Listen to Act Youth Projects

For our youth projects, our aim is to create the necessary frameworks and infrastructure to shift power where possible into the hands of the young people we work with.

This is to create access for them to sustainably influence and shape communities and services in order to affect the changes that reflect their need. We do this through a distinct, four-step engagement and co-production model:

  • Listen: We consult with the client to understand their vision, challenges they face and what is possible in terms of change. This is an essential step for us to understand what is possible before engaging with the target group of young people. We use this information to create a tailored engagement proposal.
  • Engage: We create an involvement and engagement offer that is attractive, meaningful and digestible for the target group of young people. We focus on building trust and forming a safe and supportive environment with young people at the centre utilising group workshops, one-to-one sessions, and more. Then, we implement tailored skill building, mentoring and training structures so that the young people can incrementally start engaging directly with the client to create a shared understanding of desired outcomes for the project and a contract for how that will be achieved.
  • Act: With support and guidance from the engagement team, the young people actively participate in influencing service design and delivery. This often involves presenting, storytelling or leading a project, such as making a film, editing a newsletter or report writing. Participants may also create resource packs for health professionals, peers, politicians and local authority staff. Identifiers of impact are sought from the engagement team throughout.
  • Monitor: After young participants have acted, we assess the impact of the project with the client and young people and identify and reflect on where change has been successful.

Enfield Young Health Advocates

A bustling comic-style image setting out the aims and work of the Enfield Young Health Advocates group, with the group name at the bottom of the image. on the left is a box reading: Why are we here? To talk to professionals about what is important to us: Doctors looking more in depth with what a patient is going for without turning them away. Don't miss our problems like mental health. Give us better advice. Show more respect. Make more effort to show that you care. Shape GP services locally so that they work better for us & them! Build a safe space to connect and share with each other. Next is a graphic showing a torn-out piece of paper with the heading Group Contract, What is Essential?. Under the heading text reads: To have better communication with us as young people. Have opportunities to build skills in healthcare. Don't be judgemental. Have fun. Build confidence. The next panel is titled What does GP General Practice mean to us? In this panel's top left corner, a cartoon of a Black male doctor wearing a white coat and stethoscope says 'People to help your health'. Underneath him, a word cloud reads 'Injured', 'optician', 'disease', paracetamol, medication, asthma, medicine. Each word is in an orange cloud, and a blue asthma inhaler is drawn alongside. In the middle of this word cloud is a cartoon of a person with the top of their head hinged open, and inside the cavity is a small drawing of a brain with lightning bolts. Above this image are the words 'mentally ill'. Underneath the word cloud is a piece of paper with the words 'age' and 'history' listed. The caption is listen without bias. Next to this, a box saying 'general practice' has the caption 'Practices work together' and 'Primary care network.' Beside this, a cartoon of a bald black man in a blue hoodie shrugs and says 'It's confusing'. Around him, an orange cloud with the words 'improving access' links to more clouds reading 'pharmacy', 'English is not your first language,' and 'not enough GPs', which links to 'online appointments', which links to 'not for everyone'. Beside this, a large pink section includes an image of a laptop with the words 'You can access the GP online' on its screen. Under the laptop is a list of facts about the GP: It's the first place to go, No age limit, Health issue? Go to GP, young people attend with parents -16, you can call before 8:30 for an appointment, they do vaccinations, blood tests and referrals. Above this, a cartoon of a bald Black man in a black t-shirt raises a hand and says 'smaller than a hospital'. Around him the words 'advice and... check ups' connect to 'Do they come to you?' and 'Do you pay for them?'. To the right of the pink segment, a brown woman with a pony tail in a blue outfit says 'Primary care works like this...' and 'Any questions?' Her caption is Director of Operations, Enfield GP Federation. In the panel below, a cloud reads 'What does good health look like?' In this panel, a white man with brown hair in a green hoodie eats a piece of fruit, connected to the words 'protein' and 'healthy eating'. Beside him, a brown person with the top of their head open and happy symbols spilling out is connected to the words 'privacy' and 'mental health'. A Black man in a blue jumper is above them, yawning and saying 'enough sleep. next to him is an image of a calendar, the first page being peeled away, with the caption 'routine'. Underneath that, a Black woman and a white woman both say 'talking to others'. Above and to the right, a white man with black hair in a tracksuit is captioned with the word 'exercise'. Underneath, a smooth pink person has gears coming out of their open head with the caption 'brain stimulation'. A Black person in a yellow jumper holds up a sign that says 'advocating for ourselves.' On the right hand side of the comic panel, the title is 'what the papers say'. Under this are two images of newspaper pages, one with the heading 'Headlines 2026', then 'Young souls save NHS in the area. Young people take the NHS by storm. Enfield Young Health Advocates work with local GPs to create a common language for healthcare and improve communication for young people and asylum seekers. A cartoon of a person on the right hand side of this page says 'Young Voice have big impact on GPs'. The second news page reads 'Continued from p1. The young people in this group have put their time, initiative and passion into changing people's lives through the NHS. Looking ahead: notes from April '25. Run an event in the summer with Enfield GP federation on how young people visualise GP services. Our whatsapp group. Collaborative space to plan and run the project.' Below the newspaper pages is an image of a town with places of worship from different faiths, a gym, a youth club, trees, and houses. Surrounding this are the words 'multi-cultural,' 'home', 'memories', 'the power of music to heal', sports, police, childhood, community, diverse, deserts, chicken & chips and represent! In the top right corner, the title is 'Focus'. A Black woman wearing a green and blue outfit says 'what if we don't make a difference?' She stands next to a large drawing of a magnifying glass with the words 'To establish contact with GP practices and explore ways we can help each other' on the lens. A blue cloud next to it says 'Potential group name' linking to 'Speak Up Health', 'Action for Health', 'Young Advocates for Enfield,' 'Action Health' and 'Young Voices 4 Health'. Above this is a check box with the words 'vote now'. At the very top of the image banner, another view of a town skyline connects to images of people of different ethnicities speaking on the theme of respect. They say 'speaking without judgement', 'don't talk when others are speaking' and 'everyone's opinion is valid'. Beneath that is text saying 11 young people attended the first session. Also at the top of the page is a logo for NYCC, and a box saying 'Health and Wellbeing, Health Checks, 27th March 12pm-15pm. Pop up.'

