It’s been a busy time for the Young Voices Youth Parliament. Since the Parliament started in Suffolk in Dec 2009, we have consulted young people with additional needs in Suffolk on the following topics: leisure, education, transitions, health and most recently keeping safe.
From these topics the group have identified ‘significant changes’ that they feel need to be made to improve services and the lives of young people living in Suffolk.
A steering group made up of service users and ex-service users from VoiceAbility and Out & About,(the two organisations that facilitate the Young Voices Youth Parliament), has also been set up. The Hearing Voices Steering Group will help steer these organisations and services in Suffolk, involving young people in decision making and delivery of these services. The group will work closely with the Youth Parliament, enabling the voice of young people in Suffolk to be heard and listened too.
Current Projects
Suffolk Stay Safe Card – the original idea was taken from the Cambridge Stay Safe Card; youth MP’s in Suffolk said that it would be a good for Suffolk to have their one of their own. The card contains emergency contact information in case the holder gets lost, worried or needs help. This will be supported by having safe zones, where the holder can go for help. These ‘zones’ have been identified through consultation with various groups of vulnerable people and with other organisations working in partnership with the Youth Parliament to achieve this. These include Suffolk Constabulary, Suffolk Hate Crime Service, Adult Safeguarding and Suffolk County Council. The card will be piloted in Felixstowe during the late summer 2011.
Don’t Risk It – during consultation for the Health Parliament, it was identified that there wasn’t enough accessible information about sexual education and sexual health for young people. Working with Suffolk Integrated Health, the Youth MP’s decided that there needed to be an easy-read page on the ‘No Risk’ sexual health website www.norisks.co.uk.
The Youth MP’s came up with the slogan ‘Don’t Risk it’, to be used as the title for the new section. The Youth MP’s and members of the Hearing Voices Steering Group worked with a local street artist to produce a banner that will be used as a link to the page as well as a promotion tool. For the full story you can follow this link:
Partnership working with Suffolk Constabulary – following a pledge made at the Keeping Safe Parliament, the Youth MP’s and Steering Group members were invited by Chief Inspector Kerry Cutler to a day at the Police HQ in Martlesham Heath to work on some ideas for new accessible information. The young people came up with three ideas around cyber bullying, respect and drinking responsibly. Suffolk Constabulary will investigate these ideas further, with the plan to use them in future campaigns. STOP PRESS!!: Suffolk Constabulary have sourced funding to help make the DVD/Film/Animation about cyber bullying.
Work in Progress
Suffolk Health Passport – currently Cambridge Youth Parliament is running a health passport pilot with Addenbrookes Hospital, and we are waiting to see the results from the scheme, so we can see the best way to proceed in Suffolk.
Person Centred Planning/Transitions – A DVD and leaflet has been produced and the Youth Parliament is looking into the best way to get this circulated to the relevant people.
SuffolkLink – they are working on 2 issues, identified at the Young Voices Youth Parliament Day on health. Firstly, providing accessible information and body maps in GP’s and hospitals. This has been taken to the boards of NHS Suffolk Patient Experience Network and NHS Gt Yarmouth and Waveney. They have requested examples and will be consider how to progress this idea. Secondly, age appropriate wards. It has been recognised that separate wards would not be feasible in Suffolk, but ways to improve young people’s experiences whilst in hospital are being looked into.
The Young Voices Youth Parliament is gaining recognition in Suffolk as a group that supports young people with additional needs. It enables them to get their voice heard and for that voice to be heard and listened to by the people that can make changes to their lives and the lives of other young people.
Its currently has 17 Youth MP’s from all over Suffolk, with plans to get more young people involved in the new school term.
The next Youth Parliament Day will be held on October 14th 2011, the topic will be ‘Young People Services’ – what’s available, who young people can go to, and how the current political and economical climate has affected these services.
