Health and Wellbeing Organisations for Children and Youth in London

Yesterday, the Young Londoner's Participation Network held one of their quarterly meetings. It was on Health and Wellbeing. I was only able to stay for the first part, and wished I could have stayed until the end, but I did get to hear some presentations from a few organisations doing great work for children and youth in London.

Although the projects of my own organisation, CHW, are abroad, we are hoping to partner with other organisations in London to host a service project with a focus on youth, health and sports in the summer (I will post more about this soon!). Also, some of my research has been based on child health and welfare in the UK, so it was amazing to hear from these London-based organisations and learn more about how they work directly with children and young people.

Here is a brief overview of these organisations. They are: Rethink Mental Illness, Living Well, Body & Soul and Young Minds. There was also a presentation by the Greater London Authority Health Team. I have listed links, where you can get more information about each, at the bottom of the post.


Rethink Mental Illness

Rethink Mental Illness does a variety of things, including offering advice and information, running services and groups, providing support online and running campaigns, all with the aim of supporting people affected by mental illness. It has a section of its site just for young people, which you can see here.

Leigh, who gave the presentation, especially told us about their programme, Uthink London, which is a learning programme aimed at young people aged fourteen to eighteen. More about Uthink London can be found on this page of the website.

I saw on their page that Uthink London is running a consultation on their Young Siblings Programme. They would like to hear from people aged fourteen to twenty-five who have a sibling with severe mental illness, and who would like to shape the content of their programme. The contact details are at the bottom of the Uthink London page.

Leigh also talked about the campaign, Time to Change, which is led by Rethink and another charity, called Mind. The aim of the Campaign is to end the stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health problems. A programme is being developed that will be especially for children and young people. A pilot scheme is currently underway.



Living Well

Living Well provides a range of holistic services designed to enable people to better manage their health and wellbeing. The presentation yesterday was about their Youth Services.

There is a great range of programmes for people aged thirteen to twenty-five, including:
RITEstart - an interactive health and wellbeing programme;
txtm8 - a free sex and relationships texting service for young people to ask questions confidentially; CluedUP - a peer-led life skills programme for young people;
InForm - a project looking at the barriers and challenges that prevent young men from engaging with sexual health and wellbeing services. The report can be downloaded from the InForm page.
Youth Work Apprenticeships - These are for people aged sixteen to twenty-five who want to gain experience in Youth Work, Sexual Health and Customer Services.

All of their programmes sounded really effective and I also thought it was great that they are offering Youth Work Apprenticeships too.



Body & Soul

Body & Soul promotes the respect, dignity and wellbeing of children, young people and families living with, or affected by HIV. The presentation, by Emily, mostly focussed on Teen Spirit, their programme for people aged thirteen to nineteen, who are either HIV positive or are close to someone who is.  There are Teen Spirit Evenings every Thursday, with workshops, projects and courses. There are other services available too.

Emily also went on to speak about the Campaign, Life in My Shoes. Research commissioned by Body & Soul showed that there was a strong contradiction between what young people knew about HIV and how they said they would behave. For example, 81% knew HIV could not be transmitted by sharing a cup, but only 27% said they would drink from the same cup as someone who was HIV positive. Emily said that facts alone will not be a driving force for change in behaviour and the Campaign aims to address the stigma surrounding HIV, so that others can be more empathetic towards those living with HIV.



Young Minds

Young Minds is committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. They campaign, research and influence policy and practice, as well as providing expert knowledge to professionals, parents and young people, through their Parents' Helpline, online resources, training and development, outreach work and publications.

They will soon be launching the State of Mind Campaign. So far, the State of Mind: Young Londoners' Manifesto for Mental Health has been produced by a group of young people from all over London.



Greater London Authority Health Team


Charlotte Hall spoke about the London Health Improvement Board. This focusses on a few priority areas, and one of importance to children is childhood obesity. There is the Healthy Schools Programme and the Board is also aiming to develop an overall strategy to tackle this issue. The other part of the presentation was about the Mayor's Health Inequality Strategy, which, of course, has an impact on children and young people in London.