Funded by City Bridge, the Enfield Young Health Advocates programme seeks to create a more inclusive and accessible primary care delivery model for young people in the borough. This is achieved by embedding youth voices in the process, through convening a young people’s advisory group made up of members aged 14 to 25, with an additional focus on building participant’s tangible leadership and advocacy skills.

As part of the Enfield Young Health Advocates programme, Listen to Act also review current access to primary care locally, identify strengths and gaps in accessibility,  identify primary healthcare professional’s training needs and collaborate closely with staff to achieve this. We support active participation in patient engagement through co-production of resources with GP practices, delivering better decision-making, youth accessibility and youth engagement. This has culminated in the co-production of the Youth-Led Guidance on GP Services in Enfield.

Progress

One of the biggest achievements of the Enfield Young Health Advocates project has been the development of strategic partnerships, most notably with the Enfield GP Federation and Northside Youth Community Connexions. These collaborations have played a crucial role in expanding our reach and laying a strong foundation for sustainable growth. We are particularly proud of how these partnerships have opened up new opportunities for young people in Enfield to engage with and influence local health services.

In our first year, we have run a number of in-person and online workshops involving a diverse group of 17 young people and now have a small core group that we are looking to grow. These sessions were instrumental in shaping our Young People’s Advisory Group (YPAG).

We are on the lookout for young people to join our group. For more information, scan the QR code in the image below or contact Alex Weston by email at alex@inclusionbarnet.org.uk or on 07402 834108.

A flyer for Enfield Young Health Advocates with the group name at the top. Text reads 'We are a group of young people in Enfield. 1) We want to make GP services better for young people. 2) We collaborate directly with health services and staff 3) JOIN US today - scan the QR code below.' The words 'Sign up to be an advocate and tell us your story' are connected by an arrow to the QR code to sign up. Next to this is a QR code to Get support online. Next to this is the Inclusion Barnet logo, with messaging that Inclusion Barnet is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and Registered Charity Number 1158632. In the bottom right corner, red text with a red circle around it reads 'Approximately 10% of children in Enfield have mental health concerns (Source: Enfield Council.)' Additional text reads 'Because every young person deserves to be heard - and helped.'

The ARC Children and Young People’s Mental Health Infrastructure

The ARC Children and Young People’s Mental Health Infrastructure Programme is an innovative and award-winning initiative, designed to understand the mental health needs of young people in North West London.

The programme aims to plug the research gaps on young people’s mental health in North West London. As part of this, the ARC Outreach Alliance approached Listen to Act to build an infrastructure that allows young people to feedback into this process.

We built an advisory group of young people representing eight boroughs across the region called the Young People’s Advisory Group (YPAG)‘  We recruited members between 14 and 25 years old from young carer groups, youth councils, schools, and local authority programmes. This advisory group provides opportunities for young people to feed back on the research being carried out within the programme and helps capture young people’s priorities.

We’re proud that YPAG has a youth-led, inclusive, open, and supportive culture with a focus on sharing, peer support and training with diverse links into the community and system structures across Northwest London.

The group made this fantastic film about mental health research with Imperial College London.

The ARC Children and Young People’s Mental Health Infrastructure is run in partnership with the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration North West London, NIHR Clinical Research Network North West London and Imperial College London.

North West London Integrated Care System ICB Children & Young People Mental Health (CYP MH) Strategy

The ARC Outreach Alliance’s Young People’s Advisory Group (YPAG) were invited to collaborate with senior leaders from across North West London to ensure that young people’s health needs are truly heard. Funded by the North West London Integrated Care Board, the project saw members of the YPAG and Listen to Act participate in monthly oversight meetings, join strategy working groups and collaborate with young people and colleagues to create a set of standards where young people and their families have an active role in informing the CYP MH strategy’s overall aim.

The YPAG also planned and led a 1-hour interactive discussion with the strategy’s Oversight Group to highlight young people’s feelings and priorities around mental health based on community engagement. The discussion also saw the YPAG establish shared markers of success, outline the fundamentals of engaging with young people and establish a shared group agreement with the Oversight Group.

Feedback

“The ARC Outreach Alliance Programme’s Young People Advisory Group (YPAG) has teamed up with senior leaders from across all eight boroughs of North West London to make sure that children and young people’s voices are not just heard—but truly listened to. Together, we’re putting their experiences, insights, and hopes right at the heart of shaping the new Children and Young People’s Mental Health Strategy for the NW London Integrated Care System (ICS).

Four months in, and this work is already making waves. YPAG members have stepped up to lead meetings and  conversations, challenge old ways of thinking, and help shape what matters most moving forward.  As this work moves forward, YPAG members will continue to be at the centre of each workstream, making sure the focus stays firmly on what children and young people actually need and care about.

Working with the YPAG so far has been nothing short of inspiring. There’s a strong sense of shared purpose—everyone involved knows how vitally important it is to get it right when it comes to children and young people’s mental health.”

Dr Tamsin Robinson

Named GP Safeguarding Children –  NHS North West London ICB Ealing

Designated Doctor Looked after Children – NHS North West London ICB Ealing

GP Clinical Lead MHLDA –  NHS North West London ICB

LINK [More information on Listen to Act’s legacy and background]

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