In case you missed our Q&A drop-in sessions, we have answered some of the questions that came up below.

Do we need to know exactly which children and young people would be taking part before we can apply?

No, it’s not necessary to have already recruited the group of babies, children or young people you’d like to work with before submitting your application. Instead, please include all the groups of babies, children and young people you would hope to work with in your application. You can then reach out to them once your application is successful, to invite them to get involved.

Can we apply again if we previously applied for or took part in the Development Phase?

Definitely – we encourage you to apply again! We encourage you to reapply, regardless of whether your application was successful in the last phase. Your new application may closely resemble the previous one, and that’s absolutely fine. Please ensure to include detailed information, particularly regarding the various groups of babies, children and young people you intend to work with.

If you took part in the Development Phase then you might want to include a bit about your experience in your application for this next phase – for example, was there a group of children and young people who you wanted to speak to but didn’t get the chance? Or did you start some conversations that you’re now keen to explore in more detail with the same group of children and young people? Please tell us about this if so. Please let us know if you’d be looking to work with the same group of children and young people and/or if there are any new groups of babies, children and young people you would be keen to involve in the next phase if your application is successful.

Could you tell us more about the resource packs you have been working on during the Development Phase?

Together has worked closely with a range of organisations to inform our approach for gathering children and young people’s experiences for our report which included initial ideas such as Together providing resource packs for the engagement sessions. Since then, we have been working on creating a Facilitators’ Pack and Children and Young People’s Pack to help support the story gathering sessions.

We then partnered up with the five successful applicants for the Development Phase who since have tested out these draft resources and provided feedback to us.  We are currently updating these resources and creating alternative versions that were also identified as necessary from the Development Phase – including an Easy Read version.

The final resources will be shared with the successful applicants for the Engagement Phase to help them plan their story-gathering session(s).

How should we plan the story-gathering session? Does engagement have to happen in one session all together? Can parents and families be present?

The approach taken for the story-gathering session should be shaped by the needs of the babies, children and young people you support. We trust your judgement as the participation experts who already have a relationship of trust established with those you support. We understand that you know the babies, children and young people you work with the best, so we trust in your approach. If one session in a group setting seems like the best way to approach things then that’s great, or if you think several one-on-one sessions would better suit the specific needs of each baby, child or person then that works too. We understand that you are the experts in participation and know the children and young people you work with the best, so we trust in your approach.

We understand the important role of parents and caregivers in supporting babies and early years children to develop their agency, explore the world around them and express themselves. As such, if you are supporting babies and early years children then you may wish to engage their caregivers in the story-gathering session too.

Can I partner with another organisation to work together with a group of babies, children and young people who might like to get involved in the report?

Yes! We welcome partnership applications. Only one application should be submitted, and it will be treated as a joint submission.

Do the children and young people have to be under 18?

Yes. Together works to progress implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which defines a child as anyone under the age of 18. Accordingly, participants must be under the age of 18.

We understand that some interested organisations host groups that include a mix of under and over 18s, and that the young people within these groups may have established strong bonds with their peers. In these situations, young people aged 18 or slightly older may be present at the story-gathering session if this is necessary to help younger participants feel more comfortable to share their stories. However, this would be in the role of a ‘supporter’ or ‘mentor’ rather than as a participant. Partner organisations should make it clear to any mentors that their stories would not feature in the report due to the fact they are 18+.

When will we know if our application has been successful? What are the deadlines after that?

The deadline for applications is 16^th of April. We expect to notify successful applicants on 23^rd April. An independent child participation consultant will assess the applications.

An induction session will then be organised as soon as possible with all the successful applicants where we can discuss timescales and planning for the story gathering sessions.

The engagement period will take place between May and July and the deadline for stories to be submitted to Together will be on the 19^th of July 2024.

What financial support can Together provide for this phase?

We are awaiting confirmation of our level of funding for 2024-25 and this means that unfortunately we cannot give an exact figure yet. As soon as we know, we will share this information.

Together is committed to offering a small amount of funding to Partner organisations as a contribution towards Participation Worker time. We are also committed to remuneration for children and young people, reimbursing refreshments and to support accessibility resources insofar as our limited budget allows.

For reference, you can see what financial support we offered during our Development Phase here but this should not be taken as a guarantee as to level of future funding.

Is there a particular group of children and young people Together is interested in working with?

Together aims to ensure that the organisations selected are able to support the involvement of a diverse group of children and young people with a range of views and experiences, particularly those whose voices are marginalised/less frequently heard.

We aim to prioritise diversity of experience of all babies, infants, children and young people in Scotland. We understand that every organisation is different – we do not expect applicants to be able to reach each and every group whose rights are most at risk, but as part of our considerations we will aim to have as diverse a group as possible.

So, if you work with a specific group of children and young people, or you work with many different groups, please try to describe these groups as best as you can in your application so that we can identify an organisation who may be able to fill a gap in representation.

If you would like to apply for our Engagement Phase please find our application form here.

If you can’t commit to engagement but would like to help shape Together’s resources to make sure they are as accessible as possible than please provide feedback in this survey on some of our previous materials for other projects here.

If you would like to get involved in Together’s work but do not have the capacity get involved in the State of Children’s Rights Report, you can sign up to our #RightsOnTrack campaign and support the implementation of the UN Concluding Observations 2023 and as well as highlighting other children’s rights issues.

Sign-Up and Become a Member (Individual or Organisations)

Would you like to find out further information about joining Together’s Membership?  Find out further information by opening this hyperlink.

Donate To Us Today!

By donating to Together, you can help us to promote children’s rights in Scotland and improve the lives of all babies, children and young people. Click this hyperlink to make a donation.