Recruitment: Working with partners and key stakeholders across England, we recruit a team of dedicated young people aged 13-17 to become ‘Young Advisors’ for the Good Childhood Report. This group brings a wealth of expertise and intersecting lived experiences that inform their knowledge and insights on the work. These include young people from racialised groups, LGBTQIA+ young people, and those with long-term health conditions.
Co-production workshops: Throughout the year, we support Young Advisors to engage in a series of collaborative workshops with TCS colleagues across research and policy. These allow for deeper exploration of: the factors driving the trends in children and young people’s wellbeing, the impact of these on wellbeing and co-developing recommendations for change. They also receive facilitation and peer research training to be able to conduct peer research as part of their involvement in the project.
Peer research: The Young Advisors co-design the peer research questions and are supported to deliver focus groups in their institutions and beyond to engage a much broader group of young people on the report theme. The focus groups stimulate informal learning and gather young people’s insights on what’s working well, what could be improved, and ideas for change. The Young Advisors are then supported to engage with and analyse the findings and develop broader recommendations for solutions.
Report and output co-design: We take a youth-led approach to shaping the Good Childhood Report, working with the Young Advisors to inform key elements. This includes, supporting a Young Advisor to write the foreword for the report, influencing the design of the report and co-developing a specific youth output to support other young people to engage with the findings of the report.
Parliamentary launch event: The Young Advisors attend and contribute to a high-profile event which is the parliamentary launch of the Good Childhood Report. They share their insights, knowledge and hopes for the future of children and young people’s wellbeing through delivering speeches and engaging in media work. It is a great opportunity to engage with a range of stakeholders and MPs who have the opportunity to hear directly from the Young Advisors themselves.
