Consultation Report August 2015

Transcription

1 Youth Counselling Service Involvement Listen CREATE A VOICE Having a Voice Participation Consultation Report August 2015

2 Participants of consultation exercise were from: Tonypandy Drop in Centre Tonypandy Community College Mountain Ash YMCA Abercwmboi Youth Club Bryncelynnog Youth Engagement and Participation Services Ynysybwl Community Centre Hawthorn Youth Engagement and Participation Services Treorchy Comprehensive School Ferndale Youth Engagement and Participation Services Aberdare Community School Pontypridd High School Cardinal Newman School Tonyrefail Youth Engagement and Participation Services Tonyrefail School RCT People First Community Voice would like to thank all young people, teachers, and support staff and the Youth Engagement and Participation Service staff for participating and supporting the Create a Voice project and consultation exercise.

3 CONTENTS 4 5 Executive Summary Create a Voice Section 1: Views on self harm and mental health What is self harm and mental health? Why self Harm? Emotions Who is affected? Consequences Perceptions Section 2: What are the best ways to offer help and support? School and Education Training for young people Community Media Services Information Key themes Recommendations by young people Section 3: How did you feel about participating in the consultation exercise Feedback Quotes and Comments Conclusion 23 Thanks

4 Create a Voice Consultation Report 2015 Executive Summary Overview Community Voice is a 3 year project being delivered in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT). The project is coordinated by RCT Interlink working alongside and in partnership with 8 voluntary sector organisations and is funded by the Big Lottery Fund. The programme is all about producing services together in co-production. It recognises that everyone has something to contribute and that engagement with people and communities in public service design and delivery can lead to the development of local services that better suits community need. Eye to Eye Youth Counselling Service has a project called Create a Voice. Eye to Eye is a charity which provides a free and confidential counselling service to young people between the ages of 10 and 25 years. The charity delivers counselling, advice and information to young people and adults on issues affecting young people and their mental health. The Create a Voice project encourages young people aged 14 to 18 through consultation, to actively explore and question the services and facilities available to them around the issues of mental health and more specifically self harm. Our consultation acknowledged young people s thoughts and feelings on the help, advice and support currently offered to them, in addition to exploring their part in the development of a voice and the identification of unmet need. The consultation identified the continued stigma attached to accessing mental health facilities and services, and that issues such as self-harm were still viewed with taboo with many seeking help, support and advice from their peers. This then made it difficult for those who engaged in self-harming behaviour to speak out about it and seek professional help. Young people identified the need for training and awareness raising work for both young people and professionals in this field or for those who work with young people on a daily basis. In accordance with, the agreed children and young people s participation standards for Wales. Participation means that it is my right to be involved in making decisions, planning and reviewing any action that might affect me. Having a voice, having a choice. 4

5 Create a Voice Consultation Report 2015 Create a Voice Our consultation aimed to give young people an opportunity to participate and express their views and opinions on self-harm, mental health and the improvement and overview of local mental health services delivered to them. The results of the consultation are presented in this report and are the views and opinions of young people aged 14 to 18 years living in Rhondda Cynon Taf. Initially, a training pack was designed by a group of young people which enabled our service to deliver the consultation exercise. Young people from Pontypridd High School were involved in the design of a questionnaire to collate the views of young people on the Eye to Eye service and its delivery. In total, 250 young people have been involved with the project to date and a variety of schools and youth provisions have worked in partnership with Eye to Eye to enable the consultation to take place. Create a Voice works in co-production with the whole Community Voice project in order to challenge and bring about improvements to services and to highlight gaps in current provision. Due to the sensitive nature of mental health and self harm work, all Eye to Eye counsellors were informed about local consultation events in their school or area. During the events young people were offered support and advice on accessing the counselling service should issues arise for them during the consultation itself. The project worker was selected as a qualified counsellor, with experience of work with young people and was also available to offer support during consultation sessions. The charity was aware of its ethical and moral duty of care to the young people involved. At every session confidentiality was discussed as a main topic and it was made clear to all taking part that personal stories would not be shared without explicit consent. On each occasion the consultation was approximately 1 hour long and was split into three question sections. What are your views on self-harm and mental health? What are the best ways to offer help and support and to improve existing services? How did you feel about participating in the consultation exercise? The results of the consultation are presented in the next section and are split into the topics listed above. 5

6 Create a Voice Consultation Report Section WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON SELF-HARM AND MENTAL HEALTH? Information has been collated and has been divided into 7 different sub sections. 6

