This Autumn, we have a range of exciting opportunities for Rights Advocates to influence our work on mental health, speak to decision-makers and help us embed young voices throughout our work.
Take a look at the opportunities below to get a taste for what’s on offer. If you’re interested or just want to hear more, sign up to our info session on Wednesday 26th August, 6pm, on Zoom by registering here.
Opportunity 1:
Youth voice in recruitment
Open to: Everyone – especially if you have an interest in how organisations hire staff and why it’s SO important for young people to have a role in decision-making
What’s in it for you? You’ll get a sneak peak at how the hiring process works, build your confidence to participate in spaces usually dominated by older adults, and potentially help us to hire our new CEO and Programmes Manager.
When: 3 training and planning sessions, starting on the 7th September PLUS potential role at our CEO recruitment over 18th – 28th September
What:
We want to make sure young people have a role in all of our decisions around who we hire so that we get the people who best understand young people and can stand up for your rights.
Over the coming months, Youth Access will be hiring a new CEO and Programmes Manager (who make the big decisions about how we work), so there’s potential for you to help us out with those decisions by taking part in these sessions.
In these sessions, we’ll cover the basics around why it’s vital for youth charities to involve young people in processes and decision-making about who they hire. We’ll help you understand how the hiring process works and what you bring to the table. And, importantly, we’ll be working with you to help work out what we should be looking for in our staff.
Opportunity 2:
Train up as a social media leader
Open to: Anyone who is interested in joining our communications team to lead on social media.
When: Training sessions over September ready for leading the launch of our new Our Minds Our Future manifesto in October.
What’s in it for you? You’ll gain key skills in design and communications and be able to join our social media team to lead on filling our channels with interesting, impactful content!
What: Over the past year, we’ve worked with members of our young steering group to develop a youth-led social media strategy for the Make Our Rights Reality Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Now we’d love to have you on the team to take over our channels! We’ll train you up in key skills around shaping a message as well as designing creative content using digital design tools. From there. you’ll be able to plan content and ‘take over’ our channels on key days, starting with World Mental Health Day on October 10th!
Opportunity 3:
Test & launch our online training hub
Open to: Everybody, even if you haven’t taken part in any sessions planning the hub before
When: You’ll have a short window to test out the hub according to a feedback system that you’ll decide in a Zoom session on the 15th September
What’s in it for me: Early access to campaigning resources as one of the first Rights Advocates to use the online training hub. A direct role in refining the hub before we introduce it to the entire Rights Advocate network. Experience designing a feedback system to test a digital product.
What:
- We have been in the process of developing an online training platform for Rights Advocates for over a year now – called the Rights Advocate Hub!
- Young people shared their thoughts on a prototype of the hub at the OMOF Online Summit, and since then, our website developers have been busy implementing their feedback and building the website.
- Before releasing the training platform into the world, we are going to ‘soft launch’ it with a smaller group of Rights Advocates.
- These Rights Advocates will test the hub over a set period of time using a feedback system decided during a Zoom session on the 16th September, allowing us to further refine the Hub and make sure that it’s the best that it can be!
Opportunity 4:
Speaking at conferences & webinars
Open to: Rights Advocates who’ve been involved in shaping the Our Minds Our Future manifesto plus anybody who wants to speak to politicians and other decision-makers about our campaign and your right to mental health.
When: We have an opportunity for one young person to speak at the CAMHS conference on 16th October. Other opportunities tbc.
What’s in it for me: Public speaking experience (plus some training to help you feel confident to make your case). The chance to spread our message and get support for our campaign demands among policy makers. The CAMHS conference also offers a £100 speaker fee, which we will give to the young person who attends.
What: The CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service) conference will be a mix of online and in-person. This annual conference brings together people who work in the young people’s mental health sector as practitioners, policy makers, commissioners etc – so it’s a great place to get our ideas heard by a large and influential audience and even get some pledges from people with power to change things locally! We’ve been invited to speak about a rights-based approach to young people’s mental health, so this session will be delivered jointly with a member of Youth Access staff.
