Listen Up - Social Welfare Portal

listenup!62 | Chapter 8Marketing, promoting and campaigning forthe organisation and producing young personfriendlyinformationAll eight organisations involved young people inmarketing and promotional activities. This involvedthe development of marketing materials such asflyers and the organisation’s website, includingdeciding on content, language (including how‘formal’ it should be) and design.Young people were also involved in developing andproducing information products for young people.For example, Streetwise in Newcastle developeda ‘Crisis Card’. This was used by young people todisplay their name, contact number and the serviceswhich should be contacted when the individualis experiencing a crisis. At the Caterpillar Service,Barnardo’s Marlborough Road Partnership, youngpeople were involved in producing the Barnardo’snewspaper which was sent out to Barnardo’s services.Young people at IceBreak, the Zone, Plymouthproduced a 30-minute DVD which involvedsharing their personal experiences and thiswas presented at a national conference. Someorganisations were particularly keen to get youngCase StudySeveral young people at Experience inMind, Mind in Brighton and Hove, and HoveYMCA, were interviewed by BBC SouthernCounties Radio as part of a 5-day series onthe Experience in Mind project.Press releases promoting the project havealso resulted in articles in local newspapersand magazines. One young persontook the initiative of contacting a localmagazine direct to ensure something onthe project was included in their mentalhealth issue.people involved in campaigning and to experienceworking with the media.Planning and organising events and socialactivitiesAll the organisations provided young people with theopportunity to plan, organise and run various eventsand social activities. The majority of social activitiesoccurred during school holidays and included tripsto the cinema, beach, and eateries, as well as bowlingand shopping trips. Most organisations also heldopen evenings where creative and fun activities weremade available for all young people and staff to join in,including arts, music and drama productions. At someevents, external professionals such as practitioners andcommissioners were also invited, so they could meetyoung people and take part in activities.Helping develop publicationsAt all eight of the organisations, young people’sfeedback was used to inform the development andproduction of publications including annual reports,information sheets and research reports.Case StudySorted Not Screwed Up, Aberdeen Foyer,Aberdeen, produced a number of in-housepublications based on consultations withyoung people who accessed their services.For example, “Sorted Not Screwed Up”Young People’s Survey Results (2005) wasproduced following a small survey of clientswithin the Foyer accommodation, lookingat issues including their relationships withfriends and family; the history of theirhousing status; information on their generalhealth; information on their mental health;what services they accessed within theFoyer; and how beneficial they perceivedthose services to be.