7 Self Harm & Mental Health 1 What is self-harm and mental health? All the participants had been affected somehow either with firsthand experience of self-harm, personal experience of issues with mental health or they had someone close to them with these issues. Many of the young people associated self-harm as cutting and were unaware that there were many other methods of self-harm. Some were shocked to realise this whereas others had a vast knowledge of methods. Young people in Wales are in the midst of a growing self-harm crisis. In there were 1,172 youngsters admitted for treatment in Wales. But this increased by 370 to 1,542 by according to NHS figures. 07/04/2015 Alcohol, drug taking and sleeping around were also identified as forms of self harm along with eating disorders. If a person self-harms it does not mean they have a mental illness there are many reasons as to why people use self-harm and this will be discussed further in the report. However, self-harm can be an indicator of mental illness such as Depression but individuals would be portraying other symptoms not just self-harm alone. Whereas, eating disorders would be a mental health issue not self-harm. When asked what they thought about Mental Health, many were familiar with depression, stress, anxiety, bi polar and psychosis and that it affects the brain and is an unhealthy mind. Only one group identified that everyone has mental health and it can affect our well being, therefore having a positive mental attitude and being happy enhances general well being Why do people self-harm? The reasons the young people gave are listed: Abuse Disability Mental illness Family Problems Bullying School issues Social media Peer pressure Friendships Relationships Not able to cope with issues Racism Low Self Esteem Lack of confidence Sexuality Drugs and Alcohol Attention Seeking Body Image/appearance Religion Loss or Bereavement Being poor 7

8 Create a Voice Consultation Report 2015 Abuse Abuse covers all types of abuse. Either people self-harmed because they had been abused in some way sexually, emotionally, physically or neglected and it is difficult for them to come to terms with the situation and the way it has left them feeling. Other groups talked about how some people had been witness to domestic violence in the past and the impact this has had on their thoughts and feelings led to engagement in self-harming behaviour. Family Problems Family problems were mentioned frequently as being a reason for self harm, examples such as breakdown in parent s relationships leading to divorce, absent parents, step families, arguments with parents and/or siblings. Young people also identified other family issues, such as finding out real identities and discovering family elsewhere. They had no one to talk to about the bullying, especially after they had spoken to someone about it and in their opinion they felt that nothing had been done. Bullying and self-harm was spoken about in great lengths with cyber bullying included in the discussion. The diagram below was designed by young people in Aberdare. It Highlights the impact bullying can have on mental health. Suicidal Thoughts Bullying Bullying Bullying arose in every session. Many spoke about their experiences of being bullied and how this made them feel. Alarmingly many felt that nothing was being done about the bullying and it just constantly continued resulting in many having negative emotions that they were not able to cope with. This resulted in them taking it out on themselves by self-harming. Much of the bullying took place in the school environment but some identified bullying in the community where they lived. The situation left young people feeling isolated and alone. Loneliness Self-Harm Depression Social media is used negatively to show and tell young people how to self-harm. With other sites encouraging people to post images of their own self-harm. 8

9 Self Harm & Mental Health 1 A study by Cardiff University has found that they not only use social media to share images of self-harm some go further and use the images as part of their own self-harming behaviour. BBC News 07/04/2015 Media portrayal of the perfect body image makes some young people feel they are less than perfect and their appearance doesn t fit in with what we are influenced to believe. This leads to increased lack of confidence and low self-esteem and striving for acceptance with their peers to meet the media image of perfection. When this doesn t happen it adds to the low self-esteem and people feel selfhatred and self-harm. Self-harm is a private and individual act and individuals are often secretive about their behaviour, yet the young people themselves identified two different types of self-harmers. The type that has a genuine reason (possibly from the list above) and the self-harm is a result of distress due to the problems they are currently dealing with whereas others are attention seeking by telling everyone that they are self-harming and wearing their scars like badges and showing everyone. Whatever the reason behind this it was agreed that both types needed some help and support no matter what, but the tolerance of those who were attention seeking was far less. There has also been a rise in group behaviour due to peer pressure. In order for self-harming behaviour to be wider understood, we must acknowledge that self-harm is sometimes used as a coping strategy and that the individual may be experiencing distress, emotional difficulty or possibly a mental health issue. This can result in some young people feeling they should selfharm as it is a good way to cope and in some cases because their friends are doing it! Self-harming behaviour was also linked to some who were confused about their sexuality or gender identity. There may be confusing thoughts and emotions that were being experienced and explored and young people were unsure where they could access support. These reasons were common to many of the groups that participated in the consultation along with friendships and relationships. Some young people worrying about their friends or partners, as, when they argued they would self-harm making them feel guilty and worried about them. This predicament is difficult for those who are supporting their friends and partners. Other reasons for self harm, as shown on page 3, are still very important. This report has highlighted the above reasons due to them being the main discussion point brought to the consultation by the young people themselves. 9

