Method guide · Work with a structured grid
Youth Advisory Board Charter Workshop
Agree the board's role, real decision rights, support, and organisational response duties with young people instead of seeking a rubber stamp.
- People
- 10–15
- Base procedure time
- 90 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Make a decision; Build working relationships.
English guide
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How this method works
A method for young people and an organisation to summarise an advisory board's role and authority on one sheet. Divide matters into three kinds: decisions delegated to young people, advice sought from them, and decisions retained by the organisation. For every youth proposal, the organisation states whether it will adopt it, its reasons, and a response date. First establish consent, withdrawal, no disadvantage for non-participation, participation methods, safeguarding lead, and advice contacts. The result is a role charter with an implementation lead and review date. This description is an original adaptation with changes to UK government guidance under OGL 3.0. Do not convene young people if the safeguarding lead, advice contact, or final decision-maker is absent.
Phase schedule
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- Secure consent, payment, safety, and withdrawal0–15 minutes from the start (15 minutes)
Action: Safeguard. Participation: Everyone with the safeguarding lead and backup.
Shared record
- Set inclusive selection principles15–30 minutes from the start (15 minutes)
Action: Select. Participation: Individually or in groups of 3–5.
Shared record
- Separate delegated, advisory, and retained authority30–50 minutes from the start (20 minutes)
Action: Separate. Participation: Groups of 3–5 with the adult decision-maker.
Shared record
- Plan training, contact, and recording support50–65 minutes from the start (15 minutes)
Action: Support. Participation: Groups of 3–5 with the adult contact person.
Shared record
- Commit responses, reasons, and responsibilities65–90 minutes from the start (25 minutes)
Action: Commit. Participation: Everyone with the adult implementation lead.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 15 minutes, check consent, necessary procedures, withdrawal, payment, safeguarding lead and backup, and advice contacts.
- For 15 minutes, identify barriers to diverse participation and create selection principles that do not speak for absent young people.
- For 20 minutes, separate decisions into those actually delegated, those seeking advice, and those not delegated.
- For 15 minutes, write training, contacts, payment, participation methods, and publication/storage/deletion conditions into the charter.
- For 15 minutes, identify the organisational implementation lead, response deadline, adoption/non-adoption reasons, and how non-fulfilment will be explained.
- For 10 minutes, avoid using the work as a rubber stamp for adult-created material and confirm adults' final responsibility and owners of unresolved matters.
If something changes
If
Before starting, the safeguarding lead and backup are not both in place, day contact/emergency advice routes cannot be explained, or the adult decision-maker cannot commit to authority and response deadlines.
Then
Do not convene young people; cancel and have only the organisation confirm missing roles, authority, contact routes, and a rescheduled date.
If
Even one person indicates withdrawal of consent, a break, leaving, or another way to participate.
Then
Stop recording without asking why; return, delete, or anonymise existing records according to the person's choice and stop use. Do not use non-participation in evaluation or reduce payment or participation opportunities.
If
Even one safety concern is raised, such as harm, self-harm or harm to others, or acute distress.
Then
Stop whole-group discussion and shared recording; do not promise secrecy, and have the safeguarding lead connect to the displayed emergency procedure and advice contact.
Preparation
Materials
- One self-made six-field charter for everyone: scope, authority, selection, support, responses, and review
- Six decision cards per person distinguishing delegation, seeking advice, and non-delegation
- One guide per person to consent, post-withdrawal handling, non-participation, and payment conditions
- One safeguarding/backup/day-contact/advice card per person
- One whole-group publication/secondary-use/storage/deletion checklist
- One set of dictation, drawing, large-print, and pass cards per person
- One thick pen per person
Room and setup
- Display the safeguarding lead and backup, day contact, local emergency procedure, advice contact, and adult holding final responsibility; cancel if even one is missing.
- Explain plainly consent suited to age and circumstances, necessary guardian/organisational procedures, withdrawal at any time, no disadvantage for non-participation, payment conditions, and the choice to return, delete, or anonymise existing records and stop use after withdrawal.
- Provide dictation, drawings, large print, breaks, and passing. Collect no personal data or only the minimum; define viewers, publication, secondary use, storage, and deletion beforehand. Identify by role the authority delegated and not delegated, organisational implementation lead, adoption decisions, reasons, and response dates. Do not ask young people to speak for all young people or rubber-stamp adult-created work.
Adjust for people and time
For 10 people, use two groups of 5; for 11, groups of 4, 4, and 3; for 12, three groups of 4; for 13, groups of 5, 4, and 4; for 14, groups of 5, 5, and 4; for 15, three groups of 5. Bring small-group proposals back to everyone for the decision-maker's response. With 16 or more, use separate boards or meeting bodies.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Do not convene young people without safeguarding lead/backup, explained contact and emergency routes, and an adult able to commit authority and response deadlines. Respect withdrawal, breaks, leaving, and alternative participation without reasons, evaluation penalties, or payment/opportunity reduction, handling existing records by choice and stopping use. For any safety concern, stop discussion/shared recording, promise no secrecy, and use prearranged safeguarding routes. Retain adult final responsibility, accessible participation, data minimisation, and clear data-use terms. Do not make participants speak for absent/all young people or rubber-stamp adult work.
Manuscript's recorded references
These translate the original manuscript's source and rights claims. They remain separate from any current-page notice below; they do not establish new verification.
- GOV.UK Methods for engaging young people: Youth advisory boards (YABs)
Adaptation under OGL-3.0; changes made
- Conditions of OGL-3.0
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
OGL-3.0
Current-page licence notice
A Taiwa no Fumen adaptation based on the UK government publication identified below. Any separately stated terms apply to the material they identify.
Changes: timings, instructions, materials and branches have been edited for this site. The English edition translates the Japanese manuscript, not the government text verbatim.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
This notice does not grant blanket rights to third-party works, personal data, organisational logos or trademarks.
This is not an official or government-endorsed method.
See the licence for its no-warranty and other terms.
© Crown copyright 2026
Credits on the checked source page
- Published by: Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Source page checked on 2026-10-17: Methods for engaging young people.
Source lineage
Open Government Licence v3.0 · Legal code · Official source policy
This material-specific notice does not itself establish publication clearance. Preserved manuscript references above remain separate from the current page's credits and licence evidence.
Diagram, print, and video language
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Editorial provenance
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