Let's have a look on the bright side of life

On Friday I had a fascinating and important meeting with Rosie Ferguson and Jim Minton from London Youth and Jane Slowey from the Foyer Federation talking about an asset based approach to service provision for young people.  That meeting, and the publication of Generation Citizen by the National Citizen Service, got me thinking again about the way young people and their lives are often framed negatively; by the general public as well as organisations who support them and some parts of the media. Take a look at the way young people and their lives are represented in the press or on twitter any single day of the week. You would be forgiven for thinking everyone under 25 is in, or having trouble. 

Whilst life for many children and young people is relatively straightforward, of course things are tough - and sometimes exceptionally tough - for some. Many young people have experiences that all of us would like to see a thing of the past in 21st Century Britain. Too often implicitly or explicitly we fail to also look closely at young people's resilience and tenacity in the light of those challenges and at the contribution young people make to society through volunteering and social action.

To value the young people we must notice, celebrate and be excited about their contributions. It is of course right and important to focus on difficult experiences and challenges and to ensure those who experience inequalities and disadvantage get the help they need, but a focus on 'the problems' is not without its own set of problems and we must be aware of and mitigate against. The way debates and discussions are currently framed can send a message to young people that we perceive them, rather than their experiences as problematic and it can prevent us from learning about the multitude of ways young people navigate difficulty and challenge with significant success. It also ignores the huge potential of young people as well as the practical strategies they use that can be shared with others. Finally it perpetuates a culture that ignores the remarkable strengths and resilience young people consistently display.

At a recent conference about young people and the Internet one of the main sessions focused almost entirely about the 'problems of the internet'. 'Sexting' featured highly amongst the list of concerns.  Of coure the Internet brings with it some problems but an exclusive focus on problems contrasts dramatically with many young people's reality of the Internet and social media.

In recent months I have asked a lot of young people about 'sexting' and 'selfies'. It seems to me there may be a growing gulf between the moral panic and the everyday reality of using social media and the Internet for many young people. When I talk about 'sexting' the single biggest thing young people say is we must trust them, provide good education and ensure they know where they can get help if they need it. Mostly they say they either feel or want help to feel in control and can navigate their path through with the right support. 

Through these conversations I have learnt much about the practical ways young people respond to the challenge and opportunity of the Internet  - recently for example I have learnt from young people how snapchat is used and how they were pleased a friend was punished because they deemed he had 'broken the rules' and they sought help. Many are also clear about the law and about their 'digital footprint' and if they are not clear, they know they need to, and want to learn about it. 

Back at the conference I asked the panel what we are doing to learn from those young people who tell us they enjoy using the internet and social media without pitfalls or from those who are navigating their way through the pitfalls successfully alongside research that captures experiences of cyber bullying and harassment. The same question applies in many different areas of relationships, sexual health and safety online.

Yes we must hear and learn from young people's bad experiences and provide robust and appropriate support for those who experience difficulty or challenge. Without underestimating how much we can learn when it all goes wrong and the immense hurt and pain of those involved, we must also do more to learn from the hundreds of thousands of young people who navigate the Internet, social media and their relationships and sexual lives successfully . 

Think about how much more we can do, for example, to learn from those young people who really understand the concept of privacy and apply it to their daily lives; those who use snapchat without fear of others sharing their images without their consent; those who refuse to be constrained by gender and sexual stereotypes and manage any backlash with confidence; from those who use contraception and condoms well; from those who found Personal, Social and Health Education was good enough; from young people who are happy with their first (and subsequent) sexual experiences; or from young people who LGBT and confident in their gender or sexual identity?

If we don't ask the questions which help us learn from success and happiness we won't learn valuable lessons about personal and community strategies from countless young people who manage their lives - the good bits and the bad bits - with resilience, creativity and capacity for growth. 

We continue to get better at learning from the positive at Brook, but we still have some way to go, but as with everything, knowing you need to get better at something is an important first step. 

