Youth Action Teams and Systemic Change

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What impacts young people or communities and their wellbeing most? What systems could we work with to improve positive impact? 

Our Youth Action Teams are able to choose issues that they care about and work in partnership with decision makers relevant to that issue to explore systems within their services and organisations and make recommendations for action and improvements. This includes the development of resources and campaigns, peer research, co-design, co-delivery and co-production.

Below are some brilliant youth action teams that have taken place in the last year!

 

Young Guardians with Camden Council and Camden Metropolitan Police 

The Young Guardians are part of Regent’s Park Community Champions – working to improve community safety locally in a youth-led initiative. They have created films and resources and have now trained over 90 professionals in a 1.5 hour workshop they have design in contextual safeguarding locally – professionals have ranged from local teachers, police officers, community safety officers, caretakers, social workers, early help and youth workers. They continue to deliver these sessions and will be delivering to more community members and local businesses in the coming months and are creating a new film! You can see more of their work here www.fya.org.uk/safety/

 

Cahms to Community with Tavistock and Portman

Young people identified a challenge regarding CAHMS support – what is in place while you wait to be able to access CAHMS and what happens when you exit? We have worked with Tavistock and Portman to work with a group of young people who were exiting or had recently exited CAHMS. The group were trained in peer mentoring and then worked with the team to create a short film outlining their recommendations for  for peer support to be in place for those ending their time with CAHMS. A workshop was later run with Senior CAMHS clinicians, facilitated by a young person from the group. The workshop saw staff engage in youth led activities, listen to the young person’s account of their time and the wider groups recommendations. The workshop was a success and led to young people’s involvement in further Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) work, where they are able to be paid to continue making recommendations and system changes with staff.

We will be running a second project to now continue the actions from the recommendations with the Tavistock and Portman and have a second peer support group.

The film will be added here as soon as possible

 

FYA Feed Your Community with Felix Project 

Young people identified in the FYA Youth Ambassador consultation that worries about food access and food poverty were impacting young people. A group came together to organise a project to explore this topic – the group organised our annual festive Event serving over 200 residents and also co-designed a response to try to better use surplus food to benefit the community. The group ended up delivering to a local refugee residence in soho weekly, collecting suprlus food and delivering to the residents. The group committed additional time due to loving what they were doing. However, the group also identified that although they had connected two systems that were not connected, that there is still work to be done to truly have system change between the surplus food and it reaching communities who could use it or need it.  We hope to work with Felix and Camden Council’s partners related to food inequality and tackling poverty forums in future. You can check out the film Felix project made on their instagram here 

 

Young Urban Designers with Camden Council Planning  and Sustrans

A brilliant group of young people living in Regent’s Park estate and Camden came together as the Young Urban Designers. We were approached by Camden Planning team to set up a team, and young people volunteered to join the team. They state they were motivated to join as they wanted to do something positive for their community, were interested in creativity or design or they wanted a safe place to spend time with friends. The team have worked together between January and April 2024, working with Sustrans and the planning team around the healthier and safe streets initiative. They ran two pop ups engaging 62 other young people in the initiative – a chocolate treasure hunt and a saturday pop up involving clay, a magician and creative design activities. From their feedback they then designed possible street furniture and ideas for street improvements using minecraft. They then presented their ideas and recommendations for improving youth engagement in development and planning to local Councillors, planning officers and managers and other relevant decision makers.

 

 

If you have an idea for a projectthat could involve working with decision makers to look at longer term change and impact get in touch! Contact Fathiya.Saleh@fya.org.uk!

 

We also have an opportunitiy to work with Camden planning, HS2 and Matt+Fiona to design a new youth led meanwhile outdoor space! Young people will not only design the outdoor space, but build a piece of play equipment/equipment young people can use to spend time there and design Regent’s Roots Festival and an event to share what they have created! Get in touch if you want to join the team!!