The involvement of children, young people and their families in the development of services is vital in ensuring that our future provision is relevant, effective, and sustainable. Cumberland Council supports a number of Participation and Engagement groups, and we use different approaches to ensure we capture the voice of as many children and young people as possible. We recognise and understand there are many children and young people and we will work hard to ensure opportunities are available to all children and young people in Cumberland, regardless of where they live and what barriers they face.
Cumberland Youth Voice Participation and Engagement groups
There are a number of participation and engagement groups to get involved in.
Cumberland Youth Council
Cumberland Youth Council is a group for young people who are aged 11-19yrs representing the voice of all children and young people living in Cumberland. They campaign on issues raised and voted for by young people across Cumberland through the national Make Your Mark campaign. The current campaign is Culture, Media and Sport.
Cumberland Youth Council is open to all children and young people within the Cumberland area, aged 11–19 years providing the opportunity for children and young people to become involved in shaping what happens in their community and informing decisions that will affect their lives.
Chat 2 Change
“Allows you to express yourself whilst giving you the chance to meet people with similar shared experiences. We support each other without judgement a step at a time to make changes for care experienced young people in Cumberland.”
Cumberland Chat 2 Change is a group for young people who are aged 16-25yrs representing the voice of all young people who are care experienced from Cumberland. They campaign on issues identified by young people and make change for care experienced young people.
Chat 2 Change is available to any young person with care experience, who is aged 16 to 25yrs and from the Cumberland area.
Courage Influences Creative Change – CICC
"We are a group that helps Cared for young people aged 10-16 get their voice heard, like a tag team we help each other to share what we think should change. It also gives us a chance to meet new people and make new friends."
Cumberland CICC (Courage Influences Creative Change) is a group for young people who are aged 10-16yrs representing the voice of all young people who are Cared For from Cumberland. They campaign on issues identified by young people and focus on making change for cared for young people.
Unique Voices
Unique Voices is a group for young people aged 11 to 25 years old who have SEND in Cumberland. It’s a safe space to get your voice heard. We are all supportive within the group. We came up with the name Unique Voices because nobody is the same.
Cumberland Unique Voices is a group for young people who are aged 11-24yrs representing the voice of all children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities living in Cumberland. They campaign on issues identified by young people, there current focus is on accessibility and inclusion.
Other opportunities
We understand that our participation and engagement groups are not for everyone, and we will actively seek out opportunities to connect with a wide range of our children and young people. We are committed to ensuring children and young people are involved in service design, delivery, evaluation and transformation.
There are other approaches we employ to hear our children and young people’s voices.
Mind of My Own
We are introducing Mind of My Own to give the children and young people who are supported by Cumberland Council’s Children’s and Family Wellbeing services, an easy way to tell us their wishes and feelings.
Mind Of My Own One
This enables young people to create a structured statement of their views in relation to events and situations they encounter while receiving support from Cumberland Council Children’s and Family Wellbeing Services. This could include cared for reviews, personal education meetings, Child Protection Conferences, Family Group Conferences, Pathway Planning, raising a problem or complaint, sharing good news, reviewing their wellbeing and as part of the overall assessment process.
Mind of My Own Express
This is designed specifically for younger children and those with learning difficulties or disabilities, the app can help children and young people have their voice heard regarding their education, life, health and care.
Signs of Safety
In Cumberland we use a Signs of Safety model of practice. Working in a strengths-based, solution-focused way, we place children and families in charge of their own lives and empower them to achieve long lasting and sustainable safety, wellbeing and success.
Signs of Safety is an innovative strengths-based approach, using solution focused practice to support the family and network to come up with their own solutions to their difficulties, moving away from professionals like Schools, school workers or health visitors having the answers and telling families what to do.
UK Youth Parliament
The Member of UK Youth Parliament (MYP) for Cumberland is the lead voice for children and young people locally, regionally, and nationally.
The MYP is elected through a peer-led process to ensure that the voice and priorities of children and young people are represented through policy and decision-making.
Key responsibilities of the MYP include attending the annual UK Youth Parliament Annual Conference and the House of Commons Sitting, at which they develop and set UK-wide policies and manifestos. The MYP keeps in contact with his constituents, so he knows and understands the issues that are of utmost importance to them.
Being a MYP gives him the opportunity to express the concerns and wishes of the children and young people of Cumberland regarding things that are important to them, whether it is regionally or nationally. The MYP plays a very important role in developing leading and participating cultures among children and young people. The MYP gets elected for a period of two years.
Cumberland Council supports this program through resources and finances for the MYP to carry out the job.
Advocacy
NYAS advocates are independent from professionals such as social workers, police and your parents or carers.
Advocates listen to what you want, inform you of your rights and empower you to get your voice heard. They ensure your wishes and feelings are expressed and acted upon to improve your situation.
Advocates can help children and young person to:
- speak up for themselves and make sure they are involved in decisions affecting their lives
- understand what choices are available and inform them of their rights and entitlements
- prepare for and take part in meetings
- access other relevant services and signpost to additional helpful support
- understand information in a way or format that is accessible to them
- make a formal complaint and raise any queries and concerns