What's Changed Examples
Changes resulting from specific issues and concerns raised by children and young people are the ultimate goal of participation activity. The What's Changed tool is designed to aid reflection and evidence gathering to explore the impacts of participation activities. In this area of the Hear by Right website you can access over 85 different stories of change for children and young people - some from organisations making full use of Hear by Right, and some from organisations and projects who have adopted just the What's Changed tool to explore their impact.
Scroll down to be able to access all the available pages of case studies, and follow the links to get more details on stories of change you are interested in.
Filter by 'Every Child Matters' outcomes: Enjoy & Achieve | Stay Safe | Be Healthy | Making a positive contribute | Achieve economic wellbeing
| Title | Organisation | Summary | Read More |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wanted the removal of a mosquito device | 2D, Wear Valley, County Durham | A young person affected by the installation of a mosquito device in his local town centre decided that he wanted it removed for both his benefit and that of other young people. Supported by a young people's participation worker he contacted the local press, reported it to the police and registered a complaint to the council. The council, who had installed the device, removed it the next day. | Read more |
| The need for an indoor cave facility | Adventure Learning Club, Blackburn, Lancashire | The Adventure Learning Club is aimed at young people aged 13-18 who are interested in doing new and different activities. Young people suggested caving at a programme planning meeting. Potential problematic issues were discussed such as the weather and the extra cost for external instructors. The building of an indoor cave was suggested as a solution and young people set about raising funds through YOF and also the construction of the cave. A three story indoor cave has been built for many youth groups to use, and includes trap doors for easy exits if needed! | Read more |
| In trouble with the police; nowhere to go; not listened to by adults | Ainsley Teenage Action Group (ATAG), Nottingham | Ainsley Teenage Action Group (ATAG) ran from 1979-1984. Young people were encouraged to think about what their concerns were, why these existed and to take action. During the five years the young people were visited by and liaised with local councillors and the police. They campaigned for their own youth club and got a porta-cabin placed on the estate. They visited other youth clubs to learn about running youth facilities and successfully ran the youth club on the estate for themselves and younger people. | Read more |
| A need for facilities - BMX jumps | Aldbourne Youth Council | Young people unofficially built dirt jumps to ride their bikes on a piece of disused land at the edge of the village. As the parish owned the land insurance was raised as an issue. The insurance company wouldn't cover the jumps and they were pulled down in January 2006. Young people researched existing tracks and insurance situations to put forward a case to the parish council. They invited an experienced track builder to talk to the council and tackled the issue of fundraising. The council agreed the plans and loaned the cost of the build whilst fundraising continued. As a result of their success in securing their track the young people have formed a youth council and continue to make changes in their village. | Read more |
| To find affordable and safe places to hang out. | Aylesbury Vale Youth For Christ (AVYFC) | steering group of young people they have developed a number of Youth Cafes offering a range of creative activities. Attendance has grown and a number of young people volunteer at the cafes. | Read more |
| A gym designed specifically for children and young people | Borough of Poole | Young people wanted a fully equipped gym especially designed for children and young people. Using a questionnaire the young people consulted their peers about gym usage and healthy activities. Following a successful bid to the Youth Capital Fund (YCF) the gym has been built. | Read more |
| The need for support tailored to individual young carers | Brighton and Hove Young Carers' Project | The Young Carers Project has been providing support for young carers since 1997. Recently the service was reviewed by young people. Young people said that whilst they valued existing elements of the service, they wanted more support during transition years and also on an individual basis. As a result the service now has a system of individual reviews, which allows individual needs to be assessed ongoing and has also introduced a support group for older young carers. | Read more |
| Young people needed somewhere to go | Burysed Youth Club, Sedbury, Gloucestershire | Following incidents of anti social behaviour young people and local residents decided to create somewhere for young people to go. Young people and other members of the community applied for funding and the Burysed Community Youth project has been established. The centre now has a formal Board of Trustees and is ran by volunteers from the local community. | Read more |
| Lack of facilities for young people in the local area | Caddington Young People's Forum, Caddington, Beds | Caddington Young People_s Forum (CYPF) was set up to give young people the opportunity to get their voices heard. The Forum identified that there were few facilities for young people in the village except for a run down youth club. Using money collected from fund raising, a grant and negotiating on price a youth shelter has been bought and constructed. Flood lighting has been installed for an existing MUGA allowing all year round use. After persistent lobbying the local authority has repaired and re-opened the local youth club. Young people have attended a team building adventure weekend and more trips are planned for the future. | Read more |
