Engaging with children and young people - finding people to work with

Within your healthcare setting there will be children, young people and their families that are keen to work with you on safety improvement, service design and quality improvement. Speak to your local engagement lead, hospital forum or hospital education staff and find out who is available where you work.

There are also lots of children, young people and their families outside of your healthcare setting who would like to work with you and may provide a broader viewpoint more representative of the wider community you serve.

This map of the UK takes you to links all around the country of youth councils, clubs and parent carer forums where you may find willing participates to work with you to design healthcare improvements.
Last modified
8 May 2024

Before you start 

Before you contact an organisation make a clear plan about what you are asking. You can use our "how-to" resource to help guide you when creating your plan.

Northern Ireland

Youth Action Northern Ireland works with children and young people across NI and may be a great place to find people who would be interested to work with you.

See your relevant council for examples of other local youth engagement opportunities:

Belfast City
Mid Ulster
Newry and Mourne
Causeway Coast and Glens
Strabane
Antrim and Newtownabbey
Ards and North Down
Derry City
Castlereagh
Limvady
Moyle
Larne and Ballymena

Scotland

Youth Scotland and Young Scot work with children and young people across Scotland and may be a great place to find people who would be interested to work with you.

See your relevant council for examples of other local youth engagement opportunities:

Aberdeenshire
Angus
Dumfries and Galloway
East Renfrewshire
West Dunbartonshire
East Dunbartonshire
Stirling
Dundee City

Wales

Youth Cymru and Scouts Cymru work with children and young people across Wales and may be a great place to find people who would be interested to work with you.

There is also a national Welsh Youth Parliament.

See your relevant council for examples of other local youth engagement opportunities:

Blaenau Gwent
Bridgend County
City of Cardiff
Carmarthenshire
Caerphilly
Ceredigon
Conwy
Denbighshire
Flintshire
Gwynedd
Isle of Anglesey
Merthyr Tydfil
Monmouthshire
Neath Port Talbot
Newport
Pembrokeshire
Torfaen
Wrexham

East Midlands

Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) within this area include Derby and Derbyshire, Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire

See your relevant council for examples of local youth engagement opportunities:
 

Amber Valley
Ashfield
Bassetlaw
Blaby
Bolsover
Boston
Broxtowe
Chesterfield
Derby
Derbyshire Dales
East Lindsey
Erewash
Harborough
High Peak
Hinckley & Bosworth
Leicester
Lincoln
Mansfield
Melton
Newark & Sherwood
Northeast Derbyshire
North Kesteven
Northwest Leicestershire
North Northamptonshire
Nottingham
Oadby & Wigston
Rushcliffe
Rutland
South Derbyshire
South Holland
South Kesteven
West Lindsey
West Northamptonshire

East of England

Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) within this area include Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Herefordshire and West Essex, Norfolk and Waveney, Suffolk and North East Essex.

See your relevant council for examples of local youth engagement opportunities:
 

Babergh
Basildon
Bedford
Braintree
Breckland
Brentwood
Broadland
Broxbourne
Cambridge
Castle Point
Central Bedfordshire
Chelmsford
Colchester
Dacorum
East Cambridgeshire
East Hertfordshire
East Suffolk
Epping Forest
Fenlands
Great Yarmouth
Harlow
Hertsmere
Ipswich
Kings Lynn & West Norfolk
Luton
Maldon
North Hertfordshire
North Norfolk
Norwich
Peterborough
Rochford
South Cambridgeshire
South Norfolk
Southend on Sea
St Albans
Stevenage
Tendring
Three Rivers
Thurrock
Uttlesford
Watford
Welwyn

Greater London

Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) within this area include North Central, North East, North West, South East and South West London

See your relevant council for examples of local youth engagement opportunities:

Barking and Dagenham
Barnet
Bexley
Brent
Bromley
Camden
City of London
Croydon
Ealing
Enfield
Greenwich
Hackney
Hammersmith
Haringey
Harrow
Havering
Hillingdon
Hounslow
Islington
Kensington and Chelsea
Kingston
Lambeth
Lewisham
Newham
Merton
Redbridge
Richmond
Southwark
Sutton
Tower Hamlets
Wandsworth
Waltham Forest
Westminster

North East England

Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) within this area include Humber & North Yorkshire, North East & North Cumbria, South Yorkshire & West Yorkshire.

