The Children and Young People’s Forum, renamed SPARK (Shout Participation and Rights in Knowsley) by young members was established in April 2007 as the authoritative and credible voice of children and young people in Knowsley (aged 0-25). The focus of S.P.A.R.K is to primarily increase the scope of engagement for children and young people in the borough, including representing the views of those at risk and vulnerable groups.

S.P.A.R.K is a sub-group of the Children and Families Board and the Chair is elected by peers to sit on the Board. It is led by a diverse membership of young volunteers, made up of a collaboration of children and young people from a wide range of services and young people’s networks in Knowsley, including Young Carers, Platform51, Children Looked After, Care Leavers, LDD Young people, Armistead Knowsley, Connexions, Centres for Learning representatives, Ethnic Minority Groups and Uniform Groups.

This group have agreed SPARK should hold the CTB to account for how well it protects and champions the Rights of Children. SPARK Members have given a commitment to support wider reaching engagement with children and young people across the networks, including Minority Ethnic young people, CAMHS and Knowsley Domestic Violence. Knowsley Young Advisors play a key role within SPARK and have supported the broadening of its network, through visiting a variety of youth services and school settings to promote and encourage young people to become engaged in local decision making processes.

A further example of the support the Young Advisors are providing is through their work with Knowsley Ethnic Minority Support Group (KEMS) who support adults that experience racial harassment/violence in Knowsley. The work being developed is to engage the children of KEMS Group members, who do not always integrate outside of school but who do often attend faith groups with their parents/carers. As the faith groups are mostly held outside of the borough, consultation methods are being adapted to deliver at the faith groups, where children and young people feel safe. Children and young people will gain confidence and skills to actively participate and parent/carers will receive appropriate information to raise awareness of engagement activities available in Knowsley.