Follow us on twitter @simonablake @besexpositive @brookcharity

Saturday morning rambles: leadership, young women, body image and more

Other titles for this blog could have been 'end of month brain dump', 'saturday morning couldn't sleep in because I went to bed too early'.  Essentially a collection of reflections as I process the week gone by.

1. Leadership and optimism

I am interested in how different people and organisations are responding to the opportunities and challenges of the political, commissioning, and economic landscape.

We need to be both optimistic and make realistic assessments about the difficulties and challenges.  We also have to be pleased with good enough when good enough really is good enough.

If I crudely categorise those perspectives I hear and see;

• everything is getting better
• everything is going to be alright in the end
• everything will be alright if we get busy with the difficult conversations and look at how we collaborate for change
• we need to make sure what I/my organisation does and how we do it stays the same and investment stays the same
• we have taken the biggest hit we can, we cannot take anymore
• we are all doomed 

All have some validity depending on where you sit and what outcomes you are looking for. It seems to me our biggest leadership challenge is to operate with a strong values and outcomes focus so we can focus on what we know works, be confident enough to bin that which doesn't and use this as the basis for discussing the really important choices that have to be made.

New challenges require models of bold and collaborative leadership; providers, commissioners and 'consumers' (people) come together to develop and build solutions that really work.  I am excited to be part of and watch us all step up to the plate and make this happen.

2. Addressing the needs of young women

I have been in a number of meetings recently where I or somebody else has emphasised the need for a focus of time, energy and resources on supporting young women's personal and social development.
I have been interested/surprised at how often the conversation is very quickly moved on to how 'its not just young women' and it is equally difficult it is for young men, or for LGBT young people.

In none of the cases has anybody been arguing that the needs of LGBT young people or young men are not important, simply that we need to think about young women and gender, about structural inequalities and the impact of these on young women; and that resources, time and energy are required to truly meet the needs of young women.

I enjoyed reading this article on the fourth wave of feminism last week http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/10/fourth-wave-feminism-rebel-women  I hope this social action will form part of a culture shift where people think hard and well about gender identity and structural inequalities as part of our work to build resilience and well being, and to help all young people shoot for their dreams.

3. Body image

Last week Jo Swinson MP held a round table event on body image.  We have heard a lot about online pornography and sexualisation in recent months. I have had numerous conversations with colleagues about both issues.  As you would expect people have different perspectives about the potential harm that may be caused by easy access to the internet, pornography and sexualisation of the young. 

As I listened to people at the round table it brought it home to me that do need to be talking about and paying particular and more attention to how we support young women and young men to develop a positive body image against a backdrop of 24 hour access to the internet and social media. How we feel about our bodies impacts on our self confidence, self belief, what we believe we are capable of and what we can expect.

Coming out of the round table one of my work 2014 resolutions is to find out more about the evidence, and more about the work of organisations like Beat, and Body Gossip to see what and how Brook may be able to do to build on our existing work in this area as part of sex and relationships education, and how we can work collaboratively with other organisations to ensure we are doing the best for all young people. 

4. Different world views

I went to Marrakech a few days after the Office of the Children's Commissioner report on Child Sexual Exploitation (read it here) for a friends 50th birthday (best DJ ever).  With consent high on my mind you can imagine how unpleasant it was being in a discussion on the Sunday morning with a local man and a slightly fuzzy head about how gay people would go to hell, how alcohol made men rape women, and how the weirdest thing ever was men who wanted to be women.

It was very clearly one of those discussions in which neither of our minds were going to be changed. I brought the conversation to a close with a swift 'in my view you are very definitely wrong for a number of reasons and I cannot talk about this with you anymore.'

This combined with India's ruling this week about gay people, Australia's U turn on equal marriage remind us how much there is to do not just in the UK, but also across the world.  Chris Bryant MP wrote a great article in the Independent about making sure each and everyone of us keeps the pressure for a fairer, better world on.  Read it here

This will likely be my last blog before the holidays start to kick in. I, like I am sure most others, am looking forward to a bit of down time over the holiday period.  Whatever you are doing - opening Brook or other health and community services for young people, resting in front of the fire, sleeping and watching crap TV for a week - I hope you have a good time and some down time with people you enjoy. 

I will be writing my traditional 'how did sexual health fare in the past year' blog in front of a wood fire in Cornwall on NYE. As one colleague said about this year 'its not all sunshines and lollipops'.  That may be true Polly Toynbee's excellent article about the impact of the teenage pregnancy strategy in both reducing teenage pregnancy, and supporting young people to be good parents published yesterday is definitely a good reminder there are some lollipops and we mustn't let go of them. You can read it here - Happy holidays!

Seven years at Brook and the start of Sexual Health Week

On Monday 15 September 2006 – seven years ago – I arrived at 'Brook Central' in Kentish Town, London, for my first day as CEO, which fits in rather nicely that today kicks off Sexual Health Week. I remember vividly the feeling as I walked from Kentish Town tube to Brook’s offices at Highgate Studios – a heady mix of nerves, excitement and wonderment. I imagine every CEO starts their first day with a degree of trepidation and I certainly did at Brook.

Ten years earlier I had starting working at the Family Planning Association, as a complete novice when it came to young people, sexual health and sex education. Right from the start of my time in the sector I had been impressed by Brook's approach, Brook's values and Brook's people. I particularly valued the way Brook used its experience of their work with young people in clinics to inform publications, education and their policy and advocacy work.

Brook's direct experience of working with young people in clinical and education settings means the organisation is naturally forthright and outspoken because Brook speaks of young realities and the truth for the thousands of young people we see each week. During my time as CEO it is that innate trust of young people and the commitment of everybody at Brook – from young volunteers, to clinic support workers, to the Board of Trustees – to say what needs to be said, however palatable or not it be for some, that continues to inspire me.

When I started seven years ago I knew there were 17 Brook organisations licensed by 'Brook Central' and that I was the guardian of the brand. What that actually meant in practice, if I hadn't realised it already, I soon knew I had a lot to learn. Some key points along our journey as an organisation at a national level over the last seven years are set out below. At local level our services have developed, changed and evolved in response to young people's needs in that local context.

2006 
Securing funding to undertake the ‘2020 – building a robust Brook Network for the next decade’ research and insights programme. This research with staff, clients, commissioners and customers was designed to inform Brook's strategy.

2007
Submitted a strategic capacity building application to Private Equity Foundation. Although ultimately unsuccessful in securing the funding, the process of development involved input from New Philanthropy Capital, one of the PEF sponsors, and Bain and Company. The Department of Health provided almost half the required funding to invest in strategic development and capacity building of the Brook Network.

The first ever Leaders' Conference in November was the beginning of a major dialogue between Chairs and CEOs/Directors of the 17 Brook charities about shared strategy, clarity of purpose, effective collaboration and quantifying mutual value as a Network.

2008
After much heated discussion and debate we launched a new visual identity (the one we currently have), and used this as the basis for redeveloping our publications range including our popular Ask Brook… booklet range.

We launched the first ever Brook Awards which ultimately preceded the UK Sexual Health Awards.

2009
Following extensive debate, the Brook Network launched our shared strategic framework for the next ten years (2009 – 2019). This framework marked a shared commitment to:

• unify our charitable goals and delivery models 
• double the number of young people we have direct contact with from 200,000 per year to 400,000 per year 
• involve young people in everything we do 
• focus on quality, evidence and improvement – operationalised through a license agreement which was reviewed by a working group of Trustees and CEOs/Directors.

Hot off the heels of the Strategic Framework publication the national Board instructed me to lead a review of Brook's organisational design and governance structure to ensure we were 'fit to deliver'.

Eve Martin was appointed as Chair mid-way through the review process.

2010
Following extensive research, consultation and engagement with staff, Trustees and young people, almost 150 Trustees of 16 Brook organisations agree to become a unified Brook organisation with a single accountability and governance structure.