Links:

Young Londoners' Participation Network
See more information on the London Youth website:
http://www.londonyouth.org.uk/supporting-youth-workers/young-londoners-participation-network
Find London Youth on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LondonYouth
Follow London Youth on Twitter: @LondonYouth


Rethink Mental Illness:
Visit their website: http://www.rethink.org
Visit their page for young people: http://www.rethink.org/young_people/index.html
Find them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RethinkCharity
Follow them on Twitter: @Rethink_


Time to Change Campaign:
Visit the website: http://time-to-change.org.uk/
Visit the page about the children and young person's programme:
http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/youngpeople
Find them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/timetochange
Follow them on Twitter: @TimetoChange


Living Well:
Visit their website http://www.livingwellcic.com
Visit their Youth Services Page: http://www.livingwellcic.com/what-we-do/youth-services/
Find them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/livingwellcic
Follow their Youth Services twitter account: @livingwell4yp


Body & Soul:
Visit their home page: http://bodyandsoulcharity.org
Visit their Teen Spirit page: http://bodyandsoulcharity.org/teens/teen-spirit/#s1
Visit their children's section: http://bodyandsoulcharity.org/children/#s1
Find them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BodySoulCharity
Follow them on Twitter: @bodysoulcharity


Life in My Shoes Campaign:
Visit the website: http://lifeinmyshoes.org
Find them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lifeinmyshoescampaign
Follow them on Twitter: @Life_inmyshoes


Young Minds
Visit their website: http://www.youngminds.org.uk
Find them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/youngmindsuk
Follow them on Twitter: @YoungMindsUK


Greater London Authority Health Team
Visit the Health section of the Greater London Authority website: http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/health
Download the Mayor's Health Inequalities Strategy:
http://www.london.gov.uk/who-runs-london/mayor/publications/health/health-inequalities-strategy
Download the One Year On Report on the Health Inequalities Strategy:
http://www.london.gov.uk/who-runs-london/mayor/publications/health/one-year-report-health-inequalities-strategy
Visit the London Health Improvement Board website: http://www.lhib.org.uk

London+20 June 5: Call for Applications

I have just found out about a great opportunity for those of you in the UK, aged fifteen to twenty-five, and who are interested in Rio+20 and issues of sustainability. The London+20 Conference will be held on 5 June! Applications to attend must be completed by 30 May. I have pasted the information I received about this exciting event below!

Here is the poster for the London+20:

This is the message I received about London+20, including details on how to apply:

"On the occasion of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (known as Rio+20) taking place from June 20-22 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil a coalition of youth organizations in the United Kingdom organize London+20 in the city of London at the British Youth Council, on 5th June 2012 from 10am to 5pm UK time, the same day with the World Environment Day. Organized under the slogan ''The UK Youth committed to The Future We Want ! '', the event will be a one day program including plenary discussion, working sessions, exhibition and simulation of the Rio+20 Conference. London+20 is part of a global movement called ''MyCity+20'' started by students of universities in France, who had the amazing idea to encourage global youth to host simulations of Rio+20 in their cities worldwide in order to learn how this process of international negotiations works. 
  
London+20 is open to all young people aged between 15 and 25 based in any part of the United Kingdom and from any country around the world (However, we don't cover travel costs for international participants). Applicants must be passionate, active or interested by sustainable development and environmental issues. They need to be affiliated with a school, university, youth-led organization, youth network, enterprise, company, etc. 80 participants will be selected to attend London+20 and they will not only learn what sustainable development is, but will have an opportunity to understand how children and youth contribute to the discussions and outcome of Rio+20 and experience a simulation of the conference towards a focused political document including the two conference themes and highlighting its other seven priority areas. 
  
