Young Voices and young people with SEND

Welcome to the Young Voices area.

What is this project all about?

Young Voices is about young people having a say, and working with services as the experts on their own lives. There are lots of different ways to take part; from online surveys, to our Youth Ambassadors Forum. If you can't find the information you need on this page, please do contact us and we'd be happy to help.

Who is it for?

We embrace all areas of additional needs, disability, neurodiversity and inclusion. Not everyone wants a 'label', and this is something we are respectful of.

Everyone is an individual; many young people who have taken part in our projects would not describe themselves as having 'SEND' (Special Educational Needs and Disability) .You do not need to have a diagnosis or Education Health Care Plan to take part.

What about access needs and other ways to take part?

If you have access needs that aren't catered for by what we have on offer here, please do contact us. We also have a Wiki micro website you may find useful, as it presents information in a visual and accessible way. It is very important to us to remove barriers to young people taking part, and we are always happy to learn from you about what works and what doesn't.

You certainly don't have to be able to speak and/or write to have something to say!

Perhaps you , or someone you know, communicates non-verbally, or communicates best through pictures, signing or symbols? We have virtual 'scrap books', and a sensory story project you might be interested in. You can take a look at some examples on the links on this page. If you'd like to be able to edit and add to our books, please use the form below to request access to this project.

If you feel that having a peer 'buddy' would support you to take part in our projects, please use the form below to express your interest in this, and we will get back to you.

Who do I contact if I need help?

Please contact Rachel.Sadler@westsussex.gov.uk, for more information, to discuss any access needs you might have, request information in different formats or anything else we can help you with.

What about parent carers?

The West Sussex Parent Carer Forum can help you with enquires about parent carer voice. West Sussex Parent Carer Forum website

Accessibility statement:

If you need this information in an alternative format, please contact us on 0330 222 6678 and rachel.sadler@westsussex.gov.uk. If you are deaf or hard of hearing and have an NGT texting app installed on your computer, laptop or smartphone, you can contact us on 18001 0330 222 6678.

We are committed making this website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. West Sussex County Council has created an Accessibility Statement, and details about the general accessibility of the Your Voice Engagement Hub can be found by clicking on the 'Accessibility tab' right at the bottom of the page.

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us at haveyoursay@westsussex.gov.uk.

Data Protection/Privacy Notice

The SEND Commissioning team will use this questionnaire to collect personal and special category data the processing of which is necessary to enable us to be compliant with the law (general well-being duties), and for reasons of substantial public interest. The data will be processed in accordance with the 2018 Data Protection Act, the General Data Protection Regulations, and any subsequent data protection legislation. The data we collect be securely stored and kept for period of up to 2 years before being appropriately destroyed. The data we will collect will not be used for any other purpose than that stated above without your prior written consent. West Sussex County Council is registered as Data Controller (Reg. No. Z6413427). For further details and information about our Data Controller, please see www.westsussex.gov.uk/privacy-policy.