1. Forum Strategy

2. Strategy Principles
All activity must work towards improve outcomes for children, young people and families
All organisations (no matter their size) have an equal value in contributing to the children and young people’s agenda
We uphold openness and transparency amongst partners
We unite behind our common aims and always seek to speak with one voice, but recognise that the sector does not have a single voice

3. Strategic Aims
Effective communication
Increased participation

4. Effective Communication
Regular meetings - met
Attendance – less than target
Feedback from NCC - met
Networking for members - met
List of members - met
Subscribers to Forum E-news – met
Reporting via E-news – not met
Website – met
Network meetings – partially met
Attendance – number of VCSE organisations at each meeting – target 35 – average 24
Rep reports should have been included in the E-news, but E-news has not been published monthly
The Forum section of the website has been updated and the representation section is clearer.
The analytics for the Forum pages show that number of visits have remained similar (approx. 110 visits per quarter)– the visits are more purposeful, i.e. the average number of pages viewed per session has increased, the session duration has increased and the “bounce rate” no interaction has decreased.

5. Increased participation
Representation - partially met
Training sessions – partially met
Conference - met
Round table meetings - not met
Links to Children’s Services - met
Key messages – met
Increase in Forum membership – partially met
Target 90% of groups has an elected rep – we have difficulty recruiting reps and have not been able to meet the demand.
Reps do not get requests from the sector – but the sector engages well when asked to respond.
Training courses to increase participation skills of volunteers have been mixed. Low interest, so courses cancelled. Those that have run were well received and increase in skills reported.
Round table meetings – some representation of groups for shortbreaks, Barnardo’s
Forum memberhip – has stayed fairly similar due to balance of new members and people leaving