Youth Participation at CommUNITY Barnet

International Youth Day sign

The engagement and participation of youth is essential to achieve sustainable human development. Yet often, the opportunities for youth to engage politically, economically and socially are low or non-existent.

More efforts are needed to raise awareness about the importance of youth civic engagement and its benefits to the individual and to society, including for sustainable development, as well as resilience and wellbeing. The International Youth Day 2015 campaign aims at promoting civic engagement and participation of youth in politics and public life, so that young people can be empowered and bring a full contribution to society, development and peace.

Important Words

CommUNITY Barnet empowering young people

Youth Participation is all about empowering young people to play an active role in decisions that affect them. At CommUNITY Barnet, there has been a strong history of trying to give young people a voice on a range of issues. It developed from a project, where young people were trained in commissioning and then were given the freedom to fund many different social projects, which benefited young people in the Borough. This led to the BOBBY Panel, a group of 8-13 year olds passionate about improving lives for youth in Barnet, being born.

Youth Shield came next. Barnet’s junior Safeguarding Board works directly with the Barnet Safeguarding Children’s Board (BSCB), which is made up of key people around the borough. They look at the main issues that are stopping young people from being safe, such as: e-safety, domestic violence and sexual exploitation.

In 2011, Youth Shield designed a survey to directly find out young people’s experiences about issues like mental health, relationships, transport, drugs and alcohol. They surveyed over 400 young people through paper and online surveys, attending festivals and events and running focus groups with groups of people, who are usually difficult to hear from .az.

The issue, which stood out as deeply worrying for the young people, was relationship abuse. 70% of young people said they felt that domestic violence occurs in teenage relationships. 60% said they had not been taught in school about building a healthy relationship with a boy or a girl that they are going out with. 8% didn’t know if it was ok for a boy or girl they are going out with to be abusive.

The Healthy Relationships project was developed as a response to the results. With support from a specialist organisation, the young people they put together a peer-to-peer awareness raising a workshop to be delivered by them to other young people. CommUNITY Barnet support workers, then worked with the young people to polish their delivery and support them throughout the process.

Past Achievements and Documents

Youth Shield have been involved in a number of surveys, where they have tried to find what young people in Barnet think about issues that affect them.

2011 - Download a presentation of the 'Barnet Young People’s Safeguarding Consultation 2011- Researched by Youth Shield'

2014 - Results of Self Harm and Cyber Bullying in young people in Barnet Consultation

Barnet Youth Shield wins London Safeguarding Children Award - December 2012

A project led by young people to raise awareness about issues, which threaten their safety, has won the prestigious London Safeguarding Children Award.

Youth Shield, which was nominated by Barnet Safeguarding Children Board, scooped the accolade for their work in giving young people a stronger voice on the issues affecting them.

Led by young people from Barnet, Youth Shield have carried out research with hundreds of children and young people to build a detailed picture of child safeguarding in the borough. Youth Shield was developed and has ongoing support from CommUNITY Barnet.

Youth Shield act as formal advisers to the local safeguarding children board, highlighting the key issues that currently concern young people, such as peer-to-peer violence and sexual exploitation.

The pioneering London Safeguarding Children Award scheme, which is in its second year, is run by the London Safeguarding Children Board. It highlights innovative ideas and good practice to improve the safeguarding of children across the capital.

Since then, youth trainers from Youth Shield have delivered over 40 workshops to more than 800 young people in Barnet and are set to continue in the year ahead.

If you are interested in being a youth trainer, you must be aged 16-25. Contact jo.domingo@communitybarnet.org.uk for more details about upcoming trainer sessions.

Youth Shield is for young people, aged 13-25. Please contact Jo on the email above for more information.