Voice of the young

Empowering young people

Children and young people don't always feel comfortable speaking out, especially if they've had difficult experiences in the past. We're committed to helping them to make sure their voice is heard in a way that feels safe to them, and in a way that helps them feel stronger and more able to recover when they face challenges in their lives.

We're passionate about supporting young people to have a say in Barnardo's, in their communities, and beyond.

Developing and running better services

We listen to children and young people to find ways of improving the services we offer them. We use their views to shape our work and tell others, like the government, what's important, too. The more we involve children and young people in developing and running our services, the better those services will meet their needs.

What young people are telling us

• Waiting time targets for mental health services are a major concern 
• Good relationships and sex education in schools – where no question or topic is off limits – would help them to learn about relationships in a structured way
• They want to talk about LGBTQ+ relationships and gender identities in relationships, sex and health education