The annual children’s services ‘Have Your Say’ event has been hailed a success with more than 300 people attending special events and activities between 8th and 12th August, more than double the number of people attending last year.
The event was designed to give children and their families, already working with children’s services, an opportunity to provide feedback on the quality of services and staff engagement they have received. The event entailed a week of positive activities, culminating in a trip to Chessington Zoo at which mainland families and carers working with Island children were able to join the group.
The Have Your Say event provided the Isle of Wight Council with invaluable feedback on a range of services and highlighted areas for improvement as well as evidencing areas which have improved since last year.
Stuart Ashley, assistant director for children and families at the Isle of Wight Council, said:
“We received a huge amount of feedback about how people felt listened to, how helpful they felt services were and about the individual staff who work with families both on the Island and mainland, which is really positive.
“As well as listen to people’s ideas for improvements, we were also able to respond to people’s individual difficulties and arrange meetings with our rights and participation officer who was able to provide help.
“We are now busy collating and analysing the feedback from all those who took part so that we can bring forward recommendations to improve the quality of services delivered to children and families by Isle of Wight children’s services.”
Councillor Jonathan Bacon, leader of the Isle of Wight Council and Executive member for children’s services, said:
“I would like to thank everyone involved for taking the time to take part in our events. The feedback is invaluable in helping us to evaluate our services and continue to progress our improvement journey.”
Anyone wishing to provide feedback about any aspect of Isle of Wight Council children’s services should visit the Isle of Wight Youth – Rights and Participation page on the council’s website and submit views through the contact tab at www.iwight.com/childrensrights.
Featured photo: doctor-a/FreeImages.com
