yOUNG PEOPLE'S PAGE- Present Groups!
Children and young people are involved in lots of different projects. Most groups meet on a monthly basis. Below are some of our projects that you could get involved in:
young directors
"As a member of the IIC board of Directors, the young directors help to make the decisions which affect every member of IiC. They are the glue that binds the board to the rest of the IiC organisation and brings the two entities together.
As a Young Director we also support the Decisions group within the organisation (The group that shapes and steers IiC) and makes sure that young people’s ideas from this group feed into the board so the organisation is working the best it can be" Our current Young Directors are: Bethany Barnett and Jade Hay. Meet our directors below: 'Hello, my name is Bethany and I'm currently a sixth form student studying A level biology, chemistry and psychology. I've been involved with Investing in Children since I was 12 years old so it means a lot to me to now be a young director for an organisation I care greatly for and that means so much to me! I've been involved in lots of groups with Investing in Children, a lot of my work has focused around mental health and I also enjoy helping out with other groups and helping with running reviews and agenda days. In my spare time when I'm not studying I enjoy doing judo - a martial art, reading and spending time with my family and friends. In the future I hope to go to university and study dietetics, a course that looks at food and our diets in relation to our physical health. A few facts about me include: I love animals (especially cats), I collect cactuses and my favourite place to visit would either be the beach or an aquarium.' DURHAM CICC
All children and young people that are looked after in County Durham are automatically members of the CICC (Children in Care Council) and can take part in discussions and issues raised.
We work together with Durham County Council to raise the issues of children and young people and make changes so that its better for anyone living in care in the County. For more information visit our website www.durhamcicc.co.uk or contact Ellie @IiC on 0191 3077030 Voices Project
Our project was established to give children and young people that are living, studying or working in the East Durham Rural Corridor a voice and make positive changes to the area and to issues which affect them.
Children and young people living in the Coxhoe, Quarrington Hill and Cassop area are involved in having a say about their local area. The Youth Forum was set up to give children and young people more of a voice and improve things in the area. All the feedback received is passed on to Coxhoe Partnership to help make changes. As a youth forum we work closely with the AaP (Area Action Partnership) to make sure that our views are listened to and fed into the board. We have been involved in organising a grant scheme for the £40,000 AaP funding that was available for children and young people's activities. 1288 children and young people got to vote and choose what projects should be funded. This was the first time in the county that only children & young people voted. Anyone wanting to join the Youth Forum can do so by contacting Ellie on Eleanor.seed@investinginchildren.net or 0191 307 7030 
the health group
"Our group was set up to look at and discuss health problems/issues in the area. We have looked at things like smoking, mental health and our local A & E (Accident and Emergency) Department at Durham University Hospital to see how things can be improved. We have taken part in four training sessions where we learned about mental health and also been involved in learning about substance misuse. We have also done role play and team building" Meeting usually take place in Durham, below is a list of future meeting dates:
To get involved in the Health Group get in touch with Chris on 0191 307 7030. Internet SAFETYYoung people from IIC run internet safety training sessions. At the session you learn about the hidden dangers online and are shocked to find out how easily strangers can access young peoples online social networking profiles.
"After evaluating the consequences we can confidently say we left the training session knowing why we need to stay safe online and how to" (By three young people who took part in the training. For more details contact Ellie on 0191 307 7030 
YOUNG PEOPLE AS COMMUNITY BUILDERSOur groups meet up with the LSCB, Local Safeguarding Children's Board for County Durham on a regular basis. The board is made up of a big group of adults, who meet often to discuss how children and young people are kept safe across the County. We talk about the board’s priorities that are set each year. This is done by telling the board what we and other young people think about them and to share ideas and opinions about what young people and yourselves think the priorities should be.
