Sandwell Council’s SHAPE Programme for children and young people has celebrated its 10 year anniversary of being the UK’s only dedicated multi-agency child’s voice initiative.
An event was held this month (January) to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the programme, which began in December 2014 to give a voice to Sandwell’s children and young people.
The event highlighted and celebrated the achievements of inspirational young people who have gone above and beyond in representing children and young people in Sandwell.
National Youth Agency’s (NYA) Director of Youth Work, Abbee McLatchie, one of the speakers, stated: “Sandwell is ahead of the curve.”
The evening also featured performances by finalists and winners of SHAPE Your Talent.
The event was attended by the Mayor of Sandwell, Councillor Syeda Khatun MBE, Deputy Lieutenant Gurpreet Bhatia, Sarah Coombes MP, Gurinder Singh Josan MP, Sandwell Council cabinet members and councillors and, most importantly, young people who have been involved in SHAPE over the past 10 years, including the original members of Youth Parliament from 2014, which then became SHAPE Youth Forum.
The event was sponsored by Stourbridge Paving Company Limited and WS10 Conference & Banqueting Centre.
Some of the young people at the event commented “SHAPE changed my life, gave me belonging and confidence” and “it helped me gain a sense of self and personal identity as it was a core part of my life growing up”.
Councillor Jackie Taylor, Cabinet Member for Adult Services, Health and Wellbeing, said: “Sandwell is very proud of our young people and giving them a voice in the council and the work SHAPE does is vital. I want to congratulate our SHAPE team for their hard work and dedication to this work in engaging with Sandwell’s next generation.”
Councillor Jalal Uddin, Cabinet Member for Children and Families, said: “This event was a great opportunity to look back on the work and achievements of SHAPE over the last decade but more importantly to look ahead to the next 10 years.
“Sandwell Council, the SHAPE team and our partners will continue to work hard to give our children and young people a voice, to motivate and support them to achieve their full potential and ensure a bright future for anyone growing up in Sandwell.”
The SHAPE Programme has accomplished many key achievements over the last 10 year period including the following:
- Winners and finalists for several local, regional and national awards with the most recent being chosen finalists for two MJ awards.
- In 2019, SHAPE Your Talent was recognised by ITV’s The Voice Kids and Sandwell showcased a number of talented singers to the producers of the show.
- In February 2024 we received the highest ever Make Your Mark results in Sandwell with over 10,000 votes. Make Your Mark is a national ballot where young people aged 11 to 18 vote for a topic to be spoken at the House of Commons. In Sandwell the top three topics chosen were crime and safety; rights, equality and democracy; and education and learning. The SHAPE Programme also received the highest ever Member of Youth Parliament election votes, over 8,500, 28% of the total population of 11 to 18 year olds in Sandwell.
- SHAPE continues to deliver an annual SHAPE survey which benefits from a high response rate from children and young people.
- Member of Youth Parliament Mohammed All Hasan spoke on his campaign topic of misogyny at the House of Commons in November 2022.
Save the date for this year’s SHAPE Youth Summer Fest, taking place at Sandwell Valley on Saturday 12 July from 12noon-6pm.
Children and young people aged 11 to 21 can join the SHAPE Programme’s borough-wide forum, SHAPE Youth Forum