Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire is the first group in the county to win the Investing in Children Award
Since its original launch in February 2015, Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire (YHW) has been making sure that young voices are being heard in the county.
“I became involved because I wanted to be part of making changes in services to young people.”
“Before I joined Young Healthwatch, I could see the influence it had in making changes to the health services. Now I am a member of this group. I have a particular interest in cancer care for young people.”
By tackling issues around health and social care, young people between the ages of 11 to 24 have made an outstanding impact locally. Their proactive approach, innovative ideas and passion for creating positive change has proved that young people in Northamptonshire shouldn’t be afraid to speak up and shape the health and social care services that are important to them.
In their report, Investing in Children said:
“It was a real pleasure to meet members of Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire. They have carried out research, conducted surveys, produced reports, met with and challenged service providers to improve the outcomes for children and young people accessing health and social care services.”
Recently the young people have visited Northampton General Hospital as a part of their work plan, where they met with healthcare professionals and talked to the patients to see if there is anything that could be improved on the children’s wards. They also recently produced a report about eating disorders to find out if young people have enough support.
But, their projects won’t stop there! Soon, they will launch a mental health survey to look at the emotional wellbeing of Northamptonshire youngsters and assess if more should be done to help them.
“We are extremely proud of our young people’s achievement. To get national recognition like this one from such an inspiring organisation as Investing in Children, clearly shows that we are going in the right direction. Our young volunteers are the driving force of our organisation, and we couldn’t be happier with the positive impact they are making. This award ensures that as an organisation we continue to put young people at the heart of what we do and will hopefully inspire others to involve and listen to young people too.”
Kate Holt, CEO of Healthwatch Northamptonshire
"We are so proud of everything that our young volunteers have achieved and we will continue to work with them to ensure that their voice is heard when it comes to health and social care. Young people are vital in services locally as they are the service users of tomorrow. It is important that they know that they are able to have a say in services that affect them and their peers and that they know that their voice really does count and will be heard."
Esther Stimpson, Project Manager and Lead Officer for Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire
With over 500 members, the Investing in Children (IiC) is an organisation that provides research and participation services to organisations that work with children and young people, and are committed to their human rights. Visit their website to find out more.
