How we can help

At Children's Links we have always recognised the importance of children and young people influencing the services they receive and new services that are being developed. Children and young people should be heard and valued and make a difference, and that’s why we involve them in many aspects of our work, including evaluation, planning and design, and recruitment of our own staff.

Having been the lead agency for participation in Lincolnshire, we have supported and initiated developments including training and supporting organisations through the Hear by Right standards framework.

We have helped organisations such as the NHS, district and county councils and partnership groups to develop their participative practice in a range of areas, and to plan and action improvements.  More recently we have trained, prepared and supported children and young people to design and deliver successful interviews and co-appoint key Team Managers for the Local Authority, work that was featured on BBC local radio and Look North TV news.

We believe that good quality, relevant services can only come about by listening to the people who use them.  This makes sound business sense too. Taking a Children’s Rights approach, we do not work in tokenistic ways or by shoe-horning children and young people into adult structures, but rather by working creatively to include and empower them. Children and young people do not want ‘all the say’, just a fair amount of it.  We know that you are probably already doing some of this work. We can help you to keep improving.

What can we provide?

We can provide consultancy, training and support to individuals and groups, including direct work with children and young people, and training to designated staff individually or in groups.  We are always happy to work with you to create a tailor made package that meets your needs.

Examples of our work with children and young people include:

• consultation, design and commissioning of play areas  
• support for young trustees
• development of play schemes
• supporting interview panels 
• consultation on behalf of children's centres
• school's work
• evaluation of services

If you would like to speak to a member of our team about the services we offer, please contact us on 0845 3730645 or e-mail us at participation@childrenslinks.org.uk