See your relevant council for examples of local youth engagement opportunities:

County Durham
Darlington
Gateshead
Hartlepool
Middlesbrough
Newcastle upon Tyne
North Tyneside
Northumberland
Redcar & Cleveland
South Tyneside
Stockton on Tees
Sunderland

North West England

Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) within this area include Cheshire and Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and South Cumbria

See your relevant council for examples of local youth engagement opportunities:

Allerdale
Barrow-in-Furness
Blackburn with Darwen
Blackpool
Bolton
Burnley
Bury
Carlisle
Cheshire East
Cheshire West & Chester
Chorley
Copeland
Eden (Penrith Cumbria)
Fylde (Lancs)
Halton
Hyndburn
Knowsley
Lancaster
Liverpool
Manchester
Oldham
Pendle
Preston
Ribble Valley
Rochdale
Rossendale
Salford
Sefton
South Lakeland
South Ribble
St Helens
Stockport
Tameside
Trafford
Warrington
West Lancashire
Wigan
Wirral
Wyre

South East England

Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) within this area include Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire West, Frimley, Hampshire and Isle of Wight, Kent and Medway, Surrey Heartlands, Sussex

See your relevant council for examples of local youth engagement opportunities:

Adur and Arun
Ashford
Basingstoke and Deane
Bracknell Forest
Brighton and Hove
Buckinghamshire
Canterbury
Chichester
Crawley
Dartford
Dover
East Hampshire
Eastbourne
Eastleigh
Elmbridge
Epsom and Ewell
Fareham
Folkstone and Hythe
Gosport
Gravesham
Guildford
Hart
Hastings
Havant
Horsham
Isle of Wight
Lewes
Maidstone
Medway
Mid Sussex
Milton Keynes
Mole Valley
New Forest
Oxford
Portsmouth
Reading
Reigate and Banstead
Rother
Runnymeade
Rushmoor
Sevenoaks
Shepway
Slough
Southampton
Spelthorne
Surrey Heath
Swale
Wokingham

South West England

Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) within this area include Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset. 

See your relevant council for examples of local youth engagement opportunities:

Bath and North East Somerset
Bournemouth
Christchurch & Poole
Bristol
Cheltenham
Cornwall
Cotswolds
Dorset
East Devon
Exeter
Forest of Dean
Gloucester
Mendip
Mid Devon
Devon
Somerset
Plymouth
Sedgemoor
Somerset West and Taunton
South Gloucestershire
South Hams
South Somerset
Stroud
Swindon
Teignbridge
Tewkesbury
Torbay
Torridge
West Devon
Wiltshire
Isles of Scilly

West Midlands

Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) within this area include Birmingham and Solihull, Black Country, Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent and Coventry and Warwickshire

See your relevant council for examples of local youth engagement opportunities:

Birmingham
Bromsgrove
Coventry
Dudley
East Staffordshire
Herefordshire
Lichfield
Malvern hills
Newcastle-under-Lyme
North Warwickshire
Nuneaton and Bedworth
Redditch
Rugby
Sandwell
Shropshire
Solihull
South Staffordshire
Stafford
Staffordshire Moorlands
Stoke-on-trent
Stratford-on-Avon
Tamworth
Telford & Wrekin
Walsall
Warwick
Wolverhampton
Worcester
Wychavon

Yorkshire and The Humber

Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) within this area include Humber and North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire

See your relevant council for examples of local youth engagement opportunities:

Barnsley
Bradford
Calderdale
Craven
Doncaster
East Riding of Yorkshire
Harrogate
Kingston upon Hull
Kirklees
Leeds
North East Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire
Richmondshire
Rotherham
Ryedale
Scarborough
Selby
Sheffield
Wakefield
York