Barnet's elected youth representatives are actively campaigning on key issues affecting young people, including mental health and stress in schools.
At a recent meeting of the Barnet Children's Partnership Board, the representatives provided verbal updates on their ongoing campaigns. Connor is focusing on mental health, drawing on his experience with the NSPCC and his work creating a podcast on the benefits of sport. He will also be involved in a task force addressing self-harm needs, which will review priorities from a self-harm needs assessment starting in spring 2026. Freddie, the Youth Member of Parliament for Barnet, reported on his efforts to diversify the curriculum. He has already passed a manifesto on diversifying the curriculum and spoken to teachers in Barnet, under local authority supervision, about fostering constructive conversations on current affairs. Eleanor, the Youth Ambassador for Barnet, is addressing unnecessary stress in schools and exploring ways to improve support for students with learning disabilities like dyslexia. She is advocating for the implementation of comfort passes,
similar to those introduced in her own school, across other schools in Barnet, and plans to contact Jamie Oliver to discuss improvements for young people with dyslexia.
The board discussed ways to support these youth-led initiatives. John Anthony, Executive Director Children's Services, suggested publicising their work through council newsletters or magazines. The board also noted the BCPB Action Tracker 2025-2026, which included actions such as Janet Matthewson, Young Barnet Foundation CEO, involving young people in grant initiatives related to mental health, specifically giving out grants in the voluntary sector to see how it helps with mental health. Jayne Abbott, Resilience Programme Manager (Public Health), is creating the task force with Connor to address self-harm needs.
Collette McCarthy, Assistant Director Commissioning, is looking at involving young people in the Strategic Mental Health and Wellbeing Board. The council is exploring opportunities for children and young people to shape and deliver the Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy, with a recommendation from the Participation Team to involve someone aged 18-23 on a regular basis, potentially as a work experience opportunity. Kim Miller, Head of Services Specialist Inclusion Team, is connecting Eleanor with a literary specialist to support her work on dyslexia.
Emma Burton-Lee, Senior Communications & Campaigns Manager, and Liz Shaw, Practice Standards Manager, are working with the youth representatives to create a media piece highlighting their accomplishments. While content has been sent for communications, new video content is limited to existing material and a new election campaign.
The Barnet Children's Partnership Board's Forward Work Programme - 2025-2026 indicates that campaign updates from the Barnet Elected Youth Representatives will be a recurring item at future meetings, ensuring continued focus on these vital issues. The Agenda frontsheet 06th-Nov-2025 16.30 Barnet Childrens Partnership Board shows that the campaign update was a key item on the agenda.