10 Create a Voice Consultation Report 2015 Emotions During the sessions the participants were asked about their views. Some groups would write and discuss reasons for self harm, others focused on feelings. They agreed that: Self-harm was linked to feelings of distress, anger and feelings of guilt, relief or punishment often due to an incident or situation past or present that has left them feeling that way. Links were made between coping, difficult feelings and self-harm. This was used as a way of coping with emotions, as sometimes it became difficult to talk and therefore difficult to understand the problem. Some young people would talk to their friends about their feelings and behaviours, but this form of support can become emotionally difficult for the friends who offer it. Likewise, during the consultation on emotions and mental health, feelings of nervousness and feeling anxious, feeling down, sad, hurting and alone were often used and identified. The general consensus was that it is scary for the person who is experiencing difficulties and for those who are involved with the individuals. Suicidal thoughts were mentioned more often by the young males consulted than the females. After this exercise, when asked how they felt, many young people said sad or low as it is was difficult topic to discuss. However they felt that it needed to be talked about more openly as it is an issue that is often taboo. Who is affected? The common misconception amongst the young people was that self-harm is a behaviour that only young people engage in, many were surprised that people of all ages self-harm. However, as there is an increase in self-harm amongst young people and this was the focus of the project, the participants felt that selfharming behaviour impacted on many others not just the individual. Therefore self-harm affects everyone! When an individual self harms it can have an impact on the wider family. This can often be difficult for the family to understand. Some of the young people felt there was not enough support and information for families to help and understand the individual and self harm. Some young people consulted, felt that selfharm was something that Goths and Emo s do, and that it is part of their ritual. It was also perceived that lonely people and people with problems will self-harm. Everyone who participated in the consultation either had personal experience of self-harm or knew someone who self-harmed. One of the biggest concerns was that young people are turning to their friends and peers for help, advice and support. They didn t always feel they required professional help, whilst others were unsure as to where they could get advice, information and support. The other significant factor in this situation was that if an adult found out such as a teacher, 10

11 Self Harm & Mental Health 1 then they would then inform the parents, this in their opinion often made matters worse. Peer support during self harm of others, is also having an indirect effect on those who have become the supporter. Many young supporters are holding information about their friends self harm and are offering advice and information to the best of their ability and knowledge. These young people are not able to share or offload the information or their distress and do not always receive or access the necessary emotional support they require. Why? Not everyone could identify a reason why they self harmed. It was difficult to identify it, as it was simply just something they did. Others were more aware that their self-harm was a coping method when experiencing emotional distress. They did add that different emotions could trigger self-harm such as hurt, upset, and anger or if they had experienced a painful event or trauma. The young people felt that the media portrayal of self-harm as a coping method existed in order for society to become more understanding of this concept. Young people felt that this was a negative response, resulting in some young people self harming because it is portrayed as a way for them to cope with their issues or distress. Participants felt that self harming because others were doing it was not the best way of coping with problems or emotions. Self harm was described by one participant as a release when things became too difficult to bear, there was no other way. Here are a few quotes from the young people. It lets out the pain they can t get rid of. Bleeding and watching it, to watch all the bad stuff pour and bleed away. It feels like it eases the pain! For some young people self-harm was used when overwhelming feelings of self-hatred or self-punishment arose. It became difficult at times when negative emotions directed towards others became internalized. This resulted in the young people self harming and taking it out on themselves instead of others. Young people are able to access self harm material on social websites, some offer help, support, advice and information, so that the appropriate support can be accessed. However, in addition to this there are also negative websites that show and promote self-harm, many containing graphic images. 11

