Guidance and Good Practice

!!Youth Participation - getting young people involved __The National Council of Voluntary Youth Services__ offers information and advice on youth participations as well as examples of good practice. To find out more about youth particiaption, what it is, and why you might want to do it [click here|http://www.ncvys.org.uk/docs/youth/whatisyouthparticipation.html]. Download ten core principles of youth participation [here|http://www.ncvys.org.uk/pdfs/Young%20Partners%20principles.pdf]. Find out how to get started with youth participation [here|http://www.ncvys.org.uk/pdfs/participation%20getting%20started.pdf]. __Save the Children__ promotes children's rights to participate, and tries to fully involve young people in the projects it funds, from design through to implementation. We enable children to take part, for example, in UN summits and other major conferences, where they can speak out and influence world leaders. We fund citizenship education, that helps young people acquire the skills and confidence to play an active part in their community, as well as develop a sense of rights and responsibilities. We try to make sure that vulnerable groups such as disabled children and child refugees get an equal chance to participate. [For more information...|http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/scuk/jsp/whatwedo/subtheme.jsp?section=equalityrights&subsection=participationcitizenship] __Youth Action Network__ is a membership organisation that supports and develops a range of youth volunteering projects across England. We provide training, information and guidance.[For more information...|http://www.youth-action.org.uk/] __Children's Rights Alliance (CRAE)__ is an alliance of over 180 organisations committed to children’s human rights. A new initiative, Ready Steady Change is producing training and tools to put children's and young people's wishes, feelings and ideas at the centre of public services. [For the latest developments|http://www.crae.org.uk/index.html] Find out more about youth participation from CRAE [here|http://www.crae.org.uk/participation/participation.html] [Including Children and Young People in Children's Rights Work|http://www.crae.org.uk/participation/guidelines.html] __Hear by Right__ offers tried and tested standards for organisations across the statutory and voluntary sectors to assess and improve practice and policy on the active involvement of children and young people. [For more information|http://www.nya.org.uk/hearbyright/home.asp?cid=180&cats=215] __Carnegie Young People's Initiative__ ''We are the only organisation to focus fully on participation. We specialise in research, policy development and piloting innovative projects.'' [Participation publications|http://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/cypi/publications]. [Support and information for participation workers|http://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/cypi/participation_workers]. [Learning to Listen: Core Principles for the Involvment of Children and Young People|http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/_files/1F85704C1D67D71E30186FEBCEDED6D6.pdf]

Regional Strategic Engagement Framework

Regional Action West Midlands coordinated the development (by young people) of a Strategic Engagement Framework for young people in the region. It has the following ten points at its core: #Foster a culture in decision-making structures that welcomes and takes on board the views of young people. #Provide opportunities and incentives for young people to be involved with all of the regional issues that affect their lives not just the policies and strategies and initiatives specifically designed or developed for young people. #Ensure regional policies and strategies take account of the needs, hopes, ambitions and interests of young people. #Actively seek to encourage engagement from young people that reflect the rich diversity of the region given its population mix and combination of rural and urban settings. #Adopt a range of approaches to involving young people that acknowledges and respects that young people may want to be involved at different levels and for differing periods of time. #Put in place mechanisms to support young people involved in decision making structures and ensure this is reinforced by a programme of training to enhance decision making capability and to develop skills. #Ensure all communication with young people is honest and works to foster realistic expectations. #Support youth engagement with adequate and appropriate expertise, time, funding and organisational systems and processes. #Set policies and standards for youth engagement ensuring they are written, implemented, monitored, evaluated and continuously improved. #Put in place an accessible communications plan to ensure that key strategic and consultation documents are ‘youth friendly’ in their content, style and layout |For more information about the Strategic Engagement Framework please contact [Sharon Palmer|mailto:sharonp@rawm.co.uk].

Things for children and young people to do

Getting involved at a regional level in the West Midlands

How can I use my MEPs to change things? (And, anyway, what is an MEP?)

Click here http://www.europarl.org.uk/uk_meps/westmidlands.asp  to find out who the Members of Euopean Parliament for the West Midlands are and how to contact them.

UK Youth Parliament

We aim to give the young people of the UK, between the age of 11 and 18 a voice, which will be heard and listened to by local and national government, providers of services for young people and other agencies who have an interest in the views and needs of young people. UKYP has the support of Prime Minister Tony Blair, Leader of the Opposition, and the Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

 Please email west.midlands@ukyouthparliament.org.uk ''The UKYP also coordinates elections for the youth seat on the West Midlands Regional Assembly.''

Getting involved at a national or local level

Young People Get Active 

''be informed, be active'' The young people's project of the Children's Rights Alliance

Child Line Kid Zone

Child Line is the UK's free, 24-hour helpline for children in distress or danger. Why not check out thier kids zone featuring:Boys allowed, BT Child Line Awards, Cartoon competition, Celebrity zone, FUNdraising, Problem page, Quiz corner, True stories and much more...

Young NCB

Young NCB is the free membership network for all children and young people run by the National Children's Bureau.

NSPCC Kids Zone

The NSPCC believes that every child has the right to be safe, valued and happy. Our mission is to end cruelty to children. FULL STOP. Kids Zone is a website for YOU to find out MORE about the NSPCC.

British Youth Council (BYC)

''The voice of young people in the UK'' BYC represents and involves a unique coalition of young people through their involvement as individuals or through their youth organisations. We bring young people together to agree on issues of common concern and encourage them to bring about change through taking collective action.

Children's Express

Children's Express (UK) is a programme of learning through journalism for young people aged 8-18. It's much more than a hobby – the members of our bureaux around the UK regularly see their work in local and national newspapers, and hear each other on radio and television.

Heads Up

If you are under 18 and want to discuss the latest political issues, then this site is for you!

How can I make a difference through my MP?

Find out at http://www.locata.co.uk/commons/ which constituency you are in, who your local MP is and how to contact him or her. You can search by postcode, by name or by constituency.

Why Bother?

!Why should we engage children and young people regionally and sub-regionally in strategy and policy development? There are many reasons, we believe, to involve young people actively in strategy and policy development, these include: *Maintenance of civil society: *Young people and youth organisations make a vital contribution to civil society, in particular in relation to informal learning, citizenship, community cohesion and inclusion *They have a vital role in contributing to the change and development process – young people will be pension providers and tax payers *Young people have specific needs in terms of learning and physical development *They should have a say in how services are delivered to them – often they have no voice in development or review of services *They do seek advice and they can support each other *They make a large economic contribution to the region *Young people are both future workers and entrepreneurs *We need to encourage and enable young people to be a part of public decision-making It is important to recognise the many and varied ways in which young people can be engaged in democratic processes. Getting involved in the regional agenda, and becoming an active citizen, is equally about how we interact with the people we meet or how we address our housing needs as it is about sitting as a representative on the Regional Assembly. The nature and emphasis of our engagement in these processes is at least in part dependent on our age, but there is overwhelming evidence to suggest that from a young age people are interested in the issues – be it transport or economic development – that impact on all of us as individuals and communities. The need, therefore, is to involve young people as members of communities (and of voluntary and community organisations) in engaging in the regional agenda for the benefit of the region and its people as a whole.