1. Youth Engagement and Participation
Jane Brueseke LBWF Youth Engagement Lead

2. Youth Engagement and participation is the involvement of young people in the development and delivery of services, recruitment to posts, youth-proofing strategies and giving advice to the council and its partners on service delivery, particularly those services affecting young people.

3. In Waltham Forest, Youth Engagement is given a high profile, with the council leader, cabinet members and partners giving their support to the Youth Engagement & Participation work.

4. We try to ensure that all sections of the community’s voices are informing service delivery. The make-up of the Youth Engagement groups is diverse reflecting all ethnicities in the borough including recent migrants, young people in care, NEET’s, young Carers, ex-offenders, young parents, young people from Alternative Provision & from LGBT groups.
The two corporate youth engagement mechanisms are: the Young Advisors and the Youth Independent Advisory Group (YIAG) and we have approximately 30 young people aged years in each group. The youth engagement lead also works closely with council officers supporting other youth participation groups, ie: the Youth Offending Service, SEND user group & the Children in Care Council, as well as keeping in contact with VCS youth groups & service providers.

5. Young Advisors
Young Advisors are a team of young people, who act as advisors and consultants to the council and partners , organisations & VCS groups in the borough on local service delivery and policy / strategy. Waltham Forest YA’s are part of a national network, with teams across the UK, overseen by the Young Advisors charity. YA offer a cost effective way to work with and carry out research with young people to guide service delivery & improvement. YAs are trained and accredited by the charity and then work locally; WFYA feed into strategic boards ie: Children & Young People’s Scrutiny, the Children's Health & Well-Being board and the Healthy schools group. They also work on projects and events for the council and organisations who commission them. WFYA have won several local and national awards.

6. Youth Independent Advisory Group
The YIAG is a unique partnership between young people, the council, the police and the borough’s Safer Neighbourhood Board involving young people interested in crime and community safety issues. Some YIAG have experience of the criminal justice system, are victims of crime, or live in areas where youth violence is a part of their lives. All have a shared goal to improve youth safety in the borough and reduce youth violence.
YIAG members are trained in conflict management, and as peer trainers. They deliver sessions to young people in the Youth Offending Team, youth clubs, schools, colleges and Alternative Provision in Waltham Forest.
YIAG are also accredited Young Advisors and also work jointly on projects with the Waltham Forest Young Advisors

7. Youth Independent Advisory Group
The YIAG also advise Waltham Forest police working closely with their youth engagement officer; the council and strategic boards, giving a youth perspective, including: the Safer Neighbourhood Board, the Stop & Search monitoring Board, Communities Scrutiny and the Gang Prevention Programme.
The YIAG have also won several local and national awards and are often cited as best-practice across London. After meeting Chief Superintendent Victor Olisa, the Met’s Head of Diversity & Engagement at Scotland Yard last year, he said he wanted to role out their YIAG model in all London boroughs. Two YIAG sit on a new pan-London Knife and Violent Crime Prevention Group chaired by Neville Lawrence and held at Scotland Yard.

8. YIAG Examples of YIAG work: Jamil :
Feeding into meetings, Stop & Search peer research project
Peer workshops – Youth Offending Team & National Anti Bullying week
Youth Mental Health Ambassadors

9. Upcoming work
The current Youth Mayor team is selected from the YIAG & Young Advisors group. The YMT are leading on a Youth-led event for the mayor; A Youth Summit, on 1st February 2018 at Waltham Forest College, aimed at Year 10,11, 12 & 13 students.

10. 10 year celebration event
Young Advisors 10th anniversary celebration event! “Empowering Young People, Changing Communities” The Young Advisors charity has a network of teams across the UK and is celebrating its 10th year. YIAG and Young Advisors are helping to deliver the London event on Monday 12th February in half term from 3-5pm in Portcullis House, at the House of Commons. We invite you to join us at our celebration and visioning event to hear about the impact of our Waltham Forest Young Advisors & YIAG and what plans the Young Advisors Charity has for the future. It will be an opportunity to meet the Young Advisors Charity and a number of different Young Advisor teams to find out about the breadth of projects being delivered, how services have been improved and how we might work together in the next 10 years! If you are interested in attending please book on Eventbrite: