Sweltering heat did nothing to deter our incredible young people from attending the launch of the Hackney Captains at Dalston Curve Gardens last week!
Five students signed up to be part of the Hackney Captains youth council, committed to giving a voice for their peers and supporting change and improvement in Hackney in the area of health. The launch was supported by a multidisciplinary team including occupational therapy, physiotherapy, clinical psychology, and speech and language therapy.
The day started with some icebreakers and a hands on pizza making session, facilitated by the lovely Kiram Chahal from the People’s Kitchen. Soaring temperatures aside, young people braved the heat of the pizza oven and made some delicious lunch for us all to share, as well as taking some entrepreneurial initiative and selling pizzas to the public, making a small profit which will then support future meetings.
We had the privilege of having a young person already represented in a youth council at Great Ormond Street Hospital, who was able to share her experiences and explain what the role of such a council could include.
We had fun dreaming up our ‘dream health service’ and started providing feedback on our experiences at Hackney Ark – from ideas on how to spruce up the reception and make it more teenage friendly, to best ways to communicate with young people and gaining their views.
We are extremely grateful to the Dalston Curve Garden to providing us with the space to launch out council, and provide a safe and green oasis that supports community projects in Hackney. We also enjoyed helping out by watering plants in the garden before and after the launch.
We are really looking forward to our first ‘official’ meeting – where we will be designing our logo, and starting to provide feedback on the health stuff that matters to young people accessing services at Hackney Ark.
If you are a young person aged 13 – 19 years and are accessing services at Hackney Ark (currently or in the past), we would love to hear from you. Please get in touch by emailing huh-tr.hackneyarkcaptains@nhs.net, tweeting at @HackneyArkOT, or phoning 02070147025.
