UNICEF Child Friendly Community News

Child Friendly Community Discovery Day

Attendees pictured at Torbay’s UNICEF Child Friendly Community Discovery Day.

Image: Attendees pictured at Torbay’s UNICEF Child Friendly Community Discovery Day.

We held a special event called "Discovery Day" on Friday, 25 April. This was held at the Riviera International Centre. Children, young people and adults from different groups joined us. lt was all part of our work with UNICEF UK to become a child-friendly community.

Children and young people from Torbay learned about their human rights. These are listed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Lots of people attended, including the Leader of the Council and other councillors:

colleagues from Torbay Council
school staff
health service staff
community groups
Students from:
- Shiphay Learning Academy
- ldway Primary School
- Mayfield College
- homeschooled students

Children and young people voted on what they thought were the most important things to focus on for the rest of the programme. These things are called "badges,". Progress will be measured based on these badges.

Read the full press release

Harrison’s view on Changing Places facilities

Harrison goes to Mayfield College. We talked to him about the need for more Changing Places facilities in Torbay.

Changing Places toilets are for people who cannot use standard accessible toilets.

This includes people who have:

profound and multiple learning disabilities
other disabilities that severely limit mobility

They are suitable for those with spinal injuries, muscular dystrophy, and multiple sclerosis. There is extra equipment and space. This allows people to use the toilets safely and comfortably.

We have two Changing Places facilities in Torbay. One is in Paignton, and one is in Brixham. We hope that extra funding will allow us to have one in Torquay.

Find out more about our Changing Places facilities.

Talking to children and young people about life in Torbay

We recently visited Mayfield School in Torquay and Mayfield College in Paignton. We also visited Shiphay Learning Academy. We met and chatted with children and young people. This was as part of our ongoing work with UNICEF towards making Torbay a Child Friendly Community.

We asked them all about:

what it’s like to grow up in Torbay
the places they like to visit
and the activities they enjoyed
as well as any areas they feel lt needed improving.

They also got to vote on the “Badges” for the issues they would like to see prioritised in Torbay. for children and young people in Torbay.

Email us if you work in a school or other setting and would like to get involved

Here are some pictures from the day:

Our Visit to Mayfield

Harrison, a person in a wheelchair, is seated at a table in an office setting. The individual is wearing a grey jacket and red pants. The wheelchair has blue padding and there is a colorful bag attached to it. In the background, there is an open door with a sign that reads 'Meeting Room' and some office furniture including a desk with computer equipment

A teacher shows a piece of paper to a student in a classroom, with various items on the table.

A group of people in a classroom or meeting room, with papers on the table and two individuals standing and assisting

A group of people, including adults and children, sitting around a table engaged in an activity with maps and colored sticky notes

Our visit to Shiphay Learning Academy

A group of children in red and blue uniforms gathered around a table in a classroom, with an adult showing them pictures.

Students in red uniforms seated at tables in a classroom, with an adult holding up a piece of paper and addressing them

A colorful map with buildings, roads, rivers, and green areas, with pink and yellow sticky notes placed on it.

Children in red uniforms sitting around a table with a colourful map, accompanied by two adults in a room with shelves in the background.

Torbay Council partners with UNICEF UK in bid to become Child Friendly Community

We continue to work towards international recognition as a UNICEF Child Friendly Community. This is called the UNICEF UK Child Friendly Cities & Communities programme. We work together with the UK Committee for UNICEF and local partners to do this. We join eight other councils in the UK taking part. We will all work together to put children’s rights into practice.

The aim is that children’s rights will guide decisions that affect children and young people in Torbay. These rights are set out in the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. We want these to guide councillors, council staff, and local community and voluntary sector partners in their decisions.

The right of the child to have their views heard and taken seriously. This will means that children will have a say in council decisions. Anything from major policies to decisions around the care they receive. They will also have the opportunity to design local services and spaces.