Youth Board

The Youth Board is for young people aged 14 to 25 years old, who live or study in Worcestershire.

By becoming a member of the Youth Board, you will have an opportunity to help shape the way in which NHS services are delivered. The Youth Board meets once a month (usually online) to discuss ideas, give their feedback, share insights, and develop new skills. The group provides a voice for all young people to make sure our services are the best they can be.  

Email Trudy at tneal@nhs.net to sign up, or read our FAQs below for more information. 

 

Image of colourful Youth Board logo on a white background

 

How will volunteering help me?

Did you know, volunteering can help with improved wellbeing, increased happiness, an easing of depression and anxiety and better physical health. Volunteers can experience feeling less lonely which can support those going through life transitions. Young people often find they also gain experience and can have a boost in confidence.

Whilst volunteering you will be offered a range of training opportunities and get an insight into the NHS and how it works, all of which can be added to your CV.

Read a blog from current Youth Board member Matt on how Youth Board helped them: Youth Board as a stepping stone for future careers - Matt.pdf [pdf] 85KB

What do you do on Youth Board?

We mostly give young people a voice in Trust services to make them more accessible and user-friendly. This could be Mental Health, Sexual Health, Therapy (Speech and Language, Physiotherapy) or dentistry. These are some of the services the Trust looks after in Worcestershire.

The Trust’s youth board has now been running for over 10 years. In that time young people have supported projects like;

  • Developing Apps for Child and Adolescent Mental Health
  • Look at the information sent to Children and Young People to make them more friendly and understandable.
  • Do campaigns to help other young people like our Reach Out Campaign, which can be seen here https://camhs.hacw.nhs.uk/reachout-music
  • Supporting the development of new sexual health website pages.
  • We also train you to be able to sit on Interview panels for people applying to work in Young People services.

 

How often do you meet?

Usually once a month in the evening online, depending on what young people want to do. Although we do like to meet face-to-face occasionally too.

 

How much of my time will I be expected to give?

We ask young people to commit to at least 3 hours a month to attend the meetings and support projects we are working on. However, we understand that sometimes you have other commitments; we can be flexible.

 

How will I be supported?

When you become involved in Youth Board you are valued as an individual. We will support you throughout your time volunteering with us.  We also arrange for any reasonable adjustments people need, to help ensure that opportunities are open to as wide a group as possible.

For more information email Trudy at tneal@nhs.net

 

Do I have to be a current patient/service user?

No. Many of our young people aren’t current patients/service users.

 

Interested in finding out more or signing up?

Email Trudy at tneal@nhs.net