The review was funded by FutureBuilders, Department of Health and the Network of Brook Charities. Bain and Company provided pro bono advice through the process.

A shadow Brook Board was elected from Trustees across the Network.

Following a change in law and regulation all Brook services in England were registered with the Care Quality Commission.

2011
'One Brook' was formally launched on 1 April with an interim senior management team. I was appointed as CEO of the new organisation to lead the transformation project to unify systems, processes and to build a governance and staffing structure for the unified organisation.

We merged with Education For Choice – the specialist young people and pregnancy choices charity.

We entered into a formal collaboration with FPA, and launched Sex:Positive, our young people led campaign to change our culture towards young people and sex. A major part of the campaign was the launch of research that called for 21st Century Sex and Relationships Education.

2012
Brook's new executive, management and middle management structure was established and implemented. We launched a major three-way collaboration with FPA and Reckitt Benckiser (Durex).

Durex was a headline sponsor for the first ever UK Sexual Health Awards launched in partnership with FPA, which included the Lifetime Achievement Award. The collaboration also launched the XES – We Can't Go Backwards campaign, documenting people's experience of services in the face of major changes in public spending and health service commissioning.

2013 
The final stages of the new structure for Brook are now almost completely implemented and we are set to develop and respond to new opportunities and challenges with a keen eye on what children and young people want and need.

Based on feedback from young people, evidence from our service delivery, and dialogue with stakeholders, Brook’s Board has agreed a strategic goal of ensuring young people receive more integrated health services.

Research and work with partners and commissioners has begun to task the CEO with developing innovative models of practice.

The three-way collaboration between Brook, FPA and Durex issued Unprotected Nation, a report which models the economic case for improving investment in sexual health, and the potential negative impact of reducing investment.

Whilst inside Brook the constitutional and structural changes have been going on, outside the change of government with all its legal and policy changes has been going on, and against that backdrop it is testament to every single member of staff and volunteer that between 2008 and 2012 Brook increased the number of young people we see from around 200,000 to 284,000 individual young people per year (many of them multiple times).

During that same period our income increased by 47% from approximately £10m to approximately £15m per annum.

2014
Brook will be 50 years old, and we will be celebrating 50 years of learning, 50 years of innovation and 50 years of excellence.

As Brook heads towards our 50th birthday, now more than ever we need to work with young people to be vocal and speak truth to power. We must continue our tirelessly determined efforts to ensure children and young people get all the information, support and education they need to move confidently through puberty, into adolescence and adulthood.

We will continue to involve young people in all we do to create platforms for young people themselves to influence Sex and Relationships Education, the pornography debate and the development of health services for young people.

I am grateful to colleagues within and outside Brook for hard work, fun, challenge, ideas and thinking over the past seven years and I look forward to working with staff teams, collaborators, partners and funders in the years ahead.

On young people, grit and maturity

This blog is inspired by a brilliant feature on R4 last night. Much of it is similar ground to that covered in recent weeks, so feel free to jump to the last six paragraphs if you just want to read about the feature that started from a position of trusting and liking young people.

I was really pleased when Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society got the cross government 'youth brief' because you don't have to spend much time with Mr Hurd to know he is an advocate, supporter and ally of young people. I was therefore interested in the response he received from colleagues, friends and commentators when he said young people needed more grit. His comments came on the back of business saying (yet again) that young people need more soft skills to get on in the work place. Given we all need these skills for everyday living I think these skills are anything but soft but that is a different issue.

I was really pleased to hear Nick, a Minister at the heart of this government, focus on 'grit'. As a long time campaigner for PSHE education in schools and health and well being in youth, community, care and secure settings I heard something different than some who accused him of underestimating young people. Maybe I heard (hear) only what I wanted to hear - a Minister saying schools should do more PSHE.  Anyhow I hope we have just found another advocate for PSHE and I shall be writing to him to encourage him to keep up the advocacy on this and other related issues of young people's development. I shall also try to get a a word in on this issue in at my next meeting with him about the Compact.

