You said, we did

Examples of involvement work

You will find on this page some summary information about the fantastic range of involvement work taking place across York. The engagement log is a fantastic tool that draws together information about the wide range of engagement work that is taking place with children and young people. If you are planning to or have engaged children or young people then make sure to log it on the engagement log. If you would like to get details about activites on the engagement log then contact Niall McVicar on 01904 554444.

From 2009-2011 19 new/updated play areas were installed across the city.   The play areas were developed in consultation with local communities – families, children and young people.  The sites were mainly aimed at 8-13 year olds.  The sites were installed to address gaps in play provision identified through consultation and the PPG17 Open Spaces audit.

Playbuilder targeted the following areas: Acomb, Bishopthorpe, Clifton, Haxby and Wigginton, Heworth, Heworth Without, Holgate, Hull Road, Huntington and New Earswick, Rural West York, Skelton Rawcliffe and Clifton Without, Strensall, Westfield, Wheldrake

Integrated Youth Support Services - Youth Support Services

The consultation was conducted in preparation for the restructuring of Young People's Services and the Youth Offending Team.  Young people, aged 11 to 18, were consulted as they are, in the main, the users of the current services.

The consultation was carried out city wide.

Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance - Careers Education

Questionnaires have been completed by young people in KS3, KS4 and KS5 from schools across the city regarding information, advice and guidance available to young people about careers and education choices.  We are hoping to hold a focus group with a small number of young people as well.

The consultation was carried out city wide.

Energise - Junior Sportsability

Junior Sportsability is a multisports session for disabled young people to take part in sport. Attendance numbers have been low recently so a consultation was carried out with young people in order to establish why this was and what could be done to improve the service.  The consultation was aimed at young disabled people, aged 5 to 16, who aren't accessing the session.

The consultation was carried out city wide.

Neighbourhood Working (Area Base Working)

The Change Champion project (lead by the City of York Council Youth Support Services) is a project designed to involve and engage with children and young people to gain an understanding of local issues that affect them.  Change Champions are children and young people from schools who consult with their peers to gain an understanding of concerns which they want to resolve or raise, from within their local area.  The Champions bring these along to a workshop style event to explore possible solutions with local councillors, council officers and other service providers.  This project has been used to gain an understanding of local issues that affect children and young people as part of the area based working pilot which was launched in October 2010 in Acomb, Dringhouses and Woodthorpe; Holgate; Micklegate; Rural West and Westfield wards.  As part of this initiative, Ward Partnership meetings were held in November 2010, which brought together ward councillors, council officers, and representatives of local organisations.  At these meetings key priorities were identified for each of the 6 participating wards.  A common theme which emerged from these meetings was young people, and a task group was set up to look feedback from the Ward Partnerships. 

So far Change Champion events have taken place in 3 wards including Micklegate, Acomb and Westfield and involved the following schools: All Saints, The Mount, Millthorpe, Hob Moor, Carr Junior with a number of other schools also expressing an interest.  The plan for the Neighbourhood Working will be to roll it out city wide 6 wards followed by a further 6 wards.

You can find out more information about neighbourhood working by visiting the YorCommunity pages.

The young researchers, aged 14 to 18, look at an issue in the city and get a young persons perspective, last year they researched poverty and gave their recommendations to the city poverty strategy to include in their new strategy.

The consultation was carried out city wide. 

The scheme recruits, trains and supports young people to inspect and give feedback on services in the city.  The programme seeks to engage disadvantaged young people.

The consultation was carried out city wide.

Young people from across the City are supported in representing the needs of young people in the City across a variety of issues and campaigns.

The consultation was carried out city wide.

The Take Part York programme provides tailored resources and workshops to schools (primary and secondary) about citizenship, having a voice and learning how to have a say in order to create better neighbourhoods. It also introduces ward committees and the role of ward councillors as well as key partners who are working in the locality. The events can be done in the form of assemblies, whole or part days or individual lessons and the team will discuss with the school/youth club leader beforehand to see how best to link it in with any current topics.

The programme has involved primary and secondary students, youth clubs and York Youth Council.

This consultation was carried out city wide.

Storycatch Project

In 2010 Creativity, Culture & Education (CCE) commissioned five local authorities: Birmingham, Ealing, Haringey, Manchester and York, to capture stories about the delivery and engagement with 0-5 year olds through creative and cultural activities.

The project aims to celebrate the good work that can be replicated or adapted by other professionals, parents and carers so that good ideas and practices can be shared and spread.

YorKash

The YorKash scheme involved training and supporting young people to be members of a grant making panel. The scheme has been running in York in various forms for over 10 years and has provided young people from diverse backgrounds with the opportunity to take control of the grant making process: defining priorities, writing the application form, designing publicity, assessing and interviewing applicants and organising a celebrate and evaluation event. The scheme also asks that young people take an active role in applying for grants, encouraging services to give young people the opportunity to bid for money for projects they are interested in. Although this project has now come to an end the knowledge and experience gained from running this scheme still proves to be a great resource.

CANDI (Children and Inclusion)

CANDI is a parent led forum for parents of disabled children and young people, or those who have additional needs, in York and the surrounding area. The group aims to enable disabled children and their families to lead full and meaningful lives, through seeking to improve services and by providing informal social support.

The booklet “You Said, we did” available on www.yor-ok.org.uk/cypp details issues raised by disabled children, young people and their families and what has been done to address them so far and plans for the future as well.

Children’s Centres

Children Centres provide services for mums, dads and carers of 0 to 5 year olds in their local communities. Parents and carers can get involved in by joining their local Parents Involvement Group. Once a month parents/carers and staff get together to talk about ideas, discuss concerns and successes and share views on the services and what parents or carers would like to see.

Children’s Centres also have a partnership board which meets three times a year. These are made up of parent representatives and professionals from different agencies and their role is to oversee the running of the Children’s Centre.