Children And Young Persons Plan
Raw4Youth - Rutland Activity Website

Rutland’s Children and Young People’s

A special thank you to all the children and young people who were involved in making this charter

because we

can help

improve things!

ask us what we

think - we’ve

got some really

good ideas!

tell us what’s going

on - give us the facts

and explain them so

that we can help make

informed choices

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Involving children and young people in the shaping of services that affect them

is a high priority for Rutland to ensure that those services are responsive and

appropriate to their needs. Involvement means that children and young people

have an agreed influence in regard to decisions and actions and is not just about

taking part or being present.

This document outlines the strategy by which we will achieve this goal. It is the

work of the Participation Steering Group which is part of Rutland Children and

Young People’s Trust. The participation group members come from the main

organisations who provide services for children and young people in Rutland.

The Children’s Trust and the Youth Council will be responsible for ensuring that

this strategy is put into action so that children and young people become actively

involved in making Rutland a better place to live, learn, work and play.

This strategy has been produced by the Rutland Children and Young People’s

Trust and is the first shared activity involvement strategy for public and voluntary

services that provide services for children and young people in Rutland.

It applies to both targeted services e.g. schools and general public services that

children and young people may use e.g. transport.

The Children and Young People’s Trust is responsible for overseeing the delivery

of services for children and young people aged 0-19 in Rutland. The overall

aim of the Trust is to ensure that children and young people are provided with

opportunities that will help them achieve their potential, and active involvement is

a very important component of this work.

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It is an opportunity for children and young people to have a say in decisions that

affect them and for their view to be responded to. It is more than consultation.

Active involvement is about children and young people working in partnership

with adults to improve services and communities. It is also about helping them to

understand some of the difficult decisions that have to be made in relation to the

delivery of services for children and young people.

The strategy aims to improve the lives of children and young people by providing

opportunities for them to become actively involved in the shaping and delivery

of services. It also has a particular focus on making improvements for vulnerable

individuals and groups who have often been excluded from having their say. It

also recognises that being actively involved should be an enjoyable experience for

children and young people.

Evidence shows that when

children and young people are

supported to become actively

involved:

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The right of children and young people to be actively involved is set out in the

United Nations Convention on the rights of the Child which states:

‘Children have the right to say what they think should happen, when adults are

making decisions that affect them, and to have their opinions taken into account.’

In order to make improvements in Rutland,

organisations are working towards compliance with

the ‘Hear by Rights standards for active involvement

of children and young people’. These standards cover

seven key issues that need to be addressed through

active involvement.

For more detailed information on ‘Hear By Right’ go to

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The strategy will build on and develop the positive work already done and lead

to children and young people being involved in decision making in a meaningful

way. It will help us to move away from a series of individual consultations that can

lead to frustration and cynicism on the part of those consulted and encourage a

co-ordinated approach to active involvement.

The Rutland Children and Young People’s Plan identifies as a key priority the

need to “broaden the diversity of children and young people in participation and

decision-making processes” and goes on to outline the importance of different

methods of engaging children and young people and the co-ordination of

consultation and participation activities.

The main focus will be on raising awareness in order to promote the meaningful

involvement of children and young people in Rutland through informal and formal

provision. Members of the Children’s Trust will work in partnership to produce the

best outcome for children, young people and families in Rutland.

Catmose, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6HP

Telephone: 01572 722577

www.rutland.gov.uk

enquiries@rutland.gov.uk

Thank you to the Department for Education for the use of certain photographs in this publication.