We suggested it would be good if the board came out with us, along with young people who live in different places across County Durham, to really find out about young people’s lives and help them with their work. Carole Payne, Head of Children’s Services for Durham County Council, said: “Our visit to Sacriston was a great way to help us understand better what life is like for young people there. It was really useful to talk to the young people about what actually goes on and what improvements they think could be made”. Caroline O’Neill, Head of Education at Durham County Council, and a board member, said: “I found the time we spent together highly beneficial and hugely informative. I particularly welcomed the openness and honesty of everyone involved. It certainly helped me to appreciate some of the challenges and pressures young people find themselves under”. Further information about what the board does please visit www.durham-lscb.org.uk Below is a picture of some of us meeting with board members in Sacriston on a Friday evening. 
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decisions Group"Being in the Decisions Group is great because we get to meet on a monthly basis to talk about Investing in Children and what changes need to be made to improve it. All of the decisions we make are based on what children and young people tell us about the organisation and how it is run.
It is our job to make sure everyone within the organisation has a say and recently did a large piece of work on evaluating IiC by visiting and speaking to members of the various groups to see what they think!" Meetings run from 5pm till 6.30pm, the venue will be posted soon. Future dates are:
To get involved in the Decisions Group get in touch with Chloe on 0191 307 7030 or chloe.brown@investinginchildren.net 
TYPE1KIDZ
Since 2001, the Diabetes Group has been working to improve the lives of young diabetics throughout County Durham and Darlington and beyond. We have improved clinical services, given presentations at National Conferences, met MP’s and run peer mentoring courses.
The Type One Kids Project (T1KZ) is a support group for children and young people with type 1 diabetes. The project has now spread to Newcastle and further projects are being planned Chester-Le-Street Group meets on 2nd Saturday morning of the month, 10-12pm at Chester-Le-Street One Point Hub, Burns Green, DH3 3QH. Future dates will be:
Sunderland Group meets on a quarterly basis from 1.30-3.30pm at Boldon Community Centre, New Road, Boldon Colliery, South Tyneside. Future Dates will be:
Gateshead Group meets on last Saturday morning of the month, 10-12pm at Teams Community Centre, Askew Road West, NE8 2PW. Future Dates will be:
We also have the following regional events:
To get involved contact Chloe on chloe.brown@investinginchildren.net or 0191 3077030. 
twitter trainingWe provided training to all IiC staff to ensure that they all were fluent with the workings of Twitter. We planned, organised and delivered the session completely independently of adult help.
Our training provided information such as how Twitter works, what is a trend, what it looks like on a mobile and on the internet, how to tweet correctly and how to navigate through the website! 
CAMHSChildren and young people meet regularly to talk about mental health services. A young peoples reference group meets monthly and holds regular agenda days to seek the views of others using CAMHS.
The reference group then discusses the ideas raised at their meetings and works with the staff to make changes. To get involved contact Chris on 0191 307 7030 
my spaceInvesting In Children (IIC) run a project called My Space at Aycliffe Secure Centre for young people.
Young people meet regularly with IIC project workers in a space free of centre staff, so that young people can speak openly about their experiences of the centre and the support they receive. Meetings then take place between young people, centre mangers and IIC project workers regarding ideas young people have to improve their experience and support at the centre. At present young people are discussing whether Skype can be used by coming up with some agreed rules and then will pilot some calls as part of an evaluation. For more information contact Rob on 0191 307 7030 
YASC - SUPPORT CAFE
YASC - Young Adults Support Cafe is open 5-7pm at Waddington Street in Durham. The Café is open to anyone aged 16-21 provides young people with a safe space if you want someone to talk to, and the chance to get out the house to chill out or unwind after a stressful day.
For more information about the Y-ASC Café contact Chris on 0191 307 7030 or chris.affleck@investinginchildren.net or call in on a Tuesday night for a cuppa and a chat. extreme group
The eXtreme group is made up of children and young people with disabilities.
The group have campaigned on a range of issues from better access to leisure centres to better transport. To get involved in the eXtreme group contact Chris on 0191 307 7030 
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