Those who did take from his comments that young people do not have grit are absolutely right to challenge that. Of course they do, in spades. Day in day out at Brook we see young people with grit, determination and emotional intelligence in bucket loads often way beyond their years. I had the privilege of being part of a small round table with young people recently about sex and sexuality in which they talked openly, honestly, with candour and eloquence that is light years away from those young people we see portrayed in the media with frightening frequency.

Their message - that we continue to push sexuality and sexual issues under the carpet and often leave them ill prepared to navigate their way through puberty, adolescence, early sexual relationships and adulthood - is a matter of shame for successive governments. And that is true now more than ever as we learn more about online bullying, sexual exploitation, violence and abuse. Our responses to all these issues must be determined, coherent and focused on removing structural inequalities and developing common humanity and pro social behaviours. It is all too easy to focus on technological solutions (that are part of the answer), but absolutely not all of it.

The best answer as - you would expect me to say - lies in education that in turn promotes culture change - building a culture where it is seen as wrong to hurt and bully people that are different for whatever reason, and as important a culture in which it is absolutely right to ask for help. I was struck by an article in the Guardian today where a young woman said too often adults don't help you in real life when it (bullying) is happening face to face let alone online. That was true when I was at school, and that must change.

I often digest news report and wonder how different things really are for young people now from when you or I were young. It is easy to talk about the things that have changed - and there are many of them - the internet for one. When I worked at the National Children's Bureau Professor Rachel Thomson presented a fascinating story of three generations of women in one family. One thing stuck out in the discussions afterwards - much had changed, but they had common feelings in different situations, and second that we will lose our way in work with young people if we forget what it felt like to be young ourselves.

I think I had a pretty typical mostly happy childhood. Adolescence may have been a bit hairy for others watching at times, particularly my parents, as I became independent and searched high and low for an identity I was happy to own. I delighted in pushing the boundaries - possibly as far as they would go in all directions at times - so when I hear people talk about the depravity of young people's summer holidays and long nights clubbing I quietly smile to myself and remember how much fun it was. Mostly. And I wonder whether or how much things have really changed, or whether we one, two, three of four decades on have just forgotten what it was like to be young, and are worried because it isn't exactly the same and so we can't quite understand it.

So I almost jumped out of my chair with delight last night when the tables were reversed in a feature on R4 last night. The report started with vox pops from Malia in Crete. The same place I went on holiday when I completed my A levels. The report was peppered with disgust at the behaviour of the young but when the young people talked it sounded pretty much like the early 90s to me.

A young woman from UK Youth Parliament and a journalist in her 40s, were presented with the evidence that young people are drinking less, doing less drugs and getting pregnant less than 20 years ago. It was so refreshing to hear a conversation between generations that started from a position of respecting young people, and thinking of them as talented, moral agents; as young people who should be having fun, pushing boundaries and learning who they are.

With this starting point the adult guest was free to describe her heady days of being young, and express her concern that maybe, just maybe some young people have to grow up too fast, deal with too much, and so are missing out on being young. The younger guest was able to say sometimes things are really tough, we don't always want to party, and sometimes you don't give us credit for our maturity.

It was the type of conversation about young people I want to see and hear more of. One that reflects the reality of young lives, and the reality of those young lives lived by people now slightly older, creating bridges between generations, rather than great big lakes. Well done Radio 4. A role model for other media outlets I hope.

Guest blog: P+ national meeting June 2013

Guest blog from Brook’s Participation Lead, Naomi Sheppard.

At the end of June, I was privileged to be working with a truly amazing group of young people and Brook staff, while facilitating Brook’s second national participation advisory group residential (called “P+” by the young people involved). This brought together 14 young volunteers, aged 16 – 23, from across the organisation on a three day residential in London, focusing on Brook’s commitment to ensuring an active and meaningful partnership with young people, based on choice, shared decision-making and respect.