12 Create a Voice Consultation Report 2015 These websites can also have an influence on young people and can be used as part of their self-harm ritual. In one participation session the young people drew a diagram depicting two types of self-harmers. In their opinion both groups were looking for attention but for different reasons. They felt some self harmed to seek new friends and sympathy in the only way they know how, yet the group felt that self-harming itself could put a strain on friendships and relationships. During this consultation exercise it became apparent that as some individuals use self-harm as a way of coping with emotions such as when relationships break down it would also be a very worrying time for the ex partners who would then feel as if they are to blame. This was a common theme throughout the consultation, adding additional pressure and stress to young people s coping. Young people identified that self-harm could also be a cry for help and could mean that someone has an underlying mental illness, health problem or disability. 12

13 Self Harm & Mental Health 1 Consequences When peers are supporting others through difficult times it can be at the detriment of their health. With increasing use of social networking sites, social media and technology as a way of young people communicating, they are finding themselves on demand 24/7. For many, their friends would be texting or messaging via social networking sites day or night to talk and share their problems. This could result in friends becoming upset and not knowing what to do during very late hours and therefore are also unable to sleep or get a break. Depending on the chosen method of self-harm scars can be visible and permanent. Blood loss can also be consequence of self-harm or hair loss, accidental overdose or in severe cases accidental death. This risky behaviour can be harmful to self and others. If a young person has a mental illness and it is not addressed some participants felt that if ignored then individuals could become dangerous to self and others. They felt that this may result in individuals being locked away until they recover. Perceptions When talking about people who self-harm or those who have a mental illness the general consensus of the participants was that these topics were viewed in a negative light. Words such as the following were used: The use of these words made it difficult for individuals to talk about their self harm and to seek appropriate help. They felt that there was a lack of understanding by society which then left people feeling stigmatized. This attitude to people who self harmed could lead to feelings of isolation, and on occasion the prescribing of medication and hospital attendance or admissions. 13

14 Create a Voice Consultation Report Section WHAT ARE THE BEST WAYS TO OFFER HELP AND SUPPORT? 14

15 Help and Support 2 Schools and Education As the consultation focused on help and support to 14 to 18 year olds, many young people are in school or college. Many participants felt that self-harm and mental health should be talked about more in school, especially during the PSE lessons, and that these topics were never discussed even though many young people experienced feelings of anxiety, stress, depression and self-harm. The participants said that this consultation was the first time they were able to openly and safely discuss self-harm in school. It was identified that in some schools pupils did not have PSE lessons. They felt more importance should be placed on educating current social issues impacting on young people alongside the academic subjects they take. The group stated they would like guest speakers to attend the school to talk to the young people and listen to their views and opinions. They would like to see more workshops held in schools addressing issues that are relevant to them and that particular school or year group. These are the topics suggested by young people, who felt they would be more comfortable talking if the workshops were delivered by external organisation and not a school member of staff. Stress Workshops during exam times Self esteem building workshops Mindfulness Being individual Self-harm Managing Anxiety Relaxation Classes Themed assemblies were also suggested as a good place to address social issues. They could be used to inform pupils of the relevant support organisations in relation to the selected topics. It was felt that there is a lot of pressure placed on pupils in school, yet little support to help them cope with the pressure that teachers are placing on them. In two schools year 8 pupils had similar ideas on the best ways to help and support. They thought it would be a good idea to have an Anger room with soft walls, punch bags, sound proofing and a dummy. This could help them to express themselves and release tension and anger before it manifested into self-harming behaviour. 15

16 Create a Voice Consultation Report 2015 Young people also requested a designated person in each school trained in mental health issues. This person would help pupils if they needed to talk to someone in confidence. One of the main reasons preventing pupils from talking to teachers or professionals was that they believed that their confidentiality would be compromised and that the school automatically rang the parents. Young people they feel that confidentiality should mean exactly that and they felt extremely let down when the teacher then phoned their home. They felt there should be a scale system used to gauge whether there is any real danger or not. It was at this point the group were introduced to the basic child protection procedure, which showed that sometimes it was difficult for teachers and other professionals to keep complete confidentiality. The discussion resulted in a number of suggestions from young people: Only contact parents if the self-harm is severe or if someone is suicidal, and if all teachers had the same training they would all be working to the same scale. Teachers not believing everything they are told as some people may be causing trouble for others. Teachers needed to talk to the young person first before asking personal questions about what is really going on. Teachers shouldn t be talking to each other about pupil s private lives and personal issues. It is felt that sometimes certain pupil s personal issues are discussed in the staff room. Training for young people in emotional skills These issues are making some pupils reluctant to talk to teachers therefore they either keep it to themselves or talk to their friends and peers. For young people to get the appropriate support many have requested peer to peer training which will enable them to have the right skills and knowledge to at least offer help and support to their friends whilst receiving support. It has been suggested that there should be a drop in area in school which could be run by a counsellor maybe Eye to Eye, not to counsel but to be there. Sometimes young people feel they want to talk to someone who will understand them but they don t necessarily want counselling. The drop in centres could run weekly and cover different topics that are affecting young people. If there are enough young people with the same issues then workshops or training sessions can be delivered. Sometimes, it can be a space for people to express themselves through art, music and drama. 16

17 Help and Support 2 Community Advertising and posters should be distributed to schools and community centres, doctor s surgeries, youth provisions etc about support services for self-harm and mental health support. The group felt that many young people were unaware of what to do or where to go to get the right advice and information. Support groups in the community were mentioned to eradicate feelings of being the only one. However, if the support group was named as being a self-harm self help group people may be reluctant to join due to stigma. A health and well being centre or well being sessions could be delivered in local communities that way people wouldn t know what was specifically going on, as health and well being covers many areas. This form of help would ensure privacy to a self help group as they wouldn t necessarily be stigmatized. Media Young people felt restrictions should be placed on social networking sites and many graphic images and negative websites should be taken down. Tougher measures for young people to access certain sites should be in place to stop them being influenced. Apps to make you feel positive and more confident should be designed instead and more focus on positives websites for young people would help. More websites run by and for young people to help offer support by like minded people with positive stories, images and confidence boosting tips. A DVD about self-harm and the support offered locally may encourage young people to seek the relevant support and help they require. Self-harm seems to be in the TV and papers raising awareness about the increase in young people and self-harm. However, the way the press reports about mental health can often be in a negative way portraying people with mental health issues as murders or paedophiles, this was the general view of young people. Services The young people felt that counselling was a good way for some people to deal with their problems, but they felt that there should be more counsellors in schools offering counselling and support every day. They felt access to counselling could be made easier so they don t always have to go through teachers to get appointments. Not all the young people were aware that Eye to Eye also offers a community based service, where 17

18 Create a Voice Consultation Report 2015 young people who didn t want to access counselling in their school could be seen by a counsellor. More advertising is needed and counselling should be available when you feel you need it as being put on a waiting list is not always helpful. As well as there being more counsellor s there should be other people available to offer help, support and advice, as pupils are seeing these services being reduced within their schools. Online support would be helpful to offer information on how to deal with certain situations and feelings and to give the relevant numbers for organisations who can help, especially in times of crisis, as young people often don t know where to turn. The other aspect of online support would be to have an online peer led support group. It was felt that a local helpline offering advice on self-harm, suicide and mental health issues would be useful. Young people felt that they would be better understood if they could talk to people with firsthand experience of what they were going through. Young people gave feedback on their experience of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. (CAMHS) The participants felt that their experience was that not all young people were able to go to CAMHS and that not everyone met the criteria. Some felt that this left them with nowhere to go. They went on to say that waiting times can be months and by then sometimes young people didn t want to go and that for those accessing CAMHS; they found the offices too far away. One example in the group, was a young girl in an upper Cynon school who said she found it difficult travelling to Merthyr to access CAMHS, so she had stopped going. She said that if it had been nearer she would have continued to attend. Others felt that nothing was done there and they were wasting their time by going. The two organisations mentioned, Eye to Eye and CAMHS are the only two mental health support organisations young people are aware of within RCT for year olds. Information Despite there being many websites that offer support to young people about self-harm and mental health there was very little awareness about where young people could go if they need information. They asked if more booklets could be produced and more helpful online information be made available. The information produced needed to be for everyone not just young people. They believed that professionals didn t always know what to do or where to go, and parents had difficulty in understanding the issues of young people, self-harm and mental health. 18

19 Help and Support 2 Young people requested training on self-harm, suicide and mental health awareness, but they were aware that at this time, it was not available to them. Key themes Lack of education about self-harm and mental health Lack of training both for young people and professionals Peer support Need more information and signposting Bullying and self-harm Attitudinal barriers Media influence Recommendations by young people to bring about change are: Policies need to change. During the consultation the link between bullying and self-harm had been identified by young people. They felt that the way bullying was dealt with by schools needed to change. They felt that current school anti-bullying policies are seen to be not working and bullying is continuing and seriously impacting on their well being and the well being of other young people. Young People Requested: Changes to confidentiality and the parental reporting of self-harm. Policies to allow young people to talk more freely about their issues without their parents being made aware. Training packs for teachers and other professionals that are designed and delivered by young people. Breaking down barriers to help remove stigma. Better police awareness about mental health issues. Peer to Peer training for young people to understand their own capacity to support their friends and to develop new helping skills. Cyber mentors in schools. To be listened to! Jeremy Kyle type show for young people to address social issues. Services to be flexible to their needs and to work locally 19