If you are interested to participate and meet the criteria above, please fill in the application form at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEtJTWtRbkJvcGxrenQ5WnYyNk53M1E6MQ by Wednesday 30th May at 23:59pm UK Time. Make sure to provide all requested information in all questions. Once you have applied, we encourage you to check your inbox on 1st of June to know if you have been selected and start preparing your participation. Please also help us to promote this call for applications. 
  
If you have any question or concern, please contact us at rioplus20@london.com You are also encouraged to join us on Facebook (search: London+20)  and Twitter (@LONDONplus20) and to send this call around your contacts. 
  
Thank you for applying and join us to build together The Future We Want!"

Children's Rights and Business Principles: UK Parliamentary Launch

  
Yesterday, I attended the Parliamentary Launch of the Children's Rights and Business Principles in the UK, at the House of Commons. The Principles set out business actions to respect and support children's rights. Read on to find out what was discussed at the launch!


We started by watching the video below, which gives each of the ten Principles. You can also read them here.

Children's Rights and Business Principles

We then heard from the following speakers: David Bull, the Executive Director of UNICEF UK, David Harris, the Director of Responsible Investment of the FTSE Group and Karen Johnson, the Responsible Business Advisor from the Private Sector Department of DfID. MP Jeremy Lefroy chaired the discussion.

Developing the Principles

  
UNICEF, the UN Global Compact and Save the Children worked in partnership to develop the ten Principles. Children aged from seven to seventeen, in nine countries in the Global South, took part in a consultation process. You can download the children's feedback and the report written on their consultations from this page on the Business and Children Portal. David Bull told us that these children included street children, children with disabilities, child soldiers and child labourers.


A variety of other consultations also took place - with the private sector in the Global North and South; regionally with businesses; and with the public though the Business and Human Rights website.


David Bull said that corporate social responsibility usually took into account child labour, but this was too narrow a conception and the Principles go beyond this. They look at children's rights in the workplace, and in the market place. They are concerned with business' responsibilities within the community where they operate. They refer to looking after and protecting the environment, which children depend on to grow healthily. They look at children indirectly too, with regards to work practices concerning mothers and caregivers. 

How will the Principles be put into Effect?

  
Jeremy Lefroy, stated how important it was that the Principles do not just remain on paper, but that action is taken to implement them.  Various ways to ensure that businesses implement the Principles were discussed. David Harris from the FTSE Group said that the Principles would affect different sectors in different ways. For example the food and drink sector should take into account issues such as childhood obesity and underage drinking, and the communications sector should think about protection for minors using social media.


Before looking in more detail at possibilities for implementing the Principles by businesses, it must be noted that David Bull emphasised that under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the primary responsibility for children's rights rests with governments. It is hoped that the Principles will inform legislation. Ideally, businesses would take up implementation of the principles, but governments must effectively regulate companies which do not respect children's rights. Businesses should face consequences if they exploit children, whether directly or indirectly


Businesses and Implementation of the Principles
   
These were the main points discussed:
   

• For the Principles to have effect, companies must be monitored, be accountable, and must not be given credit where it is not due. 
• The FTSE Group can independently monitor companies, which is better than companies monitoring themselves. The Principles then have the chance to be properly and independently assessed.
• David Harris talked about the FTSE4GOOD Index Series, which measures how environmentally and socially responsible companies are. The Principles will be a vital measurement for this Index. Research will be commissioned through IRIS against companies in the FTSE4GOOD Index to see how well they are implementing the Principles.
• The implementation issue is not about philanthropy, but about business. Karen Johnson said that to be properly effective, it must make business sense to implement the Principles and this should resonate with the core decision makers of a company - not just the corporate social responsibility department.
• The Principles must be integrated into existing policies, management and public reporting, to be effective.
• Businesses should be made to see that happy and healthy children are better for the communities in which they operate. Children can be consumers; their parents are in the work force; and the children make up the future talent pool for businesses.

Other issues were also brought up during the question and answer session. The Principles were formulated to be as broad as possible for all types of businesses across the world, but it was impossible to encompass all factors, and the principles may not be so helpful with regard to the informal sector. It was also noted that the FTSE Group deals with the largest, registered companies in the world and so would not assess smaller businesses. Reputation is important to businesses though, even if they are small, and this would hopefully encourage them to implement the Principles. 

