Children and Young People’s Participation Hub
Supporting services and partners to work with children and young people to influence decisions, improve services and shape the future of Sandwell
Why Child and Youth Voice Matters
Children and young people have the right to have their views heard and considered in decisions that affect their lives.
Sandwell is committed to embedding meaningful participation across services and partnerships through a coordinated approach that moves beyond consultation towards engagement, participation and co-production.
Whether you are developing a new strategy, reviewing a service, recruiting staff, planning an event or seeking feedback from children and young people, support is available through the SHAPE Programme and Child and Youth Voice Participation Framework and Toolkit.
The SHAPE Programme
The SHAPE Programme is Sandwell's flagship participation programme, supporting children and young people to influence local services, policies and decisions.
The programme works alongside schools, youth services, community organisations, health partners and council services to ensure children's voices are heard and acted upon.
Areas of activity include:
- SHAPE Surveys
- SHAPE Youth Forum
- Consultation and engagement activities
- Co-production projects
- Youth representation opportunities
- Strategic partnerships
- Regional and national participation opportunities
Learn more about the SHAPE Programme
Our Participation Approach
Sandwell's approach to participation is underpinned by key documents that support consistent, meaningful and inclusive engagement with children and young people.
- Elevating Our Voice Strategy – our borough-wide strategy for ensuring children and young people’s voices are heard, valued and acted upon.
- SEND Working Together Charter Co-produced with children and young people with SEND and their families, setting out how services should work alongside children and young people.
- Children and Young People's Participation Framework - A step-by-step process to help professionals identify, plan, deliver and evaluate participation activities.The framework helps you to request participation support, access existing youth groups, register participation activity, engage young people appropriately, capture feedback, demonstrate impact, and report outcomes.
- The Participation Toolkit - A practical resource designed to support high-quality engagement and co-production activity. The toolkit includes a range of practical resources to support effective participation and engagement, including planning templates, engagement methods, participation standards, accessibility guidance, evaluation tools, "You Said, We Did" templates, co-production resources, and examples of good practice. These resources are designed to help organisations plan, deliver, evaluate, and demonstrate the impact of their work with children and young people.
Sandwell Youth Forum Networkers' Group
The Sandwell Youth Forum Networkers Group brings together professionals who support participation and engagement with children and young people.
Members have opportunities to:
- Share learning and good practice
- Discuss participation challenges
- Coordinate engagement opportunities
- Support borough-wide participation priorities
- Receive updates from the SHAPE Programme
The diagram below illustrates the forum groups and school councils that you can engage with through this process.
Join the Network
To express an interest in joining, email: shape_events@sandwell.gov.uk
Contact the SHAPE Team
Need advice on engaging children and young people?
The SHAPE Team can help you identify the most appropriate participation approach, connect with existing groups and access tools and resources.
Email: shape_events@sandwell.gov.uk
Get support, contact the SHAPE Team!