20 Create a Voice Consultation Report Section HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT PARTICIPATING IN THE CONSULTATION EXERCISE 20

21 Participating in the Consultation Exercise 3 The feedback Young people were given post it notes and asked to jot down how they felt about the consultation and the end of the sessions. The suggested thoughts were; What it was like to be asked their views? What it was like to talk about self-harm, mental health and how to shape services? Young people organised themselves into groups with some choosing to focus on feelings, some on involvement and others discussing what they saw as relevant social issues. Words such as: Helpful Informative Learning Educational Benefits of sharing knowledge Good! Difficult These words had been repeated throughout the feedback. Some young people felt: Sad Upset Hurt Angry Difficult to talk about! Depressing Young people chose to write quotes about their experience and needs. Here are some of those quotes. This was an eye opening experience to other people s views on this topic. Important to get young people s views because that s who you are trying to help. The problem needs to be dealt with. I m glad that we have had this chance to talk about it. And the project is definitely a good thing even though it is a dark topic! It s changed the way I think about selfharm. Today s session was calm and talking about problems that people have in society. Which I thought was really calming. Today I learnt a lot more about the world and it showed me not to use anger. I think it is good people are trying to help those who self-harm. Important to identify exactly what young people s views are towards mental health. I felt I could let my feelings out. I feel confident talking about stuff. Made me feel better. 21

22 Create a Voice Consultation Report 2015 Good to get thoughts out, happy to give ideas on how to improve services. Good very helpful. Bit uncomfortable and personal but all for a good cause. I have enjoyed being involved. I feel it s important to involve the younger generation. I like that the school council was consulted on this and felt that we provided not bad feedback. Also the council covered a large age range which will be good for information! Very helpful I feel heard. I think it was good as it gives us a chance to make a change. I feel it is important to talk about how we think it should change. I enjoyed today, I felt as if I had a chance to say my opinion and what I would like to happen in the future. I felt it was nice to speak and my voice to be heard! I really enjoyed it! Good to have our voices heard. Conclusion The consultation process ran for a period of 10 months across Rhondda Cynon Taf. 250 young people participated from a number of organisations and permission was sought from the school s and youth services prior to the event. The participants were young people aged years old. Young people who participated in the consultation were of the opinion that action needs to be taken to raise awareness of mental health and self-harm issues amongst young people. There needs to be more understanding and support offered by carers, professionals and the general public alike. In order to achieve these they suggested more training, information, support and advice should be readily available, measures should be taken to reduced stigma and break down attitudinal barriers around mental health and self-harm. Good being asked our words and telling people how we feel on the topic. It was good to give a personal view of what we know and to ask questions, and to get involved. 22

23 Participating in the Consultation Exercise 3 Thanks Peer led work was requested peer led work should be supported to enable young people opportunities to offer support, design and deliver training, to be involved and have a voice to help shape services that affect their lives. Media influences young people would like to see more positive websites setting up as there are many negative sites available, and the media image portrays mental health and self-harm as a negative monitoring of sites as many young people feel ashamed and afraid to talk about their issues and self-harm for fear of being labelled and the effect this can have on their future. Young people in Rhondda Cynon Taf would like to see more services that involve them in their planning,listen to their views and cater for their needs. They would like information and advice which is readily available and current, with early interventions and identifications being noted. They believe that this is the way forward in an ever changing digital age. Big Lottery Fund. All the young people who contributed to this report. Eye to Eye Counsellors for their support Interlink Heads above the Waves for training the young people involved Friends of Tonypandy Community College BTCV Glyncoch Project Glyncoch and Ynysybwl regeneration project Spectacle Theatre Age Concern Cardiff Institute for the Blind RCT Youth Engagement and Participation Service 23

24 For further Information please contact: Emma Alcock Eye to Eye Youth Counselling Services Beddau CEC Pencoedcae Road Beddau Pontypridd CF38 2AE Tel: Charity number: The views in this report are those of the young people who participated in the consultation exercise, not the views of the Youth Empowerment Worker.