A NEW scheme aims to make Warwickshire the best place for children and young people to grow up in.
The Child Friendly Warwickshire project was recently given the green light by Warwickshire County Council’s (WCC) Cabinet.
The wide-ranging aims include engaging business and community groups as well as council services to work together to enrich opportunities for children and young people.
The county council wants to involve children and young people at its heart and is currently running a survey to capture their views and opinions.
WCC leader Izzi Seccombe said: “This is an exciting moment in the history of Warwickshire, and it is all about the future. This is about working with people and organisations across the county to promote the best possible start in life, to listen to the voices of children and to ensure the happy early lives can lead to happy, fulfilling, and healthy adulthoods.
“Child Friendly Warwickshire strives to make this county the best possible place in which to grow up, and from the beginning it will be guided by the voices of children and young people across all parts of the county.”
The council intends to work with a wide variety of organisations and businesses to ensure children’s needs are rooted in collective thinking, planning and action.
The project will be formally launched in the coming months and will be an open invitation to organisations of all kinds to ensure it is a safe place full of opportunities for children.
It forms a wider £12million programme of change in the way the Children’s and Families Services work, partly funded by the Department for Education. The service provides support for children and young people up 25-years-old and under the changes it will invest in and strengthen relationships, invest in early intervention, target resources to areas of high need to support children and families affected by domestic abuse, mental health and substance misuse and invest in improving outcomes for children in care and young people who have experience of care.
Under the plan, the voices and influence of children will be integrated in shaping services with ambitions to increase health and happiness, ensure stability with their families and communities and that they are able to enjoy learning and have strong employment opportunities. Warwickshire already has an active Youth Council made up of passionate young people, which will play a key role.
As a first step the council is asking as many children and young people as possible to complete a short, anonymous survey.
The survey can be accessed here.
Email [email protected] for more details.