What Happens Next?

  
David Bull said that it is important to disseminate the Principles as widely as possible. According to UNICEF's Corporate Social Responsibility website, a launch event for the Principles took place in Sweden today and such events will also happen in Moldova and China next month. It is vital that business leaders know about the Principles, so that they begin to be implemented. David Bull also told us that UNICEF should be producing a workbook which will offer some guidance to help businesses implement the Principles. 

Businesses have far reaching impacts on children, and this is a good initiative to try to ensure that they respect and support children's rights. Jeremy Lefroy observed that he cannot see any of the Principles being burdens on a company. Let us hope that the Principles can be publicised and then effectively implemented, to reduce (and hopefully stop) business' negative impacts on children and build on, and improve, their positive effects.

Volunteering With and For Children: Part 3

On April 22, my organisation, CHW, had its fifth anniversary! I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our supporters and volunteers. Below is a thank you note for you all.

If anyone wants to join CHW, please get in touch! We always need volunteers to help us with the children's projects we support.

Volunteering With and For Children: Part 2

Do you want to Volunteer?

It is Global Youth Service Day this weekend! I posted about that yesterday in Part 1 on the theme of volunteering with and for children. I also gave some details about the Service Innovation Summit, which I recently took part in. As well as all this, it will be the fifth anniversary of my organisation, CHW, tomorrow, so no wonder the subject of volunteering has been on my mind!


Although it might be a bit last minute to find a project for this weekend, volunteering at any time is a very positive thing! Here are some links to help you get started. Some have general volunteering opportunities, but you can search specifically for placements with children's projects, if that is what you particularly want to do.


Searching for volunteer placements or projects:

1. Idealist - I post CHW's volunteering opportunities there. Lots of organisations use this site and there are many types of opportunities you can choose from.
2. Betterplace - One of CHW's volunteers told me about this site. So far I have just posted CHW's appeals for donations, but some organisations advertise for volunteers (which I may also do in the future!) and it is worth taking a look.
3. 7 Billion Actions - Organisations have posted their profiles here, with contact details. CHW has been contacted by new volunteers through this site and there are lots of organisations you can look through, to find one you like.
4. Junction49 - This is a site for people aged 13-25 in the UK. It supports young people in setting up their own projects and other young people on the site can volunteer and help out with these initiatives. The site was recommended to me by the Volunteer Services Unit at UCL, when I was a student there.

Links from the Service Innovation Summit:

1. Cuenta Conmigo Blog- This Blog was set up after the Summit and has resources and ideas to do with volunteerism - the focus is on Spain, but there are some blog entries in English too, which may be of interest. 
2. Community Project Grant - Spain only. This is a competition for a grant to finance a volunteer project in Spain. The deadline to apply is 20 May 2012.
3. Global Service Leaders Network - an online community for leaders from around the world who are concerned with volunteerism.

Volunteer with CHW:

1. Your skills! - If you have any skill you want to share with us to help support the children we work with, please let me know. We have volunteers who help publicise appeals and arrange events, as well as those who do translations and have helped with designing our logo! See more on CHW's 'Get Involved' page, under the 'volunteering' section.
2. Cake Sales - To celebrate CHW's 5th 'birthday' we are hoping as many people as possible will have cake sales to support our work throughout the year! If you are able to arrange a cake sale at your work, university, school or community, please get in touch!
3. International Volunteering - Some of our partner organisations in Argentina, Ghana, Romania and South Africa run international volunteer schemes. They set the prices, so they are cheaper than doing placements with big gap year companies. I can put you in touch with the local organisations, if you want to volunteer abroad.
4. Pass on our links! - This is an easy way to volunteer, if you want to help but don't have a lot of time. I have posted our two current appeals on both betterplace.org and kapipal.com. More info about these projects are on the appeal pages and to be successful CHW really needs people to pass on the links. If you are able to share them, by email, facebook, twitter, on your blog, or any other way you can think of, it would be a big help! Here are the links:

         Playground Project in Ghana on betterplace and on kapipal.