| Support in school as young carers | Chamberlayne Park School, Southampton | Young carers at the school meet regularly within the school timetable to share concerns with the school and seek support from each other. As a group the young carers now have permission to use mobile phones at school (unlike other pupils) in order to contact home when needed. They have requested and received extra cookery lessons. They also receive support from the school to deal with issues such as attendance and homework on an individual basis. | Read more |
| To prevent the closure of a residential facility for young disabled people | Cheshire County Council | Children and young people and their parents were consulted about proposals to close a residential facility at their school. Young people said that they did not want it to close and that it offered valuable opportunities to socialise and share activities with their friends. A DVD was produced capturing both the young people's and the parent's views and shown to decision makers. The proposed closure was overturned. | Read more |
| To improve services for teenage parents | Cheshire County Council | Young people who attended the clinic did not like one of the radiographers, they also identified problems with transport to the clinic. The radiographer has been replaced with a more approachable member of staff and some services have been developed to be taken out to the young people. | Read more |
| Clinic was not user friendly for young people | Cheshire County Council | Following constant anti social behaviour by young people at a sexual health clinic, staff and the PCT decided to engage young people and discover their views about the Clinic. Young people felt that the Clinic was not user friendly for young people. Changes made include staff training, availability of a detached youth work team, changes to clinic times and the implementation of a fast track system. The Clinic has remained open. | Read more |
| Inconvenient opening hours at the Connexions Centre | Cheshire County Council | Young people wanted more convenient opening hours and a more relaxed atmosphere with greater access to IT at their Connexions centre. Young people's views have been incorporated into the design of a number of new centres. The opening hours have been changed and usage has increased. | Read more |
| Improve leisure facilities for young people | Cheshire County Council | Blacon Youth Association consulted with young people to find out what leisure improvements they wanted in their local area. Young people wanted a multi purpose site with a 5 a side pitch, a youth shelter and a skate park/BMX provision. The development has been completed and further expansion is planned for 2007. | Read more |
| Bus drivers were not complying with their companies policy regarding young people travelling | Children and Young People's Department, Derby | As part of a mystery shopping exercise a young person, without their B-line card to prove that they got half price travel was refused the right to travel because they did not have enough money. This was fed back to the bus company who reiterated their policy regarding allowing young people to travel to their bus drivers. | Read more |
| The need for a skate park | Clitheroe Skate Park Group | Back in 1997 young people from Clitheroe had successfully campaigned for a skate park. Over the years, with little maintenance, the park was subject to wear and tear and issues were raised in relation to health and safety. In 2003 the council ripped out the skate park resulting in young people skating in the local bus stops and town centre, which created problems for other residents. A new generation of the skate park group was formed and campaigned for a new park to be built. Young people secured funding and through charitable trusts, gained planning permission from the council and worked in a multi-agency team to address issues in relation to vandalism and maintenance. The new park was opened in 2006 and now attracts young people from all over the UK. | Read more |
| Cultural boundaries (2003) | Connexions Wellfield Project, Bolton | Young people identified racism as an issue within this multi-cultural area and wanted to improve relationships within their community. The project identified a suitable training course for the young people who met regularly and invited other members of the community to join their project. The young people organised and helped run a fun day to bring all members of the community together. The young people feel that they have improved relationships between different cultures in the area. | Read more |
| Play area was unsafe | CYPS, Watershed Youth Centre, Leicester | Young people wanted a safe play area for children to play in. They applied for and received Youth Capital funding. A nice and safe play area for the under 5_s has been created. | Read more |
| Reducing anti-social behaviour/somewhere to go, something to do (2005) | Darlington Borough Council | Some members of the community were concerned about young people just 'hanging about'. The council consulted with everyone and found that young people wanted a safe warm space to meet friends. In response the Westside initiative was started, held at the local comprehensive school, every Friday for young people. Over 200 young people regularly attend, anti-social behaviour in the area has been reduced and partnership working has increased. | Read more |