Director’s Blog – Lisa Charlotte Davis
We were particularly proud to be able to attend together with the awesome girls from Creative Youth Opportunities who have been involved in our A is for Amy coproduction (and who were VERY pleased with the fancy waffle breakfast on arrival at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art!).
Conference compere Jordan Mullard did an amazing job at integrating young people’s voices at every step of the way, respecting the principle that “if a policy is going to affect us – include us”.
We heard from some brilliant young people from XP Gateshead who had conducted detailed research to inform a set of powerful socio-political critiques, including the wonderful line – “deprivation is the thief of a healthy life” – that really echoed the perspective Alice Wiseman MBE had shared in setting the Public Health framework for the day – “Why treat people and send them back to the conditions that made them sick?”
We were so proud of the girls contributing to a Youth Panel on the stage in front of the whole conference, as well as co-delivering our workshop on what adults need to understand in order to support young people affected by Teenage Relationship Abuse.
Kate Gorman did sterling work as she stood by our posters explaining our A is for Amy and Weaving Stories projects to fellow delegates.
And it was lovely to be able to reconnect with Dr Janelle Rabe in her new Public Health role, given she played such a crucial role in the Weaving Stories project we were representing.
Well dones and thank yous all round 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏
