In this blog, our Sports Welfare Manager, Richard Bell explains the importance of incorporating youth voice into our new children and young people Safeguarding Campaign, Be Safe - Have Fun.

As part of developing our new safeguarding campaign, Be Safe - Have Fun, we wanted to ensure that the voices of children and young people were at the heart of its creation. Their insights, experiences and ideas have been vital in shaping a campaign that truly resonates with those it’s designed to protect. Working closely with the Safer Together Team within Lincolnshire’s Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), we sought to engage directly with young people to understand how best to communicate important messages around staying safe in sport and physical activity.

Following the initial discussions with the Safer Together Team within Lincolnshire’s Office of Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) I was invited to meet with their Strong Voices panel on 29th April 2025. The panel is a group of young people aged 13-18 yrs who have the opportunity to facilitate positive change in their local community.

Within the session, we began with an icebreaker for the young people to feel comfortable in sharing their opinions and ideas. I then introduced the campaign’s overarching concept and aims. The panel completed the youth voice survey, which had also been carried out with children and young people at local events and sports club visits. The results of this survey were instrumental in identifying the key themes that underpin the campaign. This activity not only gave us richer insights but also helped the panel understand how their input contributes to the campaign’s development journey.

The panel looked at and shared their thoughts, views and opinions on the initial design concepts of the visual artwork, discussed the themes and considered how best to present these and how children and young people may respond. Their perspectives helped us consider how to present safeguarding messages in a way that is engaging, relatable, and authentic for young audiences.

We talked about how young people obtain their information, what makes them trust the information that they see and how we can best roll out the campaign to allow maximum reach and impact. Some great ideas, contributions and thoughts were shared by all, which have been strongly incorporated within the development of the campaign as well as the launch and roll out.

The panel’s discussion and their valuable input, has meant that this children and young people campaign has been shaped to ensure that CYP can access the material and fully understand its message. We wish to thank all of those on the panel as well as all of the children and young people who completed the survey. Your input has allowed us to ensure that the Be Safe - have Fun safeguarding messages are relevant, relatable and empowering for children and young people.

Support the Be Safe - Have Fun Campaign

If you're a club, physical activity provider or leisure centre who would like to support the campaign and share it's message with the young people you work with, visit the campaign page to download the toolkit and supporting resources.