1st March 2005: Strategic Group Meeting

Notes from the Growing Up in the West Midlands Strategic Group, 1st March 2005

 

1) Present: Dave Boucker, Simon Cottingham, Barry Lockwood, Peter Miller, Alison Straker

 

Apologies: Rob Burkitt, Rob Sabin

 

2) The event was felt to have had a positive impact, particularly on the representatives of regional organisations that attended. It was felt that we still had not gone far enough to enable the sector to engage with the complexities of regional strategy and policy. In particular it was felt that there were greater barriers to engaging children’s organisations, as there is less support and structure available to them than to the youth sector, and less of a history and culture of engagement.

 

3) Aims and principles were set for the strategic group (as set out in the revised Growing Up Report). Travel expenses are available for members of the group. Alison will prepare claims forms in advance of the next meeting.

A convenor of meetings will be appointed. Alison will provide administrative support to the group.

 

4) It was agreed to work around the five outcomes of Every Child Matters and to use that as a tool for interpreting regional policy and strategy to the sector and for interpreting the needs of the sector and children and young people to regional strategists.

 

It was proposed that we could develop regional indicators to replace the national ones and to ensure appropriate consideration of ‘soft’ outcomes.

 

It was agreed that the outcomes were usefully represented under two key themes:

 

  • Personal well-being and development (encompassing being healthy, staying safe, and enjoying and achieving)

 

  • Community development (encompassing making a positive contribution, achieving economic well-being, and enjoying and achieving)

 

Enjoying and achieving (featuring in both) was felt to cover both themes and to underpin the ethos of the sector and its approach to working with children and young people.

 

Before the next meeting Alison and Simon are to begin mapping key policy areas to the five outcomes. One focus of the next meeting will be to expand upon this work. The next meeting will also see the beginning of more detailed action planning for the year’s activity.

 

A key priority for the next 12 months has to be securing the future of regional engagement.

 

5) It was agreed that the group needed to expand to include more members with more diverse experiences.  The maximum group size we aim for is 10. Several individuals were mentioned as potential members and will be approached as soon as possible in the hope that they may be able to attend the next meeting.

 

6) The dates of the next meetings are:

 

Thursday 14th April 2005 1pm - 3pm at BAYC

 

Thursday 12th May 2pm - 4pm at RAWM