Youth Forum

Would you like to give up some of your spare time to help patients at Sheffield Children’s Hospital?

If you’re aged 12-19 and have been to the hospital recently then we want to hear from you!

We’re looking for current and former patients and their brothers and sisters to join our new Youth Forum. We want to find out what you think about the hospital and how we can make it better for other young people.

The forum will get together every six weeks for snacks and chat about issues at the hospital.

What do I get out of joining the forum?

• build your self confidence
• meet new people
• develop new skills
• improve your communication skills
• the knowledge that you’re trying to make things better for other young people

How do I become a member of the forum?

We just need a few details from you:

• name
• date of birth
• whether you are a patient/ex-patient/sibling
• a short paragraph explaining why you would like to join the group and what you can offer
• any areas that interest you specifically

Send this information by email to communications@sch.nhs.uk.

What we’ve been up to

Since the Youth Forum launched in June 2016 we’ve decided on ‘Youth Forum’ as our official name and have created our own strapline: “Voicing young people’s opinions to shape the hospital’s future”.

We appointed a Chair for the first year – Eleanor Godhard – and will elect a new Chair every year.

We’re already getting stuck in with lots of activities and projects at the Trust. This has included:

• taking a tour of the hospital Pharmacy
• visiting the new wing before it opened to the public
• sitting on the interview panel for the new Chief Executive
• taking part in a feedback group for the new Trust website

We also have plans for the future including:

• developing a patient charter
• setting up our own Twitter account
• sitting on more interview panels
• finding out how art is commissioned for the hospital

Watch this space for further updates!

First birthday

A year has passed since the first Youth Forum meeting and we celebrated with a birthday party and cake on 7 June 2017.

We’ve been really busy during our first year and still have much more we want to achieve during the months ahead. In our first year we have take part in a variety of activities including:

• carrying out ‘mystery shopping’ visits
• touring areas including pharmacy and research
• sitting on interview panels for senior staff
• carrying out inspections at the hospital and Ryegate Children’s Centre
• judging staff awards
• visiting the new wing before it opens to the public
• quizzing staff on issues that matter to young people, including décor and play
• quizzing the Chief Executive
• helping with the development of the Trust website, leaflets and posters

Our first birthday party was also time to elect a new Chair for the coming year – George Marriott. We also elected Vice-Chairs Sumeya Abdi and Hannah Lilley.