Brook believes that participation is a process through which young people can be heard, influence decisions and, importantly, effect real change. Young people were involved in setting the agenda for the event, which included:

• a workshop on business planning, delivered by Brook’s Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Services;
• a workshop on becoming a Young Trustee – we have two places ring fenced on our Board for young people;
• developing a communications strategy so that young volunteers can share learning, develop ideas and find out about new opportunities;
• making a short film about participation, to help explain the importance of young people’s involvement from a rights based perspective
• reviewing Brook’s complaints procedure, to ensure that young people using Brook’s services are empowered to be involved in service development.

The young people were extremely focused and hard working during the event, generating an incredible amount of fantastic work which will be used to help to shape Brook. Their enthusiasm and motivation was inspirational, and it was brilliant to work with such an eclectic mix of individuals, with a diverse range of experiences and backgrounds within the group, including several from minority ethnic backgrounds, young people who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual, young people with a range of socio-economic backgrounds and abilities, those with experience of mental illness and mild to moderate learning difficulties.

We all had a lot of fun too, and the young people remarked on how quickly they all bonded. Team building included a trip bowling, and some of the young people enjoyed attending London Pride, which was running on the same weekend!

We received really positive feedback about the event, both from young people and staff involved, including:

“Volunteering with Brook is a self enriching and an enlightening experience, it has been great actually having my views and opinions heard and acknowledged, knowing that I as a young person can make a difference has assured me that Brook values young people’s opinions.”
Jakub, Young Volunteer

“Thank you so much for the fantastic weekend I have had!! I really hope and wish I get to meet everyone again!! Feels like I've known them all for longer than 2 days and we all got along so well and had such amazing ideas.” 
Rebecca, Young Volunteer

“I just want to say what a great time I had at the P+ weekend [...] it was
really enjoyable and made me even more excited to be involved with Brook, as well as giving me more ideas for what we could do in Bedford. I hope that there will be more P+ events in the future as I think this one was really beneficial to everyone. I really like how Brook does really want young people's involvement and opinions and ideas.”
Lucinda, Young Volunteer

“This weekend reminded me why I got into working with young people in the first place!”
Brook staff member

“I’ve had a wicked time!  It’s been awesome and really inspiring!”
Brook staff member

P+ volunteers holding up signs from the Sex:Positive campaign pledge.

To find out more about young people’s participation at Brook and to view the short film created by the young people during the event please visit: http://www.brook.org.uk/index.php/more/participation 

Pornography, young people, safeguarding and education

Over the weekend there has been significant press reporting about child sexual abuse images and online pornography. Yesterday David Cameron announced there will be new legislation making 'rape pornography' illegal. Beyond the accusations of censorship and an industry reluctant to engage, the realities are more subtle, the challenges more complex and the need for good education more acute.

You can read the full speech online here: http://www.conservatives.com/News/Speeches/2013/07/The_Prime_Ministers_speech_on_protecting_our_children_online.aspx.

All of us, as sensible citizens would agree that child sexual images on the Internet are abuse. All efforts to tackle this form of abuse, like all other forms of abuse must be addressed. It is my experience that politicians, young people, parents, police, children's services and industry agree on this. 

The more difficult challenge is understanding how best to protect children and young people from the pernicious effects of online pornography that they don't want to access, whilst recognising that technological solutions – filters – trying to do this may also prevent young people accessing vital information online that is both educational and/or advice and support for those experiencing difficulty.

Brook, and other youth agencies have already experienced being 'blocked' in the past because our content has been deemed unacceptable.  As a result our site has been placed on a 'black list' by a machine sometimes taking a long time to unblock, and young people not receiving vital information whilst this takes weeks to resolve. Solutions must be proportionate. Efforts to protect young people from harm must not create more harm than good through unintended impact.

Mr Cameron’s speech did make reference to some of the points I highlight in this blog post, and I am emphasising where extra special care has to be taken.

