Implementation guidance: Implementation across a large voluntary organisation

The steps detailed below explain how practitioners within organisation can implement the Youth Voice toolkit consistently. The guidance in this area is intended for organisations that have representation across different parts of the country or varying local areas, and may also have a specific theme e.g. uniformed organisations, young carers, ASN etc. 

  1. Agree support from organisation leadership  

  1. Establish a strategic lead on Youth Voice for the organisation 

  1. Create a Youth Voice Charter  

  1. Present the Youth Voice Charter and Toolkit to wider leadership 

  1. Take action 

If you are a voluntary organisation that exists in a specific community and wish to implement the Youth Voice toolkit, it is recommended that you look at implementation guidance for an individual community setting. 

To support the implementation of this toolkit, it is important to seek support from leadership across the organisation. The toolkit approach must be explained in full. Utilise the summary presentation within the support materials to help facilitate this, and agree the following: 

  • Approve the creation/development of a youth voice strategic lead who will drive the toolkit approach forward and adhere to national guidance 

  • Support the creation and use of an organisation-wide Youth Voice Charter as the central principles used for any adult who wishes to consult with children and young people 

  • Support the connections of all practitioners across the organisation what facilitate or champion youth voice 

A practitioner/group of practitioners from across the organisation should be identified. 

Those involved will have the responsibility to lead the implementation of this approach across the organisation and they should consider what the structures for youth voice currently look like.  

They should conduct the following steps which are explained in more detail below:  

  • Create and/or implement a youth voice charter across the organisation 

  • Cascade the use the Empowering Youth Voices resource pack across the organisation 

  • Coordinate consultations using resource pack based on common themes 

They should have a regular meeting cycle and create an action plan for youth voice rollout with tracking and monitoring procedures. 

Step 1 - Consult

Create a consultation survey using the questions below as guidance. The survey should contain at least three questions similar to those below. If the organisation already has a youth voice structure, young person’s board or leadership group, you may wish to ask them to help with developing the consultations survey questions. If this type of youth voice group does not exist, it is important to consider creating one to support young people to get involved and shape the direction of the organisation. This consultation survey should be created in digital format using an accessible platform that allows ease of use.  

Youth Voice Charter Consultation - Purpose 

This survey is an important part of creating a youth voice charter, as it offers children and young people an opportunity to tell adults how they wish to be consulted. The responses then form the basis of the youth voice charter. The charter is the foundation of the Toolkit approach and forms a commitment that adults will consult with children and young people in a rights-based way.  

Youth Voice Charter Consultation Survey - Example questions  

  • How would you like adults to speak to you, when they want to hear your thoughts and ideas? 

  • What could adults do to help you feel listened to and taken seriously, when they want to hear your thoughts and ideas? 

  • What should adults do to treat you fairly and with respect, when asking your opinion? 

  • What could adults do to make it easier for you to understand what they are asking you? 

  • After you tell adults your ideas as part of consultation activities, what would you like them to do next? 

Once the consultation survey is created, send it to different areas of the organisation that involve children or young people. Agree a time frame for completion.  

Step 2 - Consolidate 

Gather the results of the consultation survey. Depending on the quantity of responses, it may be helpful to distil some of the answers or present them in a table or spreadsheet, you may wish to utilise digital tools to support this. Ensure the consolidated responses are in a format that can be understood by children and young people. 

Step 3  - Analyse

Present the consolidated views from the survey to existing youth voice structure, young person’s board or leadership group within the organisation.   Allow time for the young people to analyse the views presented to them and give them the opportunity to identify the common themes, statements, phrases, words and ideas. Ask the group to share and discuss these common elements and select or present them as statements. To help aid this process and support discussion with young people you may wish to refer to the Forth Valley and West Lothian example or the Childrens Commissioner 7 Golden Rules for Participation. 

Step 4 - Create

Support the young people to take the common statements and compile these into a youth voice charter document. Ensure the document has key headings and descriptive text for what the headings mean in context. Share these with the youth voice structure (and other youth voice groups if possible) to confirm accuracy and agree the overall look of the youth voice charter. 

Step 5 - Share

Now share this charter across your organisation and ensure it is shared, displayed and upheld by practitioners and leaders at all levels. 

It is important to agree support from wider organisational leaders. This requires them to have an understanding of youth voice, the toolkit approach and the Youth Voice Charter for the organisation.

Information should be presented to (but not limited to): 

  • Board of trustees 

  • Executive officers 

  • Group leaders 

  • Local leadership 

  • Community councils 

It is recommended that the summary presentation within the supporting materials is used to support input to these settings with the inclusion of the completed charter. 

As part of this process a 'Pledge' should be made by those leaders to support the implementation of the overall approach. Leaders should confirm they make this pledge by signing it, this can be done digitally or in person.  

Example of these pledges are below - these can be altered based on each organisation: 

  • Understand how the Youth Voice toolkit from Education Scotland can be used in settings which look to consult children and young people meaningfully.   
  • Identify a practitioner in my group/setting to lead on youth voice and link in with the organisation’s implementation of the Youth Voice Toolkit
  • Uphold, share and display the Youth Voice charter to colleagues and children and young people.  
  • Support the use of the Empowering Youth Voices Resource Pack, as appropriate, with a youth voice structures e.g. youth group, youth committee etc. 

After pledges are made, practitioners who are responsible for implementation the youth voice toolkit should arrange future check ins with leadership to measure and provide support. 

With a youth voice charter created and leadership support confirmed, the practical application of the toolkit can begin. Practitioners in all parts of the organisation (e.g. groups, projects, partnerships) should begin to use the Empowering Youth Voices resource pack.  

If the organisation has a main/central youth voice structure the pack should also be used with them. If this is the case the children and young people involved in this structure would be delivered the pack as normal however consideration would need to be given on how this group consults their peers. This may be conducted by: 

  • Providing opportunities for children and young people in this youth voice structure to consult their peers in groups/places where they meet 

  • Asking this youth voice structure to cascade questions out to groups/places on a specific theme, with support from practitioners to facilitate this. 

This pack can be used at any time and over any period with recommendations on how to use it detailed in the Empowering Youth Voice resource section. The pack is based on a peer-research approach and allows for a more inclusive group of children and young people to be consulted on themes instead of just the few that often feature in a given youth voice structure. 

Professional learning may be required on how to use this resource pack however the detailed information within the Empowering Youth Voices section of the toolkit explains how the pack can be used. 

Note: those leading on this work within an organisation should decide on how they wish to capture and consolidate the results of consultations being conducted across the organisation. Decisions should also be made on what organisation wide consultations on specific themes can be done and over what time frames. 

The toolkit has now been implemented in a large organisational setting. Steps should be taken to increase the reach the toolkit has over time, allowing it to become the consistent method for youth voice. 

Groups and partners, which are linked to the organisation, that implement the toolkit themselves locally will start to gather views from children and young people on a wide range of themes and generate youth voice action plans as a result. Practitioner(s) that lead on the youth voice for the organisation should use these to support action. This could include: 

  • Consolidating consultations on particular themes to be presented to leaders and decision makers 

  • Support youth voice action plan objectives within local settings/groups and how they are implemented 

  • Use local youth voice action plans to inform an organisation wide youth voice structures 

  • Identify common themes and conduct a organisation and partnership wide consultation on a key topic, generating a youth voice action plan for whole organisation as a result 

Providing a feedback loop to those that are not involved in any youth voice structures is also essential. Information on how to do this can be found in the Measuring Impact and Sharing Action section. 
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