YPAG Engagement Project Launch: A new stage of our award-winning venture

At Listen to Act, we are committed to increasing the value of youth voices and aim to create a future where health and care services can benefit young people. Our focus is on actively engaging young individuals in the process of shaping their communities and the services they receive.

The Young People’s Advisory Group (YPAG) is a part of the ARC Outreach Alliance (AOA). It is a mental health network dedicated to helping children and young people in North West London. YPAG was established by Listen to Act to provide a safe and supportive place for young people to discuss local mental health services and share their experiences, provide input on AOA's mental health research efforts, and arrange activities and events within North West London. 

On 1st July 2024, we launched a new phase of our project. This three-month engagement initiative will conclude with an event in October, where we will showcase our findings and results. Our primary goal is to collaborate with various programs which focus on the mental health of children and young people throughout North West London. Through this project, we aim to provide a clear understanding on what type of mental health services should be provided in order to help young people who need such support and what the priorities for research should be.

To ensure an effective and proper flow of the project plan, YPAG begins by developing survey questions for young people to answer across various themes and running the survey in the community. The data will then be collected and analysed by YPAG in order to make appropriate research recommendations, which will be a topic of discussion with key stakeholders at the October event.

In order for the project to be successful and run smoothly, we have created paid roles for the YPAG members. We are also providing members with the opportunity for training based on their needs and interests to complete their work with the help of support and supervision from senior academics.

The workshop was hosted at the Mohn Centre at the School of Public Health at Imperial College London. Seven talented young individuals attended the workshop, four of whom were new members of the group. The workshop aimed to create trust among members while also integrating new members into the group. The group discussed and agreed on survey questions, assessed the impact they wished to have, and specified the type of support needed to reach their goals.

Members of the ARC Outreach Alliance team also attended the workshop, where they shared their research experiences and emphasised the significance of the YPAG's work. They also observed how we are attempting to ensure that all of our work is consistent with the Integrated Care Board's overall priority.

Having stated that, we intend to complete the next steps of the project before beginning any community engagement activities. To begin, we intend to finalise the survey and assign specific duties to each member to guarantee that all work gets completed. Finally, each member will be allocated a supervisor who will oversee the project and provide support as needed. As a result, by following these actions, we will have the opportunity to be able to make a significant contribution to mental health research and treatment. 

Look out for new developments and updates on this project as it evolves.

My name is Fadil Rahman, and I am a young volunteer for Listen to Act. I wrote this article to highlight the importance of engaging young people in shaping mental health services in our community.