How we’ve set up the Backpack Youth Advisors programme and what we’ve learned from it (1/2)

This article explores how our team worked with Barnardo’s Employment, Training & Skills (ETS) staff and young people on the Barnardo’s online risk guide (BORG) project. BORG, formerly called Backpack, is a guide to emerging online risks for practitioners. Check out more about why we created this platform here.

Barnardo’s online risk guide (BORG) is a website for practitioners and youth workers. It’s important for us to make sure that users have the tools and knowledge they need to support young people. BORG helps professionals to find out:

• what new online language and terms mean
• what platforms are out there and how they work
• what risks exist and how to identify them
• how to respond to risks in a contextually appropriate way
• how to work with parents, carers, and young people to develop digital resilience

Capturing the voice of young people in BORG

Children and young people can provide valuable insights to help us keep up-to-date with emerging online trends. Our research showed that professionals would prioritise seeking out youth-generated content on BORG. Working alongside ParentZone, we made sure to include young people’s voices as part of our content approach.

As an adult hearing from a young person about their experiences, kind of makes it real because this is actually, you know, a real example or taken from a trusted source, this actually did happen rather than it just being one of these fake stories you hear about.

— Barnardo’s support worker

BORG uses a combination of quotes taken from recorded youth advisory sessions and existing desk research. This content currently sits on the ‘Young people’s voice’ section of the risk article pages.

Barnardo’s Online Risk Guide screenshots

During the define phase, we held 1-to-1 interviews and group sessions with children & young people aged 10 to 16. We aimed to understand their opinions to online safety. These consultations helped us identify the risks that they were most concerned about. We also learned about how adults and professionals can better support them before, during, and after the moment of disclosure. This got us thinking about starting a youth group so we could get regular advice on these subjects.

Collaborating with Barnardo’s ETS

We consulted our colleagues at Barnardo’s Voice & Influence on how to safely and fairly involve young people in BORG. They shared key best practices with us before introducing us to Barnardo’s Employment, Training & Skills (ETS).

Barnardo’s ETS is an internal and national service that provides young people aged 16–24 with skills and qualifications. We realised there could be a significant element of exchange between the ETS services and the Innovation Lab. For example, our team could help ETS students with their learning objectives. We also considered providing them with career advice in the digital and tech industry.

It has been wonderful to see the young people contribute their time and thoughts. They have gained new experiences and valuable skills such as group and teamwork, and most valuable of all they have been given a platform for having their voice heard. Being present in the sessions, I have witnessed first-hand the young people contribute and grow in confidence. In my opinion the Backpack group facilitators have been fantastic with the young people, and they are a credit to Barnardo’s and the success of the programme.

— Irfan Hussain, Barnardo’s ETS Yorkshire tutor

Barnardo’s ETS Yorkshire was the first ETS service we connected with. We discussed our plans for the future programme with the ETS service manager. Together, we planned a strategy to get the students on board. First, it was essential to let the ETS tutor be in charge of directly communicating with the students. To guarantee safety and promote active participation, we decided that an ETS tutor had to be present at every session.

Meeting the ETS student cohort

In February 2023, we travelled to Bradford to introduce the ETS students to the concept of a youth advisory board. In total, 8 young people aged between 16 and 20 participated in the session. The idea of an advisory group focused on learning exchange was generally well received. They were excited to learn from the Innovation Lab team’s skill set to develop their professional abilities.

An ETS student contributing to our introductory session in Bradford

They also gave us suggestions and advice on how to improve the future programme while keeping it entertaining. From their feedback, we learned about five key points:

1. Setting clear expectations. The students told us about the importance of clearly explaining the purpose of the programme. They also needed to know about the timing, format, and what would be expected of them during and outside of the sessions.
2. Creating a safe and trustworthy environment. Young people said that fostering a space where they feel heard, welcomed, and respected is essential. They told us that they would like to express their opinions without fear of being judged. Safety was another issue that came up. The students needed to know they would get support should anything upsetting be brought up during the session.
3. Making participation as inclusive as possible. One of the most important things we had to make sure of was that every young person would feel comfortable to voice their opinions in a group setting. We were aware that a variety of young people would make up the group and that they would not be able or willing to contribute in the same way. For example, we gave students the option to write their contributions so they would not feel pressured to speak.
4. Being flexible. Most students told us that having options mattered to them. We learned about the importance of being adaptable. For instance, we enabled the students to opt out of the session or the programme at any time.
5. Giving time and space for young people to bond. The students made it clear that developing close bonds with peers was essential. Some said the advisory board could be an opportunity to develop social skills.

Coming up next

The next post will focus on the experience of running the Backpack Youth Advisors programme. We will go into further detail about the things that went well and the difficulties we encountered. We will reflect on the lessons we learned and reimagine how we could have done things differently.

Cynthia is a service designer in the Barnardo’s Innovation Lab team.
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