Listen Up - Social Welfare Portal

listenup!60 | Chapter 8The rest of this chapter explores the different waysyoung people can be consulted and involved in theservices they use.Youth advisory boards“We’re consulted on all things… even down to thecost of the group.”Young personFive of the eight partner sites ran a youth advisoryboard to provide young people with a forumin which they had an effective voice within theorganisation. Through these boards, young peoplecan have the opportunity to influence organisationaldevelopment, provision and delivery from the ‘grassroots’ up to strategic and operational level. They canalso become powerful advocates of the organisationto the wider community and contribute to theyoung persons’ mental health agenda on a local andnational level.These boards varied in nature and size, but were allseen as an essential part of achieving meaningfuland effective young person participation, and all metat regular intervals throughout the year. All youngpeople were welcome to be a member of the board.At some services, young people who had movedon from the organisation were also welcome tocontinue their membership for a period of time.All boards were allocated a member of staff as coordinator,to provide relevant information about theorganisation to the board, and to keep the board’sdiscussions focused and purposeful. Young peopleat Experience in Mind, run by Mind in Brightonand Hove and Hove YMCA, stressed that the youngpeople on the board were the major decisionmakers,not the project worker.“He [project worker] won’t accept he’s part of thegroup – he says it’s our project.”Young personAll members of each board were involved indecisions on the running, development anddirection of the board. Each of the boards wasprovided with a small amount of annual fundingfor activities, events and equipment, for which theyoung people were responsible.Case StudyA group of young people who used the service at The Market Place in Leeds were members of theHYPE youth advisory board group – ‘Helping Young People through Experience’. The group metmonthly and had a valued and crucial role in shaping organisation provision and delivery, from the‘grass roots’ to the operational and strategic level. HYPE were consulted on the physical environmentof the organisation (e.g. decoration, colour schemes) and staff recruitment and training, and helpedto write funding applications, design promotional materials including leaflets, posters and thewebsite, and decide on the types of groups and activities on offer. They also consulted with externalprofessionals such as policy makers and commissioners.All members felt confident that The Market Place was fully committed to listening to their feedbackand using this to influence all aspects of service and practice development. The HYPE groupviewed their role as a voice for both their peers within the organisation, and for peers in the widercommunity to advocate for young people’s needs and challenge stigma and discrimination.