Happy first birthday to Child Friendly Cov! – Coventry City Council

We want Coventry to be the best place in the UK for children and young people to live and grow up in, and Child Friendly Cov is a campaign to ensure that Coventry is a child and young person friendly city - a place where children and young people feel valued, supported and enjoy themselves.

The one year celebration was held at The Butts Park Arena and was attended by Council teams, partners, residents and some of the young people who have benefited from the first year.

The programme was launched with four pledges to help children and young people:

Be and feel valued Be and feel safe Be and feel healthy Have opportunities.

And to mark the year, 3,500 surveys were sent out to primary and secondary schools in the city that included a call for suggestions for a new fifth pledge.

The winner was ‘Be and Feel loved’, and work will now start on this which is all about helping young people feel a sense of belonging and connection to Coventry, and to appreciate its rich history and diverse culture. 

The celebration looked back at the success of the work so far.

To help young people feel safe, there has been work to create Safe Spaces, work with Safer Travel West Midlands , and exploitation awareness training with the police; while work to make them feel healthy has included involvement in the climate strategy and peer-lewd mental health training..

To help them feel valued, work has included a street soccer programme and promotion of apprenticeships; and to help them feel valued, the first annual Pupi Parliament was held, the Youth Council has been invited to take part in the Youth Summit and the Coventry One Big Voice initiative saw involvement form over 45 schools.

Dr Julie Nugent, Chief Executive of Coventry City Council, said: “Child Friendly Cov is very close to my heart as it shows the city at its best with statutory agencies, businesses and the voluntary sector pulling together to ensure that Coventry really is the best place in the UK for children and young people to live and grow up in.

“We can celebrate some real successes of the first year of Child Friendly Cov, including the launch of Safe Spaces, the inaugural Pupil Parliament or the One Big Voice survey, and this is just a fraction of the amazing work that goes on across the city to support our children and young people.

“However, there is so much more to do – children and young people are the future of this city and we need everyone to work together to ensure their voices are listened to and our future plans are shaped by them.”

Neil Macdonald, Interim Director of Children’s Services, said: ”Wow, what a year! We have had some amazing children and young people help us shape plans for the next year and these are really exciting.

“Thank you to our amazing supporters who continue to look at how we can give opportunities to all and break down barriers.”

The work on Safe Spaces has seen work with partners to find out what children and young people need. The focus of the safe spaces is for young people to know there are spaces to go if they feel unsafe, if they have missed the bus, need to charge a mobile phone to help get home, or let people know where they are. 

As a result, a range of venues has been approached, including Family Hubs, Libraries, CV life venues, McDonalds restaurants, Coventry University, Positive Youth Foundation, and Coventry Boys’ and Girls’ Club. 

To become a Safe Space, venues need to complete training which has been developed by Child Friendly Cov alongside West Midlands Police. Venues are marked by a sticker and equipped with power banks and universal chargers, a first aid kit if needed, and leaflets of different services around the city to further support young people. 

There has also been work with Langar Aid to support with dry food supplies as well as Tesco who are providing hygiene packs, and with West Midlands Travel to help young people feel safe while getting around the city.

Priorities for the second year of the programme include:

Promoting a Healthy City  Continuing to Empower Youth Voice Addressing Climate Change A City for All Providing Recreational Opportunities Prioritising Safety Fostering Pride in Coventry

To learn more about Child Friendly Cov, visit the website.