NUH Youth Forums Young People 4 Change (YP4C) Residential 2015

In my previous blog post, I mentioned my involvement in the Youth Forum for Nottingham Children's Hospital run by NUH Youth Service. This weekend was the annual YP4C residential, where a group of young people meet together to discuss ideas to help the Children's Hospital move forwards in becoming a more young person focused service.

This year our residential was in a different location to the usual centre parks trip as we opted for a youth hostel based in Edale surrounded by the beautiful Peak District. The centre was lovely and had some great facilities meaning we could try the likes of Archery as well as going out for an afternoon abseiling of a 75ft railway bridge (I believe some of the young people are still recovering from the horror os this!) We were all able to get to know each other better over the weekend, with our friday night starting with some team games. I believe one of the reasons the weekend was such a success was because of the relationships built between us all, meaning we could develop skills and grow in confidence. 

Whilst we weren't all relaxing by the campfire or sunbathing, we were actually working really hard, coming up with some ideas for the next couple of months. One of our first challenges was themed around the program 'Dragons Den' with Donna and Mark being the Dragons (they were very intimidating I must admit). Our job as young people was to come up with a product that could be used by Young People in hospital. We were split into 2 teams: Girls vs Boys. 

Straight away, both teams got to work. The girls quickly developed the idea of a 'Welcome Box' for young people for when they are admitted into hospital. Using a range of first hand experiences, we came up with a list of items we believe are important to a young person. Toiletries are a must so we decided on miniature bottles of: a 2 in 1 shampoo/conditoner, body wash, a tooth brush and tooth paste, dry shampoo, facial wipes, deodorant, hand cream and a few other bits and bobs. We also thought it'd be great to provide a young person with some information about the fabulous NUH Youth Service, which is why we included a leaflet aswell as a voucher for a free drink on their first visit to the youth room. We all agreed that being in hospital can be a very difficult time for a teenager emotionally, which is why we thought its be great to include a positive quote to brighten their day. The box itself was going to be plain so the person would be able to personalise it with a range of pens that would be included, adding that personal touch! Art therapy is becoming increasingly popular, with many shops now selling colouring books for adults, which is why we wanted to include a book with a range of colourings to do, as well as crosswords and games. We really enjoyed coming up with our idea and I'm sure you'll all agree that it would be beneficial to young people to make their hospital stay a little easier. Our next step as a youth forum will be to present this to someone more senior to see if we can develop our idea and turn it from paper to the actual product.

The boys on the other hand went down a slightly different route. When in hospital, not all patients are physically well enough to attend the hospital school which is why they wanted to bring it to the bedside, using their portable study station. The idea is that it is a compact work station that folds into a handy box, that has a tablet in it as well as many compartments for storing pens and paper. We all thought that the concept was great as it would allow young people to do their work to stop them falling behind at school, whilst also enabling them to stay in contact with their peers. We understand this would be a more expensive project however it is something we can look into in the future!

On Sunday we had a slightly different challenge: to plan takeover day 2015. This event will be held across the country on Friday 20th November 2015 and it gives young people the opportunity to work with adults for the day and be involved with the decision making in some big organisations. This year, the Youth Forum will be working with Nottingham Children's Hospital as part of takeover day. Some members have expressed an interest about finding out more about how the Youth Service runs, whilst others wanting to shadow a consultant for the day. Duties may include answering the phone, attending meetings and much more! There will be many different opportunities for the youth forum to get involved in what should be a fantastic day. It will hopefully give us young people an insight into the day to day runnings of the Hospital and may even inspire some to pursue a career in the NHS.

I hope you have enjoyed hearing about what the Youth Forum have got up to over the weekend and we are all so excited for the upcoming months so keep checking for updates from us!

Nottingham University Hospitals Youth Service and importance of hospital based youth work

This post is going to be about an amazing group of people I came across 5 years ago. Hopefully I will spread the word about the AMAZING work they do as well as show you the importance of hospital based youth work!

