National Children's Bureau

The National Children’s Bureau (NCB) is thrilled to publish our new five-year strategy, United for a Better Childhood: Building Brighter Futures, which sets out the key areas of focus to support its mission to build better childhoods for every child. For 60 years, NCB has united individuals and organisations across every area of children and young people’s lives, combining cutting-edge research with the voices of lived experience to improve the complex, interconnected systems that support every child to thrive. Our impact has been built on our ability to learn and evolve and this new strategy lays out how we will push further and do better, to respond to the unprecedented variety and scale of challenges children face today. All parts of NCB, including our newest member, Research in Practice, share core values and ambitions for children and young people and the new strategy sets out how this larger NCB family will achieve them working in partnership with experts from across the sector. Anna Feuchtwang, Chief Executive, National Children’s Bureau, said: “At a time when too many children and young people in England and Northern Ireland face myriad challenges to their physical and mental wellbeing, the National Children’s Bureau is setting out its vision for the next five years to build brighter futures for every child. Is our vision possible? Absolutely. Will it happen tomorrow? No. But that can never be an excuse not to push further and to do better for children. With NCB’s approach to tackling seemingly intractable problems and a stronger voice for children themselves, change is truly possible. We know that because we’ve been proving it for 60 years.” To find out more about our plans and strategic goals for the next five years, click here https://buff.ly/48lEMmy or download a copy here https://buff.ly/3I5VNGz

Could you be our next Treasurer? 🪙 Join NCB’s Board of Trustees and help us improve children's lives. NCB’s Treasurer is an appointed Trustee acting in the capacity of an Honorary Officer of the Board alongside the Chair and Vice-Chair. The overarching role of our Treasurer is to maintain oversight of NCB’s financial affairs, ensuring they are sustainable, legal, constitutional and within accepted accounting practice. More information here: https://lnkd.in/eDbB2qWR

Following the parliamentary event we held yesterday on behalf of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Children, we’re excited to launch a series of reports that dig a little deeper into some key areas of our work – including voice, inclusive education and systems change – and set out NCB’s unique evidence and experience and suggest some of the ways that we can go further and do better to achieving our mission to build a better childhood for every child. The reports build on our five-year strategy United for a Better Childhood: Building Brighter Futures, which we published in February. For over 60 years, NCB has united individuals and organisations across every area of children and young people’s lives, combining cutting-edge research with the voices of lived experience to improve the complex, interconnected systems that support the lives of children, young people and their families. "Building Brighter Futures: Amplifying children’s voice" outlines why the voices and experiences of children and young people have been and will continue to be at the heart of our work and shines a spotlight on recent successes. The report puts a spotlight on how we are amplifying children’s voice in politics, policy-making and evidence gathering and suggests a series of recommendations on how we can go further and do better to ensure that every child can thrive. Download and read the report here: https://buff.ly/3UGl9R6

Lovely words from one of the attendees to our #APPGChildren event in Parliament this morning. Thank you so much for coming!

Today marks the beginning of #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek 💚 At NCB, we want all children and young people to grow up as physically and mentally healthy as they can be, but we are aware that there is still so much work to be done. In 2021-22, 1.4 million children were estimated to have a mental health condition in England, but less than half received at least one appointment with children and young people mental health services (CYPMHS or CAMHS) – while a third referred for support was turned away. (source: https://buff.ly/3WzvBwx) Our new strategy #BuildingBrighterFutures explains what changes we want to see that will help tackle the root causes of poor mental health and wellbeing, making sure children get the support they need at the right time. Read more about it here: strategy.ncb.org.uk And find out more about our work on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing here: https://buff.ly/44HkQuc

As well as being a hugely valued member of our systems improvement team, Joe Fautley is a passionate advocate for neurodiversity and autism both inside and outside the NCB family. In this blog for SEN Magazine Ltd he writes powerfully and eloquently about his own lived experience as an autistic person. He highlights the importance of not underestimating the effect of anxiety, of allowing autistic people time to process information, of being mindful of that autistic people can often feel fatigued by navigating social situations and sensory overload and that we should all avoid making assumptions. You can read Joe's blog at https://lnkd.in/efzBFH2s

Do you want to help us stop bullying and create safer environments in which children and young people can live, grow, play and learn? NCB family member the Anti-Bullying Alliance is looking for a creative and well-organised new member to join its team as Project Officer. You will support the school focused programme work of ABA; plan and deliver identified elements of project and programmes within the team; and, support ABA’s capacity to influence anti-bullying policy and improve anti-bullying practice. You'll be a great communicator who enjoys working in a fast-paced environment and have experience managing projects and working in partnership with other organisations to deliver complex programmes. Sounds like you or someone you know? Then get in touch before Monday 27th May! For more information and to apply go to https://lnkd.in/e47VjsgD

A new interactive tool created by NCB family member Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP) that will help midwives identify social complexities more consistently in pregnant people is now available. The maternity disadvantage assessment tool (MatDAT), along with a care planning template and an e-training module, was launched at The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) annual conference taking place in Liverpool this week. The MatDAT has the potential to support the provision of more personalised care and promote maternity equity and was originally developed by midwives working for LEAP. It has now been further developed and made widely available by the RCM. Carla Stanke, Public Health Specialist, LEAP, explains: “We are delighted that the Maternity Disadvantage Assessment Tool (MatDAT), developed by the Lambeth Early Action Partnership, will now be available nationally from the Royal College of Midwives. Until now, midwives have not had a tool for assessing social needs in the same way that GPs and health visitors do. “This new tool can be used during routine midwifery appointments to enable midwives to identify social risk factors more consistently in pregnant people, and signpost to local sources of support." Read more at https://lnkd.in/dmjmfMaF

A new study, led by a collaborative of Kingston University, Policy in Practice, University of Sussex and NCB is investigating the connection between children’s social care provision, changes to household income and financial precarity. NCB are currently recruiting groups of young people (aged 13 to 25) and parents with relevant lived experience to take part in to focus groups planned for summer 2024 and spring 2025. The focus groups will explore experiences of the relationship between financial precarity and social care, and views about the ethical use of data to improve policy and service response.  For more information visit: https://buff.ly/4boK9TV 

We’re proud to announce that, as part of our collaboration with the University of Kent on our Changing Narratives project, we’ll be working with Chickenshed Theatre to run a series of workshops and a theatre performance! We are currently recruiting participants and looking for children and young people who identify as at least one of the following: disabled, with lived experience of children’s social care, or with experience of the UK migration system. The aim of Changing Narratives, part of the Living Assessments project, is to put children and young people’s lived experiences at the heart of our research and to make their voices heard. The workshops will explore a series of topics including mental health, children’s social care and insecure immigration status, and they will encourage participants to explore and share their own experiences in a creative way. They start on 25 May and will run fortnightly at the Chickenshed Theatre, north London, with a public performance planned for early 2025. We can cover travel expenses. Do you or anyone you know want to take part? Find out more about the project and how to apply here: https://buff.ly/3UrU7wT #ChangingNarratives