All About..

Engagement & Participation

Welcome

Hey – welcome to participation at MFT CAMHS. This page will help you learn more about how you can get involved, have your say, and make a difference with us.

Here at MFT CAMHS our Engagement & Participation team is made up of our Engagement Workers, Engagement Champions & the Engagement Lead.  We work together with young people on different projects which are based off what young people have said they want from mental health services in Greater Manchester (If you’re interested, here’s the link to the report – 42nd Street | “You’re Helping Just By Listening” |).

Engagement/participation, what does that even mean? It’s all about creating spaces for you to have your say so we can work together to make positive change. That could be getting involved in shaping services, projects, and ideas that matter to you. Your voice matters and we want to hear it!

 

CAMHS are here to support you and to be able to do this right, we need to understand and learn about current issues you face, what’s important to you and what you want from us – for this to work, we need to listen and work together.

Not only this, but it is also your right! The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) explains your rights, an example is Article 12, this says that every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously. We are here to create opportunities for you to express your views and for them to be taken seriously, so if there’s anything you want to share, please reach out to us.

Engagement Team

Our team is made up of Engagement Workers, Engagement Champions and an Engagement Lead who work together to ensure your voice is heard.

Engagement Worker

Supports Engagement Champions to develop projects and leads on their own projects, their role is strictly engagement and participation.

Engagement Champions

 They are the main person within their CAMHS team who promotes and leads on all things engagement and participation. They will also have another role in their team, for example they may work as an Assistant Psychologist.

Engagement Lead

Supports both the workers and champions to do the work they do. Think more managerial.

What can you get involved in?

Here at CAMHS, we understand life is busy. We want to empower you to get involved, however feels right for you. Whether that’s joining one of our groups, completing a survey, working on a creative project or sharing feedback by email or WhatsApp. Have your voice heard in a way that’s comfortable for you.

So far, some of the participation work we’ve focused on includes:

1

This Website

To make CAMHS make sense – the engagement team have worked with young people throughout the development of this website, giving young people chance to have their say through online surveys, focus groups and workshops with the web developer.

2

Interviews

To make sure we recruit staff who have the skills that young people think are important.

3

First appointment letters

We’ve worked with a young person to create a letter template for all staff to use when writing letters to young people, making sure the language feels right so it’s a little less scary.

4

Groups

We’ve created in-person spaces for young people to have their say and get involved. If you are interested in joining a group, please reach out to us at camhsparticipation@mft.nhs.uk

5

Creative Projects

Young people have worked on projects like ‘Autism Through Our Lens’, where they expressed their experiences creatively to help CAMHS staff understand their needs. These were then used to develop a staff training module. Another example is a school transition competition where the Trafford Mental Health Support Team asked young people to share their experiences of secondary school in a creative way to help other young people transitioning from primary (see the winning entry below).

 

Why it matters?

  • Gives you the chance to meet others and share ideas
  • Helps improve CAMHS services for children and young people
  • Builds your confidence and skills
  • Leads to more opportunities like being in workshops, helping design content, or even presenting!
  • Makes a difference in your journey, our community and the future of mental health services

 

Useful Links

Engagement Events

Here are some photos from recent engagement events

Are you Interested?

Here’s how you can contact us and find out more.

It felt good knowing my
input actually changed something. I joined a session not knowing what to expect, and I left feeling proud of what we created

Frequently Asked Questions

Nope! Just your opinion.

Only if you want to!

As much or as little as you can give.