Before the meeting, I receive all the

relevant papers from the Policy and

Regeneration Officer.

• We have some standing members of BYP

who attend all the OSC meetings, but

any BYP member particularly interested in

the agenda item can also attend (so I pick

the right young person to attend each

meeting).

• I meet with the young people before each

meeting to explain what the paperwork is

all about.

• The young people sit in on the pre-

meeting where all the presenters and the

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AfterDuring Planning

6. Case studies

22

chair have a brief discussion on how the

meeting will be conducted. This is a good

opportunity for the young people to relax

and get to know each person and familiarise

themselves with the agenda as well as

with the chair. Then immediately after the

meeting I talk to the young people about

anything they feel needs to be further

investigated and we have an informal chat

about how the meeting went.

• Every quarter, the chair of OSC meets with

selected BYP members to talk about issues

coming to meetings.

6.3 Engaging young people on NCB’s Board of Management – the Company’s Secretary

When NCB first decided in 2001 that it was

high time to have young people on our Board

of Trustees, I had very little experience of

working with children or young people, despite

working in a children’s charity. Some of our

trustees and staff were in a similar position and

so the first thing we did was to have a

presentation from another charity who were

further down the line in engaging young people

in the decision-making process. The next thing

was to invite nine young people from NCB’s

young membership, Young NCB, to come to a

board of trustees meeting. This gave them the

opportunity to outline the work and priorities

of Young NCB and also to see how trustee

meetings worked. Four of the young people

then became our first young board members.

The impact of this important change has been

considerable. Over time, the input from the

young board members and the steps we have

put in place to facilitate their engagement,

have improved the quality of meetings for

everyone. Nowadays, board meeting agendas

are clearer and more focussed, every paper

presented at a meeting has a summary and

a list of required actions clearly identified at

the beginning, and we additionally prepare

summaries of the papers for use by young

board members and their mentors when

preparing for a meeting. We have red cards

which all participants, adult and young alike,

can raise when the jargon is getting out of

hand, and I think quite carefully about the

seating when preparing a meeting. I usually

offer the young representatives and their

mentors the ‘top slot’ opposite me and the

chair so it is easy for them to catch our eye

when they need to. I would say that these

changes have benefited us all, not just the

young participants, and that the impact on the

tone and content of meetings has been quite

marked. We have not really looked back.

6.4 Young people’s involvement in formal decision-making meetings of grant-making organisations – YouthBank UK

YouthBank UK has been supporting young

people’s involvement in the formal decision-

making meetings of grant-making

organisations such as The Big Lottery Fund,

Mediabox and The Co-operative Foundation

for the last six years. Our experiences have

shown that good preparation is the key to this

involvement being full, exciting and not tokenistic.

We have seen the benefits of exploring with

organisations the processes around their

meetings and how these may need to change

to create an environment where children and

young people and adults are equals in decision-

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AfterDuringPlanning

6. Case studies

23

making. For YouthBank this has been far more

than the practicalities of times and venues.

• Structuring meetings to include time to

set out ways that groups want to work

together, to think about what success will

look like for them and to reflect and learn

together at the beginning and end of each

meeting.

• Taking the time to train all who will

be involved, together as a team, to

understand the criteria and the tools that

they will be using to make decisions.

• Spending time building relationships and

the confidence of all involved and allowing

everyone to set out and talk about their

hopes and fears of working across the

generations. Supporting both children and

young people and adults to respect each

other’s experiences and to acknowledge

that this will be gained in different ways

but be equally as valuable.

• Introducing methods of decision-making

that are dynamic, visual and, very

importantly, make use of limited time.

Neither adults nor young people want or

should be expected to sit through hours of

unstructured debate that could potentially

lead to people making quick decisions just

to end the boredom!

• Acknowledging that sometimes formal

meetings don’t need to change drastically

to include children and young people. The

focus needs to be on looking at process

and structure to meet the function of the

meetings while including all.

• It has proved helpful to have one person

who can be a step away from the meeting

content but can make sure the process

runs smoothly and supports children and

young people to have their say. We have

worked with children and young people as

chairs to enable them to take on part of

this role as time goes on.

6.5 Youth councillors’ involvement in formal meetings – East Hampshire District Council

A group of youth councillors from the same

school have been involved in a number of

formal meetings with two councillors, one of

their school governors and their head teacher

regarding their Youth Debt project. The school

governor and head teacher have been involved

due to their school being our pilot and have

been useful in advising the young people on

how their peer drop-in focusing on money

could run. The head teacher helped the young

people to be realistic and to consider what

could be put in place in order to make the

drop-in a success.

My role as a participation worker was key to this

process as I kept communication going with the

young people after each meeting so they knew

what further dates had been planned for meetings

or project work, what they needed to do and

what I needed to do and by what date. We also

met to complete the project work together and

made use of our Youth Council sub-group time to

complete the work required. The formal meetings

took place on a monthly basis and these meetings

generated the work which was required for the

following month so the young people and I met

at least twice a month to work on the areas

that needed completing. We timetabled these

AfterDuring Planning

AfterDuring Planning

6. Case studies

24

sessions in as soon as the formal meeting had

ended to ensure we had enough time to

complete the tasks. The types of practical work

I supported them in included: creating a

confidentiality agreement, creating a money

quiz for their virtual learning environment at

school, designing posters for the drop-in session,

deciding on questions that could be asked on

their money DVD, reviewing the DVD, arranging

mock phone calls with Connexions, advertising

for other young money advisors and creating

an advert for their drop-in to show in assemblies.

These considerations and further pieces of

work have taken a long time (nearly a year)

but the interest in this piece of work and

motivation has remained high due to the

support the young people have received and

the ownership they have over the project due

to their ideas being the driving force behind it.

6.6 Young people on the board – The Children’s Society

We have made a commitment to support

five young people who use Children’s Society

services to attend and take part in discussions

at the organisation’s trustee board. This

commitment has been in place for nearly a

decade. As an organisation, we are continually

reflecting on and trying to improve the

methods we use to ensure that young people

are taken seriously, feel able to contribute to

the discussions in the meetings and have an

influence on the decisions.

Our starting point is to ensure that we recruit

and appoint the right people to sit on the board

so young people are part of the recruitment of

new Trustees and new appointments to the

Society Management Team.

The other part of the process is the preparation

session before the board meeting. The Director

of the Children and Young People’s Division

prepares a young person’s summary of the

board papers and spends the morning before

the afternoon meeting going through the

agenda items, drawing upon the key items that

we want to hear a young person’s perspective

on. The preparation sessions are important

because the young people can discuss issues

related to the agenda of the board meeting or

any other issues of concern to them with a

senior manager within the organisation. This

informal but purposeful nature of the dialogue

makes this session valuable from all perspectives.

Preparation sessions are useful. We have time to look at things and discuss. We spend more energy on this and it means when we get into the big meeting we have done it. (young person on the Children’s Society

board)

Penny explains it to us. We know what it’s all about. She has mini debates with us to draw our opinions out. (young person on the Children’s Society

board)

As a young person referred to spending the

energy in the pre meeting, we had to think

of a way of capturing the comments and

reflecting them back in the big meeting.

We tried a number of things, a couple of

Trustees attending the pre meeting and being

aware of the dialogues and supporting young

people in the board meeting, or young people

making notes of their comments and raising

the point in the board meeting.

AfterDuringPlanning

AfterDuringPlanning

6. Case studies

25

7. Where to find further information

Burke, Tom (2010) Listen and Change –

A guide to children and young people’s

participation rights, 2nd edition. Children’s

Rights Alliance for England. This guide aims to

increase understanding of children and young

people’s participation rights and how they can

be realised in local authority and third sector

settings. Order at:

http://www.participationworks.org.uk/

resources/listen-and-change-a-guide-to-

children-and-young-peoples-participation-

rights

Council for Disabled Children (2004) Come

on in: a practical guide for children’s services

– The Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

This publication provides examples of issues

around physical access and a number of audit

tools that may be used as a reference for your

meetings. Download at: http://www.ncb.org.

uk/dotpdf/open_access_2/come_on_in_2004.

pdf

Cummings, Andrew (2007) UK Youth’s

Curriculum Toolkit – young people’s

participation in decision making. UK Youth.

