A Discovery Day is to be held later this month as part of Nottingham’s work with The UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK) towards becoming recognised as a Child Friendly City.
Children’s charity UNICEF UK and the National Lottery Community Funded Small Steps Big Changes (SSBC) are working with the council to host the Discovery Day on Tuesday 15 November.
Nottingham is currently in the Discovery phase of its three-to-five-year journey to become a Child Friendly City, supported with funding from SSBC. The aim is to ensure children and young people guide the decisions made within the city.
There are three mandatory badges ‘Culture, Communication, Co-operation & Leadership.’ During the Discovery Day the children and young people will vote on three additional badges that will become Nottingham’s priorities. Data will be presented to evaluate whether Nottingham is a Child Friendly Community, discussions with the children and young people about what is working well and exploring the vision of what Nottingham could look like in three years’ time.
Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Schools, Councillor Cheryl Barnard, said: “This Discovery Day will be a great first step to making Nottingham a Child Friendly City. This event will shed light onto the needs within Nottingham and help to prioritise actions to meet those needs.
“Within this Discovery phase there will be a chance to increase the knowledge of the programme. The outcomes of the event will help the city shape a future action plan.”
Corporate Director for People, Catherine Underwood, said: “The Discovery Day aims to bring the children and young people of Nottingham together. We want Nottingham to be a place where children’s voices are listened to and where children’s voices influence decisions in their city. This will help Nottingham to be a great place to grow up in and to become a Child Friendly City.”
After this event, the council will implement training for professionals on Children’s Rights, with additional training to follow over the course of the next three to five years.
Naomi Danquah, Child Friendly Cities and Communities Programme Director at UNICEF UK said: “We are delighted that this Discovery Day marks the start of Nottingham’s journey to become a Child Friendly City and this timely event coincides with the week of World Children’s Day.
“This is a great stage within the journey to raise awareness that the council, community, children and young people will be discussing the next steps to shape the future action plan.
“As Nottingham makes changes to become a Child Friendly City, this Discovery Day will highlight the aspirations of children and young people in the city of Nottingham. This event will help to actualise the thoughts of the young people as the city endeavours to become Child Friendly.”
For more information about the project please visit here or contact Eky Ghansah, Nottingham’s Child-Friendly City Lead at ekua.ghansah@nottinghamcity.gov.uk