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Sharing the Stage is designed to help you improve the way your organisation includes children and young people in decision-making. It challenges adults to change the way we do things and share some of our decision-making so that children and young people's participation is effective.

Sharing the Stage is based on our interviews with children, young people and adults working with them.

Following are the key elements of effective participation and some tips for helping make them work.

• Participation is part of the organisation's culture.
• Kids have a place in decision-making.
• Adults adapt to kids' way of working.
• Strong relationships with kids.
• Participation rewards kids and the organisation.

Participation is part of the organisation's culture.

Your organisation needs to believe in the importance of giving children and young people a say in decisions.

• Make including children and young people part of your vision and document it.
• Support participation in your everyday work.
• Establish structures to assist participation.
• Recruit committed and skilled staff and make participation part of their official duties.
• Give staff the time, resources and training they need to help kids participate.
• Have children and young people help choose staff.
• Ensure senior staff support participation.
• Challenge arguments for not involving children and young people.

Kids have a place in decision-making.

Your organisation should make sure that children and young people understand their role in your organisation's decision-making processes and so should your organisation.

• Find different ways to involve children and young people such as videos and films (vox pops) or interactive websites.
• Make ways of participating relevant for different groups of kids.
• Encourage youth advisory bodies to seek the views of other children and young people.
• Involve kids in important decisions.
• Involve children and young people in choosing a model.
• Consider the organisation's needs.
• Bring children and young people as close as possible to the decision-maker.
• Explain the decision-making process.
• Be open about the limits to ideas and recommendations.
• Think about budgets.

Adults adapt to kids' way of working

Your organisation should make children and young people feel comfortable. Here are some tips for running meetings in a kid-friendly way.

• Appoint a child or young person as chair or co-chair.
• Make meetings informal with regular breaks.
• Serve refreshments.
• Provide children and young people with background information before the meeting.
• Identify the skills children and young people need.
• Make meeting times and venues suit kids.
• Do not overburden meeting participants.
• Help children and young people with expenses when they attend meetings.
• Protect kids' privacy.
• Record views accurately.

Strong relationships with kids.

It's important that adults in your organisation engage children and young people.

• Have an open-door policy.
• Make time to meet with children and young people.
• Organise 'getting to know you' activities.
• Appoint a staff member to support these activities.

Participation rewards kids and the organisation.

Participation should be enjoyable, challenging and fun for children and young people. Both kids and your organisation should receive benefits.

• Involve children and young people in planning discussion forums.
• Do not allow more confident members to dominate.
• Listen to everyone's views.
• Provide opportunities for children and young people to be an observer or come with a friend.
• Give peer groups time together.
• Find out kids skill levels.
• Give children and young people opportunities to develop skills.
• Draw on the skills of those around you.
• Involve children and young people in training others.
• Explain how the issues affect them.
• Involve kids in activities with concrete results.
• Show children and young people that their opinions are taken seriously.
• Acknowledge the contribution made by children and young people.
• Evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of participation

Follow the links below to download or order a hardcopy.