Listen Up - Social Welfare Portal

listenup!Chapter 8 | 61“Our advisory board enriches the project not onlyin promoting the project but also from the buzzcreated by having young people involved. It is alsoreally positive to see the confidence of young peoplegrow as they develop through the service frominitially beginning group work and then movingonto working on the advisory board, giving theminvaluable experience.”Project worker, Support @ The Junction,The Junction, ColchesterAll staff within the projectfrom grass roots upwardsmust share the same visionand philosophy of serviceuser involvement.Project Worker, Sorted Not Screwed Up,Aberdeen Foyer, AberdeenTypes of young person participation“Always have confidence in young people’s abilitiesand potential.”Project worker, Experience in Mind,Mind in Brighton and Hove, and Hove YMCAYoung people in these services were involved inorganisational development in a number of ways,as described in this section. Some were facilitatedthrough discussion as part of a youth advisory board,and some happened independently.Helping develop the environment and design ofthe organisationAll organisations consulted with young peopleon the internal environment and design of theorganisation. This included the type and positioningof furniture, colour schemes, the information andartwork displayed in the building, and the overallatmosphere of the service.This issue led to some debate in the organisationsinvolved in this project. Some young people liked boldcolours and said they kept them focused and motivatedduring sessions with their worker, while others preferredcalming pastel colours, saying bold colours were toodistracting and made them feel stressed.