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2D recognises the importance of listening to the views of children and young people and created the posts of “Young People’s Participation Worker”.
Robert Fothergill is the worker for Wear Valley and Susie Blackburn covers Teesdale.
'Children and Young Peoples Participation Worker' sounds quite a mouthful, so what does it mean to you?
It means that Robert or Susie can visit your school, club or other group where you live to offer support to you and those working with you.
Alternatively, if you don’t have anything for you where you live and there is a group of you who want to discuss new activities they can come out to meet with you.
A feedback report has been issued from the workshops held early in September which were aimed at helping County Durham's voluntary and community sector engage with the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda.
Every organisation that has children and young people among its clients needed to familiarise itself with this important new structure for the provision of children's services.
Click here to see the report
The role of the LSP Participation Workers for Children and Young People have developed considerably since its establishment in the Autumn of 2005. This has seen a broadening of the age range to cover from birth to age 19 and a strong partnership has been built with a cross-section of organisations in the districts as a result.
These posts have a primary focus on inclusive participation work for children and young people in decisions that affect them, with a particular emphasis on the Every Child Matters agenda. This has included raising the profile of this, particularly in the voluntary and community sector.
Some of the areas of work so far have included:
• Support to local voluntary & community groups to develop more opportunities for participation with children & young people
• Monitoring and supporting Children’s Fund projects across the districts
• Work with the Community Network to help the annual conference become more inclusive for all ages
• Encouraging and helping young people to find the best avenues for voicing their views on issues relevant to them
• Supporting local groups through a small funds grant scheme in Wear Valley
Moving forward, there are plans for local youth forums in and around Wear Valley, Weardale, and parts of Teesdale which will allow young people to have a bigger voice.
Both the Wear Valley and Teesdale Mercury are interested in having a Youth page where the news is either written by young people or about young people; focusing on the positives rather than the negatives!
If you are interested in joining these please let Robert or Susie know and they will contact you as soon as these start moving ahead.
Children and Young People improving local hospitals
Children and young people from across County Durham were invited to share their experiences of the local hospitals.
 Nathan, Terence and Jonny would like to keep you posted on how their research is going to gather the views of children and young people about their local hospitals.
They have spoken to around 150 people and are in the process of evaluating their findings before joining other young people, from across the County, to present the results to those in authority. The next step is a visit and meeting with staff at Bishop Auckland hospital later this month.
Thanks are particularly expressed to King James I, Bishop Barrington, St Johns RC schools in Bishop Auckland, together with Coundon, St Helens and Crook primary schools and the Young Carers groups for their help with the research.
Here's a report showing their excellent work
Click here
Remember…your voice really does matter – don’t forget to use it.
Live in Wear Valley? Whether you are young yourself, or you work with children and young people, please feel free to contact Robert by phone, text or e-mail on:
01388 762220, 07725 707560 or r.fothergill@2d.org.uk
Or in Teesdale?... Susie is available on:
01833 696658, 07738 768261
s.blackburn@2d.org.uk
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