The report of the Bradford Citizens Alliance (Document “H”) will be submitted to the Board to provide an update on the work of Bradford Citizens young person’s action team and inform Members about the Alliance’ 4 areas for action.

4 areas for action:

·            effects of racism

·            mental health experience and support

·            effects of disadvantage

·            lost opportunities/LGBTQ+

Bradford Citizensis currently an alliance of 5 School Multi-Academy Trusts (BDAT, Beckfoot, Carlton, Dixons and Exceed), with other Trusts joining. The aim is to broaden this alliance among more schools, the University, faith groups, charities and trade unions.

Recommended –

1.          That the Board note the contents of this report and the views expressed by the Bradford Citizens Young People’s Action Team at the Wellbeing Board on 28^th February.

2.          That the Board takes note of the specific proposals brought by the Young People’s Action Team and responds appropriately at the Wellbeing Board on 28^th February.

3.          That the Board commits to working with the Young People’s Action Team to take forward/develop the specific proposals on Mental Health to improve services and provision across the District for ALL of Bradford’s children and young people.

(Graham Brownlee, Bradford Citizens) 

The report of the Bradford Citizens Alliance (Document “H”) provided an update on the work of Bradford Citizens young person’s action team and informed Members about the Alliance’s four areas for action.  The four areas for action included:

• effects of racism
• mental health experience and support
• effects of disadvantage
• lost opportunities/LGBTQ+

Bradford Citizens is currently an alliance of five School Multi-Academy Trusts (BDAT, Beckfoot, Carlton, Dixons and Exceed), with other Trusts joining. The aim is to broaden this alliance among more schools, the University, faith groups, charities and trade unions.

Representatives from the Youth Service, including those that had been deployed as Young Covid Ambassadors during the pandemic were present at the meeting to give an insight into the work undertaken, and how this and other work could be developed further going forward; the following points were alluded to:

• That payment had helped the Young Covid Ambassadors greatly and was a great addition to their CV’s, enabling them to gain access to other employment, as well as to job opportunities within the Youth Service.

• That intergenerational work had brought young andold together through activities such as sports and singing.

• That work had also been undertaken with those with a learning and other disabilities, as well as work with communities across the district; and this inclusive approach had proved invaluable.

• That the skills gained were transformative and enabled young people to reach out to other young people during a very challenging period in their lives.

• That over 100 young people visited Coventry, the former City of Culture, as well as it being a great cultural experience, the visit had received good media coverage.

• That one of the key components was that the voice of young people was being heard, through the development of opportunities.

The Chair thanked the Youth Service and the Young Covid Ambassadors

for their sterling work during the pandemic, and that their work had been a panacea for change throughout the district and had also received national recognition.  She stressed that the model used should be adapted and used for other work in the district going forward.

The Chief Executive echoed the above comments and stated that it was important that this work was not lost, but built upon, and that a system of consulting with young people was developed.  She added that the effective use of social media was a crucial element in this. In addition, working with our Communications Team on how we better communicate with young people, as well as using accessible language in the day to day work of the Council.

A representative from West Yorkshire Police added that there was also an opportunity here to link in with the work the Police were doing with young people, to provide better synergy in getting out key messages to young people and improve engagement at the same time.

The Shipley Area Coordinator stated that following the end of the Young Covid Ambassadors programme, the Service was actively looking at how the model could be adopted to other areas of work, as their work had been a real game changer.

A number of secondary school students were also present to talk about the impacts of the pandemic and the support available to students suffering mental health issues and how this could be improved.  During their presentation, the following points were alluded to:

• That as well as mental health, there was also a focus on the cost of living crisis and tackling racism.

• That many young people suffered from mental health issues and we needed to see action and improved provision.

• That Covid had seen an expediential rise in those suffering mental health issues; which had placed a high demand on services.

• A young person gave an emotional testimony about his mental health journey and how his own experience has led him to despair, until a referral to Roshni Ghar changed things for the better; he stated that no one should suffer in silence and that access to timely therapy was key.

·    That the discussion around mental health issues should be normalised to address the stigma that still existed around the subject.

·    That schools had to be more proactive in addressing mental health issues, however additional resources were required.

Board Members expressed their sincere thanks to the young people for attending the Board meeting and for their frank and powerful testimonies. The Chair stated that the pandemic had only increased the incidence of mental health issues and education and timely interventions were key to achieving successful outcomes for young people.

The Chief Executive of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust acknowledge the challenges around mental health provision and that these testimonies gave an insight into the amount of work that was required, adding that given the well documented challenges already facing the Health Service, developing a sustainable support model was crucial going forward and how we provide better support services overall.

The Chief Executive acknowledged that there were gaps in the provision of mental health services and that some children were in acute need, and to this end it was important to act now and work with Partners to achieve better outcomes.

A Board Member commented that collaboration with young people was also a crucial element, in ensuring that service provision was centred around the needs of young people.  In additional any therapy offered needed to be culturally appropriate so that it met the needs of different communities.

The Chair also stressed that schools should also work together and combine resources in this area, and provide a more uniformed service around mental health provision.

Resolved –

(1)      That the Board notes the contents of Document “H” and the views                  expressed by the Bradford Citizens Young People’s Action Team and         those of Bradford Council’s Youth Service.

(2)      That the Board takes note of the specific proposals brought by                       the Young People’s Action Team and Bradford Council’s Youth                    Service.

(3)      That the Board commits to working with both groups to take     forward/develop the specific proposals on Mental Health and by using the       learning from the Young Covid Ambassadors to build skills and          experience to secure work to improve services and provision across the         District for ALL of Bradford’s children and young people, in particular the           following action points were alluded to:

·          Build on the work undertaken by the Young Covid Ambassadors                    and consider how  the model used can be replicated in the system.

·          Look at ways of improving communication between young people                 and partner organisations through the system voice and influence              work.

·          That Healthwatch produce a report in collaboration with schools                    about the access to mental health services and gaps in support.

 ACTION: Strategic Director Children’s Services