The Listening Hub

Over the last few years a number of consultations have shown that concerns around mental health and mental health support is a priority for young people

Between January and April 2024 the Listening Hub will be reviewing these consultations and seeking to understand any changes in practice or service provision resulting from them.  If you have any information on this topic you would like to share, either regarding views and voices of young people and families, or in relation to services provided then please email thelisteninghub@salford.gov.uk.

Our aim to is share views and voices with relevant services and in return, seek information on how services are responding to the concerns of young people and families.  We hope to create some dedicated space on the SSCP website to share these updates and to get the right information out to the people who need it.  

More updates to come soon, so keep watching!

P4PC are a group of parents and carers from in and around Salford.  They have all had involvement with Children's Services, for lots of different reasons and want to work together with services to make positive changes.

In April 2023 P4PC joined the Listening Hub. Working closely with the SSCP Participation Lead and representatives from Children's Services, P4PC are involved in a number of projects to improve the experience of children and families, who may need help and support from statutory services in Salford.

Visit the SSCP Parents Homepage for more information on P4PC. 

In January 2023 an event was held to launch the updated Support and Safeguarding Guidance for Salford.  Young people from Salford produced a video which was shown at the event.  The video titled The Safeguarding Zone explains to others what safeguarding is and some of the main features of the guidance.

An Adolescent Strategy for Salford was developed, to set out how partnership agencies can best work together to support young people in the City.

The SSCP sought to hear from a range of young people to help inform the strategy. A short survey was developed to gather these views. The survey closed on 24th July 2022. A second survey for schools was distributed in September 2022. In total over 500 young people completed the survey.  The 3 year Adolescent Strategy and a summary version were publish in April 2023.  The finished strategy was presented to the Youth Council on completion.

The Salford Safeguarding Children Partnership (SSCP) held a Listening Hub event at The Lowry, Salford, entitled "Emotional Health and Wellbeing". The event was aimed at children in Year 6 and above, young people, parents and carers as well as professionals working with children and young people in Salford.

This Lunch Bowl launched the Listening Hub and showed an animation video produced by young people and parents to illustrate the purpose and vision of the Listening Hub and provided their views of why it is important to listen to their voices.  

Feedback and analysis from young people, parents and professionals from the  “Keeping children safe online” event was shared, as well as the Salford Listening Standards and Listening Loops. Partnerships and organisations were encouraged to adopt the Listening Loops, to enables greater listening, action and feedback to children, young people and adults. 

From this event further networking with other partnerships have been made who will be joining the Listening Hub. We want to ensure that we are capturing the views and voices of a wide range of children, young people, parents/carers, and those with lived experiences in Salford. This include parents and carers voices such as the 'Salford Parents for Positive Change' group. Any parents that wish to join or want more information about this group please get in touch, contact details are available on the Parent and carers page. 

The first Listening Hub event was held as a hybrid event at face to face at The Beacon Centre and online with young people, parents and professionals. There were approximately 20 participants who all actively engaged with four questions that were posed regarding online safety. The focus was on listening to the voices of young people, parents, and professionals.

A report has been produced which captured the feedback of all attendees. From this a short presentation summarises the feedback and next steps. It was evident that this work will need to continue with young people leading this with parents and professionals. A "Listening Loop" will be completed to ensure focus and continuity. It is also hoped that partners within the Listening Hub will stay connected with this work. 

Follow up work in 2022 included young people contributing to information about the online world on the SSCP website and providing quotes for use on webpages.

• Salford standards for listening
• Views and voice resources

Please feel free to use and share these short clips from the Listening Hub animation video.

• Soundbite 1 Introduction
• Soundbite 2 We want to hear from you
• Soundbite 3 Encourage young people
• Soundbite 4 Everyone has a different story
• Soundbite 5 Children to be the best that they can be
• Soundbite 6 My opinions are worth something
• Soundbite 7 Changing what is going to happen

Please use the accessible Listening Loop Template and guidance to show case how you have listened, actions taken and feedback provided. 

• Accessible Listening Loop Template
• Listening Loop Guidance

Please see completed Listening Loops below:

• Online Safety Project 2023
• Seldom Heard Event 2023 (CVS)
• Support and safeguarding consultation with parents - 2022
• Peer on Peer Sexual Abuse & Harassment
• Keeping Children Safe Online Event Oct 2021