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Section E:
Involving Socially Excluded or Harder to Reach Groups

Young People

Young people are often very difficult to consult using traditional methods, therefore it is necessary to use more innovative methods to engage them.

Consultation with young people is often best carried out by young people themselves. In particular, young people are able to converse naturally and use language that may appear patronising if used by an older person. The Council has in the past commissioned the Bradford Children's Participation Project (see p40) to carry out specific consultations with young people.

Successful consultation with young people normally contains some element of "fun". With a consultation about Council services this is hardly likely to be obtained from the subject matter of the consultation, the "fun" element could come from:

• the approach used in the consultation (eg drama, video diaries, use of disposable cameras);
• the venue used for the consultation (could be somewhere exciting to young people (eg Bradford City football stadium);
• the thank you reward given for participating (eg take part in our consultation and then we will show you a film, give you tickets for a disco, etc.).

It is unwise to consult young people on a one-to-one basis as this is generally too intimidating. It is also advisable to consult them in a location where they are likely to feel comfortable; this could be their home or a local meeting place, but not council offices or posh hotels.

If you are involving a young person under 16 in your consultation you will need parental permission.

Consultation with young people generally works best if all participants are of a similar age. Mixing genders is also often best avoided. Mixing ages and genders can lead to situations where some young people feel the need to establish their authority or accept the dominance of others.

As with other groups, keeping young people informed about the results of consultation is very important.

The Bradford Children's Participation Project provides a Participation Training Package for those who provide services to children, to enable them to involve children and young people in decisions about those services. For further details contact the Children's Participation Project (tel: 01274 720340)

An exciting development in Bradford is the newly established Bradford and Keighley Youth Forum, which was set up in September 2002, with 30 young people elected on the forum representing the 5 constituencies of Bradford District. If you want to get an issue discussed at the forum and get the views of young people through a formal mechanism, then contact David@bydp.org For more information about the Youth Forum and a description of the recently elected Youth Members of Parliament (YMP's), you could visit the website, which is: www.bkyouthparliament.com

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