For all teenagers, growing up is difficult, however there can be more pressure on those young people who have some sort of illness/injury , both physical and/or mental. Many young people find themselves in hospital or attending numerous appointments, when actually they should be out with their friends, enjoying their life.Queens Medical Centre are lucky enough to have a Youth Service for both Inpatients and Outpatients, those with short term conditions and those with chronic health problems and both patients and their family. It consists of a team of specialist Youth Workers, Volunteers and Youth Work Students who are there to provide "Support, Empowerment and Opportunity".
Youth Room
Youth Club

There are many different aspects which make up the Youth Service which I will list below and I shall also explain why I believe they are vital parts to Nottingham Children's Hospital.

In Nottingham Children's Hospital, the Youth Room is situated on E floor which is full of activities for young people. It is most commonly used by inpatients however can be accessed by anybody using Children's Services. It is a medium sized room with a large T.V, games consoles with numerous games, a computer for patients to use to contact their friends (sadly you cant get Facebook on the schools laptops so this is a lifesaver for many young people), a large comfy sofa that you can have a quick nap on, as well as a huge selection of craft activities and hundreds of DVD's and Board games which they even let you borrow for the Ward if you smile nicely! This is all great however I believe the most crucial part of the Youth Room are the people who run it. There is always somebody to talk to whether you just fancy a chat or if you'd like to discuss something more personal. The Youth Workers and Volunteers are all extremely friendly and are always up for a game of Mario Kart!
I think the Youth Room is an ideal environment for Young People in Hospital as it gives them a chance to get off the wards, as well as make new friends, but most importantly to have fun in a non clinical environment! Personally, without the youth room, I know my admissions would have been 100 times worse!

The youth club runs every Wednesday evening at the Monty Hind Centre behind QMC from 7pm-9pm for 13-20+ year olds who access hospital services. The majority of patients have long term conditions, however Young People in hospital also attend. Young People can take part in many activities such as a game of pool, arts and crafts, team building games and much much more. There's even a tuck shop for the sweet addicts like me!
The Youth Club enables young people to meet up in a non threatening environment and provides them the opportunity to meet those with similar issues to them, making them feel less alone. That said, the atmosphere is non clinical and nobody is forced to talk about their disabilities/ conditions and everyone is seen as an individual and not their illness!

Youth Forum
You've all heard of a school council right? Where students voice their opinions on the school and discuss changes that need making. Well that is essentially what the Youth Forum is however its obviously for the Children's Hospital, rather than a school. Another thing is- the opinions of Young People are actually listened to, unlike the majority of school councils! Hospitals aren't usually very 'Young Person Friendly' in my eyes and I believe a major way to improve Young Peoples care is by making services accessible to them. What better way than to have the voices of young people who regularly use hospital services? I myself am a part of it and we meet once a month to discuss ideas (and eat pizza!). Our most recent projects include: changing the hospital complaints leaflet to make it more Young Person friendly, the Think Big Project, developing an NUHYS app and also helping make the HEADSS Assessment more accessible to young people using technology.

Day Trips and Residential's
Throughout the year, NUHYS organise many different activities for young people such as trips to Alton Towers, Canal Boat Tips, Day Trip to Skegvegas and not forgetting my personal favourite, the annual trip to Newgale YMCA for an activity week! These give young people the opportunity to do things they wouldn't perhaps normally be able to do in a safe and friendly environment. Young people are able to push their limits, learn new skills, meet new people and find out more about themselves. This is a crucial part in development for the young people as they gain so much confidence.

I hope this blog post has shown you what a huge impact Hospital Based Youth Work can have on Young People's lives! I believe that it is a vital service and that all Hospitals across the UK should look into developing a Youth Service.
Here is a link the their website which can provide you with much more detail:http://www.nuhyouthservice.org.uk/home.php
It is also important to mention that NUHYS is actually funded by various charities and organisations therefore all donations are gratefully received!
You can text to 70070 NUHC18 + your chosen amount (£2, £5 or £10)

Please comment with your thoughts!

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