ISBN – 1-904479-18-9

Dalzell, Ruth with Hearn,Barbara and

Young, Janine (2010) Children and Young

People’s Involvement in Formal Meetings:

A practical guide. Download at: www.

participationworks.org.uk from the end of May

2010

Davey, Ciara (2010) Children’s Participation in

Decision-making. NCB. Download at:

http://www.participationworks.org.uk from the

end of May 2010

Griffiths, Adam, Moore, Suzanne and

Wales, Alecia (2001) Conferences and events

– children and young people’s participation.

NSW Commission for Children and Young

People. The NSW Commission for Children

and Young People (Australia) has created some

resources for organisations that want practical

advice about how to involve children and

young people in activities, events and

decision-making about issues that affect

their lives. Download at:

http://kids.nsw.gov.au/kids/resources/

participationkit/conferencesevents.cfm#involved

Kirby, P with NCB (2003) Building a Culture

of Participation; involving children and young

people in policy, service planning, delivery and

evaluation. Research report and handbook.

London: NCB. Download the research

report at; http://tinyurl.com/pqbwra and the

handbook at; http:// tinyurl.com/necrsr

Monaghan, Rachel (compiled by) (2007)

The Big Idea – Involving young people in

projects around the development of the built

environment. NCB. ISBN 978-1-905818-17-4

Save the Children (2010) Two sides to a

story – A toolkit for young asylum seekers,

advocating for change in service provision. The

toolkit contains all the activities you will need

to plan and carry out a workshop with a range

of service providers aimed at positive change.

The Brighter Futures project created the toolkit

and you can get a copy by emailing your

request to metdes@thetrinitycentre.org

Willmott, Natasha and Shaw, Catherine

(2006) Young people on NCB’s board of

Management – An evaluation of the first three

years. NCB. Download at:

http://www.ncb.org.uk/PDF/ypob_eval.pdf

8. Where to find further inform

ation

26

How to guides

These guides published by NCB support

practitioners in improving the involvement of

children and young people in decision-making.

Order at: http://www.participationworks.org.

uk/resources?filter1=HowToGuide

Clark, David and Oliver, Clare (2008)

How to involve children and young people in

governance.

Cutler, Paul (2008) How to involve children

and young people in commissioning.

Martin, Kate with I CAN (2008) How to

involve children and young people with

communication impairments in decision-

making.

Pryse, Steven (2007) How to safeguard

children and young people.

Pryse, Steven (2008) How to work

successfully with children and young people

from different faiths and cultures.

Pryse, Steven (2009) How to involve ‘hard to

reach’ children and young people.

Young, Janine (2009) How to build a culture

of participation.

Participation Works also has a legislation

update where you can see the latest legislative

and policy framework relating to children and

young people’s participation.

http://www.participationworks.org.uk/topics/

policy/participation-legislation

Training and consultancy support

NCB has involved children and young people

in formal meetings and in its governance for

many years. It has expertise in offering your

organisation consultancy on governance and

practical participation for adults who want to

effectively engage children and young people

in their work. Contact Janine Young at

jyoung@ncb.org.uk for further details.

The British Youth Council (BYC) offers

training workshops to empower young people

across the UK, developing their skills so they

can have a say and be heard and inspiring

them to get involved locally, nationally

and internationally. Training from the BYC

includes ‘Youth at the Table’, which supports

young trustees or committee members in

organisations and ‘Putting Your Point Across’ a

suite of training sessions designed to train and

skill up young people in representative roles.

BYC also provides a bespoke training and

consultancy service tailored to the needs of

your organisation. Full details can be found in

the training section of the BYC website

www.byc.org.uk/training

Participation Works offers bespoke training

and consultancy on Building a Culture of

Participation. For more information contact

enquiries@participationworks.org.uk or

0207 843 6803.

8. Where to find further inform

ation

27

Planning

Planning

Participation Works 8 Wakley Street, London EC1V 7QE www.participationworks.org.uk

Participation Works is based at the NCB Registered charity number 258825

Participation Works enables organisations to effectively involve children and young people in the development, delivery and evaluation of services that affect their lives.