Giving a voice to young people, Newham’s HeadStart Youth Panel began in 2016 and sees young people sit alongside senior councillors, teachers and strategic partners within the Local Authority and CCG. The Panel acts as a scrutiny group, and all adults applying to work with HeadStart are interviewed by them.
They’ve worked on a range of projects to engage other youths in the borough, including a booklet on transitions in life, have a series of podcasts, publish a monthly newsletter and during lockdown they delivered drop-in mental health support groups for young people.