Child Friendly Westmorland and Furness is a whole-council commitment to prioritising the rights, needs, and well-being of our children, ensuring they grow up in safe, supportive environments that encourage and value their participation.
This programme of work, which is key to delivering our ‘ambition for every child’, will bring together the council, our children, young people, families, communities and partners to embed children’s rights into every-day decision making and ensure that our area is the very best place for children and young people to grow up in.
We are launching the initiative on Thursday 30 October at Kendal Town Hall, for council colleagues, partners and invited guests.
The event will be opened and chaired by Luka, our Chair of Child Friendly Westmorland and Furness, and run by members of the Young People’s Steering Group.
They will lead us and many of our partners, through the vision, principles and local commitment to making Westmorland and Furness a fantastic place for young people to grow up in and thrive. Our roving reporter Alice will be on hand to capture views and interview people at the event.
We’ll hear from Honey Barker, our Member of Youth Parliament, who talks about her role this year and what she and her deputies have been up to, including visiting the Houses of Parliament and hosting our own ‘Young People’s Question time’.
One of the Deputy Members of Youth Parliament, Charlie, will present his campaign ‘Raising Awareness of Neuro Diversity to Young People.’
We’ll also hear stories and highlights from projects that our young people have been involved in such as Young Inspectors, and the Graffiti project.
There will then be groups working together on an interactive table-top activity: ‘Leaves of Change’ with each table facilitated by a young person.
We’ll also be unveiling the winning logo design from a competition we have been running over October for a young person to design our Child Friendly Logo which we will use in the campaign as we move things forward.
Councillor Janet Battye, Cabinet Member for Children’s services said: “I am really looking forward to the launch of our Child Friendly Westmorland and Furness campaign – so much is already happening behind the scenes, and this brings it all together. We are fortunate to have so many talented and capable young people living here and wanting to help us improve their daily lives”.
Mil Vasic Director of Children’s Services said: “It’s going to be an exciting day and a really positive step forward for Westmorland and Furness in our ‘Ambition for Every Child’ plan. Not only as Children’s Services but as a Council we are committed to involving our young people in all aspects of our policies, services and public spaces; and strengthen their voice so that we deliver on priorities that matter most to them.”