Approximately 170 individuals from all sectors of the Partnership attended the Partnership Forum held on 28 July 2009.   The Forum was a huge success and focused on the theme of ‘Engaging Young People’.

The purpose of the event was to:

· highlight the importance of hearing and responding to young people’s views
· showcase good examples of working with young people
· encourage local agencies to learn from the experience and ensure that the views of young people inform what they do.

The Forum included a variety of presentations, performances and workshops – many of which were led by young people.

Six young people took to the main stage and talked to delegates about their experiences and how being engaged has turned their lives around.

Gill Rollings, Executive Director for Children, Families and Learning, spoke to delegates about the need to engage with young people and the positive benefits that can be gained from this.

Overcoming perceptions was a key theme throughout the afternoon. The need to change mindsets and look for the positive contributions that young people can and do make was expressed by both organisations and young people.

In addition to looking at local best practice, the Partnership wanted to use this Forum to look at what others areas were doing in terms of engaging young people. David Graydon, Youth Engagement and Volunteering Officer from Gateshead Council, was invited along to share details of their work to-date on this issue. Gateshead Council received a Beacon Award for engaging young people in 2006 and have carried out a considerable amount of work since then. David highlighted the benefits of engaging young people, achievements to-date and plans to move towards mainstreaming the engagement of young people.

The importance of engaging young people from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities was highlighted by Idrees Rashid from Middlesbrough’s BME Network.  BME young people from the local Community Voice FM radio station were in attendance throughout the afternoon and took the opportunity during coffee breaks to interview delegates around engaging young people.

The second half of the forum provided an opportunity for the portrayal of intergenerational issues.
Members of Middlesbrough’s Senior Citizens Forum were involved in an intergenerational role-play with a group of performing arts students.  This had been scripted by local theatre director and drama facilitator, Michele Plews and portrayed perception issues around young and older people. The drama also highlighted the positive outcomes that can result from intergenerational engagement.

Following the role-play delegates were provided with the opportunity to participate in two best practice workshops showcasing engagement work with young people. Workshop choices included:

• Barnardo’s SECOS
• Children with Disabilities
• Cleveland Fire Brigade
• Fairbridge Teesside
• Just 4 Youth
• Middlesbrough Council’s Peer Attendance Project
• Middlesbrough Football Club in the Community (Junior Health Trainers)
• Myplace
• Pertemps
• Platform
• Street Wardens

Following the workshops delegates were asked to make a Personal Pledge about what they would do following the event to engage young people. 

Closing remarks were delivered by Usman Hussain who is involved with Middlesbrough Council’s Peer Attendance Project. Usman talked about how involvement in this project had provided real benefits for him and stressed the need for delegates to make a commitment to change what they do to involve young people more.

Full event details, phototgraphs, pledges and feedback can be accessed via the links below.