Participation in practice

One of the best ways to see participation in action is to look at a project in detail.

Read about Voice4U, a project which gave young people in Cornwall the tools to speak up for their rights.

Introducing Voice 4U

Children have rights. But how often are they really acknowledged? One of the most important rights is the right to be heard. We work on the principle that all rights are equally important - this is one of the key messages in the rights training. But how often are young people ignored - even when what they have to say is important?

Save the Children set up a strategic partnership in Cornwall using here to HELP funding. Our aim was to support young people to develop the tools to speak out and claim their rights. Young people developed a project called Voice 4U.

What we did and why

Cornwall is a county with a lot of hidden poverty. Our previous work with young people in the county had highlighted that young people growing up in rural areas find themselves isolated, ignored and unable to access organised youth activities.

We wanted to work with young people in Cornwall to explore these issues in more detail and identify other factors that they felt were holding them back. But we wanted to make sure it didn't end there: the most important thing was that by helping young people find a voice, we could also help them initiate positive change in their communities.

This drive formed the basis of our project, which incorporated rights training and drama to explore issues and develop confidence and communication skills.

How we did it

To really make our plans a reality, we realised we had to enable young people and adults to find new and different ways of working together. We developed a strategic partnership with the Dreadnought Centre, a charitable organisation based in Pool, Cornwall. Dreadnought mixes traditional activities and creative arts to enable young people to take control of their lives.

With them, we trained a group of adults in two areas:

Theatre for Development employs drama techniques to build confidence, decision-making skills and the ability to advocate for rights. It also encourages participants to think about the things that are important to them and communicate their feelings.

Our adults spent a week going through an intensive experiential learning process (TfD training). At the end of it they facilitated a residential outline for 20 young people aged 14 to 17 from schools and youth groups in Penzance, Bodmin, Launceston, Newquay and Pool.

Using their knowledge of children's rights and the techniques of Theatre for Development, the adults and teenagers explored issues of importance to the young people.

Five issues came up consistently:

  • feelings of isolation because of a lack of things to do
  • feelings of isolation because of a lack of public transport
  • discrimination because they were young
  • discrimination because they were from Cornwall
  • in some parts of Cornwall, young people were unable to access services or felt they were denied the chance to get involved in their communities.

Our achievements

Our biggest achievement was giving young people the confidence to communicate. As a result of their residential, some of the young people created a play about bullying in schools, which they performed to their peers, youth workers and other adults.

They also wanted to know more about their rights, so we organised a further one-day training on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Next steps

Although the project has come to an end, its legacy will continue. The young people involved in Voice 4U are better equipped to campaign for change in their communities. A number of adults have been trained in both children's rights and using theatre techniques to facilitate communication.

And the Dreadnought Centre is planning to continue using the approach we developed together in its ongoing work with children and young people.

Tips for youth workers

  • Theatre for Development is an excellent medium for encouraging people to participate through games and exercises.
  • Give yourself enough time to make sure all participants - young people and adults - feel safe, supported and confident in the activities

(Not all images on this site are taken at the projects, some are library images that represent the type of project work undertaken)