Last week, we were delighted to host our ‘Families Voices’ Consultation Event at Balsall Heath Children’s Centre, in partnership with St Paul’s Development Trust and Smartlyte.
The consultation was arranged as part of “The Community Cohesion strategy for Birmingham – Forward together to build a fair and inclusive city for all” outlines Birmingham City Council’s commitment and approach to promoting cohesion. The city consultation sought opinions and feedback via an online questionnaire.
The event, together with other citywide community events sought to obtain opinions from local communities. Our event, ‘Families Voices’ was different in that we were able to capture the opinions of both parents and children, and not just adults. The questions to facilitate a discussion with local families about cohesion and the strategy were simplified to ensure inclusivity with specific children’s activitites to ensure all involved could contribute.
We also used the opportunity to invite West Midlands Fire Service to promote their ‘Safe & Well’ checks to families.
Families Voices was a huge success with over 25 families joining us in sharing opinions, demonstrating community cohesion and having fun! As some of the comments from families show cohesion and pride in Balsall Heath is not new!
“Children’s centre, swimming baths and parks are a place to make friends .
“Children’s centre has nice people. Staff are really understanding – Lots of kids activities”.
“Balsall Heath Park – we go every two days really beautiful place”
“Schools in Balsall Heath are brilliant!”
Written By: Hafsha Shaikh (Smartlyte)