         Children's Music Therapy Project in Argentina on betterplace and on kapipal.


If you have other useful links for volunteering, please do add them as a comment below. I hope you find the volunteer opportunity that you are looking for!

Volunteering With And For Children: Part 1

It is a big weekend for volunteering... both personally and globally! April 22 is significant for me as my organisation CHW will have its fifth anniversary. Everyone at CHW is a volunteer, and during the past five years, we have supported projects in five countries, through the local organisations we have partnered with. As well as this, CHW has its very first in-country team of volunteers, which has just been formed in Argentina. It is so exciting to be working with the volunteers there! 


This weekend is also important for young volunteers everywhere as Global Youth Service Day is being held from April 20-22 this year. It is a campaign which celebrates and mobilises children and youth who are volunteers around the world. 

I recently took part in another event concerning volunteering - the Service Innovation Summit in Madrid. I was honoured to be given a place and to be a speaker on a panel. Many thanks to the Meridian International Centre for this great opportunity! I spoke about volunteerism in the UK, and the impact of the economic downturn, along with two delegates from France and Greece, who gave the perspectives from their own countries. CHW consists of volunteers only, so learning about volunteerism in other cultures was very interesting, especially as we are aiming to build a network of people around the world who want to take action to improve the lives of children.


It was highlighted by various speakers at the Summit, that especially in these difficult economic times, governments cannot solve all the problems alone, nor do they have the necessary resources to do so. The problems cannot be solved by any one sector. Governments, companies and volunteers can all be part of the solution. Different speakers also said that everyone can be an agent of change. As emphasised by the Global Youth Service Day initiative, this includes the younger members of society too. 


Those hosting the Summit arranged a service project which took place today in the district of San Blas. If I had been in Madrid, I would have loved to have taken part! You can see some of the other projects that people organised on the Global Youth Service Day's website. If you are involved in a project this weekend, it would be great to hear from you and know how it went!


I will post Part 2 tomorrow, which will give resources for those of you searching for volunteering opportunities.

Ideas to Help a School and Children's Home in Ghana?

I just had a phone call from the founder of Sankofa Mbofra Fie in Ghana, David. My organisation, CHW, supports Sankofa. David grew up on the streets himself. He started his organisation, which runs both a children's home and a school, to give opportunities to the children in the village of Eguafo. David started Sankofa in 2006 and it was less than a year later when I first met him. Since then I have seen how the number of children helped by Sankofa has just kept growing! There are now fifteen children living at the home and over three hundred attend the school. CHW has given donations, whenever possible, which have been used to buy food for the children and help to pay the teachers' salaries.


David phoned to let me know about some present costs. As well as immediate needs, like food, there are other things, such as having to pay the contract for the house Sankofa uses, renewing its NGO certificate and even getting photocopies of the exam sheets for the school, because the children need to be able to take their exams soon. All of the things are necessary for Sankofa to stay running and for the children to keep advancing in their education.


To be honest, my mind is racing! I am trying to think up some ways to fundraise quickly to get a donation for Sankofa.  CHW has larger, longer term projects that we fundraise for (currently a playground project at another children's home in Ghana and a children's music therapy project in Argentina). However, sometimes the local organisations contact us with issues like David did today. David, like the directors of the other initiatives we support, understands that fundraising can be difficult and we may not be able to help at short notice, but I still hope to be able to do something. He is doing amazing work for these children, and if it is possible to contribute to this, it would be a big help to all those at Sankofa.


If anyone has any ideas, or would like to help out - either by fundraising or donating, please let me know! I am always looking for new ways to fundraise anyway and it would be great to hear from you, if you have an idea to share.

Some of the children in class, during my last visit in 2011.

With David and some of the children - my first visit to Sankofa.