Celebrating 10 years!
Child Friendly Leeds was launched by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012. Over the last 10 years, we have been on an incredible journey in our quest to make Leeds the best city for children and young people to grow up in. We are incredibly proud that so many partners and ambassadors have joined us on our journey and shown their commitment to this ambition. It has truly become part of the city’s identity. Children and young peoples voices are at the heart of our approach and will continue to shape our priorities and plans for the next 10 years.
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As we mark the occasion, Child Friendly Leeds invite you to share any highlights from the last ten years. The celebrations will commence at the Child Friendly Leeds Awards in July, followed by a range of exciting and varied events and activities that will take place during the year. We have also designed a special 10th birthday logo, which we will be using to brand a range of events throughout 2022. As a valued Child Friendly Leeds partner, we would like to invite you to use this logo for any relevant events you may be organising over this period and ask you share any events you may have planned for us to promote city-wide. The logo can be found here. In the coming months, we will share the ‘CFL’s 10th Birthday’ pack as well as a city-wide consultation as we refresh the 12 wishes.
Nominate in the Child Friendly Leeds Awards!
The Child Friendly Leeds Awards are back and we're on the lookout for truly inspiring stories about the amazing people, places and organisations that help make Leeds the best city for children and young people to grow up in. The prestigious city-wide event celebrates all the work that is happening across the city to make Leeds the best place for children and young people to grow up in. In light of the pandemic, we want to thank the city and recognise the all things child-friendly in Leeds! You can view the highlights from the last awards here.
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Can you support Children’s Mental Health Week?
Support the Children’s Mental Health Week campaign between 7-13 February by Place2Be, they have lots of activities on their website, and join in the social media campaign using #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek.
- Promote the MindMate website– it’s full of information for children and parents about looking after mental health and getting help if needed. It also includes games and films of other young people sharing their experiences.
- Order the free resources including the new Z-card and crisis card aimed at secondary age young people from the Public Health Resource Centre. Register here or email phrc@leeds.gov.uk
- Schools can join the MindMate School Ambassador programme which will help pupils understand how to run mental health activities in school - email schoolwellbeing@leeds.gov.uk
- Look out for the new signs being installed in playgrounds across Leeds. They are aimed at parents to let them know how to find mental health support for their child. If you are interested in this sign for your establishment, please contact the CFL team.
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Our ambassadors supporting Healthy Holidays
Leeds Community Foundation have been working with Leeds City Council and a wide range of partners since 2017 to deliver the Healthy Holidays Programme across the city to support school children whose families and carers struggle to feed them in the school holidays, distributing grants to local projects addressing holiday hunger though nutritious meals alongside sport, creative or social activities. The Healthy Holidays programme plays a vital role in helping tackle food insecurity and hunger, isolation and inactivity providing activities which support social, emotional and physical wellbeing of children and their families. Projects prioritise children and young people that are in receipt of free school meals.
Latest figures reveal that in Leeds 24% of children are living in poverty and 75% of those children are living in working households. Over the last few years Child Friendly Leeds ambassadors have been contributing towards the Child Friendly Leeds Fund and we are delighted to inform you that these funds raised by ambassadors have now been allocated to the Healthy Holidays programme to help support the growing needs of families who have faced loss, isolation, job insecurity, rising household bills as a result of the pandemic. Thank you for all your support.
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Foster Friendly Employer accreditation
Leeds City Council colleagues are now entitled to up to 9 days additional paid annual leave to help with the process of becoming a foster carer, settling in a new child and attending fostering support groups or meetings. Our policy change has resulted in us being named a Foster Friendly Employer by the UK’s leading fostering charity, The Fostering Network.
We want to encourage as many organisations in Leeds to join us in supporting their employees who are foster carers and becoming Foster Friendly Employers. If you want to find out more visit Fostering Friendly employers | The Fostering Network . Alternatively if you want to learn more about how we introduced this change get in touch with us at childfriendlyleeds@leeds.gov.uk.
Foster4Leeds, the council’s fostering service, urgently need to recruit more foster carers as the number of children and young people needing placements continues to rise. Please help us raise awareness and promote different fostering options available, by promoting Foster4Leeds www.foster4leeds.co.uk and sharing this Foster4Leeds’ inspiring short video.
Leeds Youth Voice Update for young people
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Make Your Mark is the largest youth consultation in the UK and this year we would like to see over 1 million 11 to 18 year olds taking part in the ballot. Here is a short video to explain what Make Your Mark is and how to vote. Young people can nominate their school, college or youth group to get involved by emailing the team at VIC@Leeds.gov.uk between Tuesday 1st and Monday 28th February.
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The UK Youth Parliament enables young people to use their energy and passion to change the world for the better. Three Members of Youth Parliament in Leeds are elected to serve a two year term, and now we need your help to elect our next. We have now shortlisted our six finalists for young people aged 11-18 to read their manifestos. We need your help to elect our next three MYP's for Leeds here.
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- Leeds Libraries to launch Leeds Lit Fest 2022 with a day of FREE events for families and children. Join us on 26 February for family-friendly reading activities at Leeds Central Library! This year’s festival (26 February to 6 March) will bring well-known writers from across the world to Leeds to talk about their books, discuss what inspires them and answer questions from live audiences, more info here.
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Explore Leeds like never before!
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Planning a city break or just a day out? Make 2022 the year you complete your Leeds bucket list. A year packed with thrills, experiences, events and excitement. Visit Leeds have listed their 22 picks for 2022 here.
When it comes to child friendly things to do, Leeds is the place to be! Whether it’s days out, days in, new experiences or magical trails. We’ve put together our ultimate guide of the best places to visit this winter!
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