Some of those unintended impacts are a narrative that all pornography is bad, and all viewing of pornography leads to harm. The evidence is less clear than this. Our experience at Brook is that pornography is undoubtedly part of an increasing source of education for young people. That is worrying in the absence of trusted, reliable sources of education – parents, schools, youth and community organisations. See this article from WAtoday (Western Australia's news website) which highlights research on the impact of the lack of sex and relationships education and driving young people to look online and at pornography for information about what sex is like: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/porn-becoming-substitute-for-sex-education-20130719-2q9e7.html. And we also know from our experience at Brook that most young people can distinguish between the fantasy as provided by pornography and the reality of real life relationships. It is our job to make sure they do.

The second unintended impact is a narrative that depicts technology as bad and largely ignores the positive benefits, including the fact that young people access tremendous amounts of information, advice and support via the Internet that can often quite literally be a life saver. 
 
Technology is of course expected to provide the solution and the answer. Yet we know that it can't and it won't alone. And that is why I worry that in all this tough on industry rhetoric there isn't a stronger accompanying message which emphasises the important role of education. The important role of parents, of schools and of communities in teaching about online safety, and about using the Internet well to benefit from all the brilliant help and advice it can offer.
 
Much more emphasis could be placed on school based sex and relationships education as part of the solution - a universal entitlement that forms part of our duty to safeguard, protect and empower young people. So my advice to Mr Cameron is be tough on industry yes, and please work with them to use their capabilities and resources well. I would also advise him to demonstrate he will do all he can by being tough on his Ministry for Education as they conclude their National Curriculum consultation which closes on 8 August. The PSHE Association has written to Ministers with recommendations about how to reflect a strong commitment to PSHE as evidenced in documents from Home Office, DH and indeed DfE.
 
A simple statement in the National Curriculum from government about the vital role of PSHE in protecting children and young people such as the one below could be a game changer and demonstrate he means business – 'It is expected that all schools will deliver Personal,  Social, Health, and Economic education to meet the statutory requirements to support children and young people's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and to prepare children and young people to live, grow and learn in an ever changing, fast paced and technologically driven global economy.'
 
I know any action to improve school based sex and relationships education coupled with technological solutions and support for parents will be supported by the absolute majority including organisations such as MumsNet, the Office of the Children's Commissioner, the PSHE Association, the End Violence Against Women Coalition and the Sex Education Forum.
 
Finally, my advice would be make sure the organisations who work with children AND young people are involved – and be clear with different age groups come different realities – and most importantly ensure young people's views constantly drive government thinking and policy proposals. We know at Brook they have a lot of ideas and thoughts about online pornography – some similar and some more nuanced because they are living their lives now. The quote below from a young person involved with Brook shows just how much they have to offer:
 
“…I think instead of stopping young people watching porn, it is an inevtiabilty which will occur. I think the focus of the debate should be around teachig young people, the differences between porn and reality, so that this doesn't give off unrealistic images to younger people about how they should look or act sexually, there should be emphasis on teaching the rights and wrongs of vewing different types of porn.”

Let’s banish Section 28 forever

A week or so ago I tweeted about the dreadful Section 28. I fully understand why Section 28 is being talked about so much in the wake of Lady Thatcher's death and like most sensible people I want it to RIP. This year, even before Thatcher’s' death, the Equal Marriage legislation had brought Section 28 back into the public conscience – with some absurd parliamentarians remarkably wanting a new version for the 21st Century. Unthinkable and despicable.

Section 28 was homophobic, evil, pernicious and unworkable poor legislation – it was unworkable because it never applied to schools who were and continue to be responsible for sex education. But it had an enormous impact nonetheless. And those who introduced, supported and tried to uphold it should be ashamed. I was 13 in 1987, and I was growing up gay in North Cornwall. Like many others in my school I could have done with someone saying 'being gay is alright, you're not the only one, you are safe here and you can lead a happy, fulfilling life.'

The silence in the classroom and the relentless taunting and bullying of those perceived to be gay in the playground (including one or two teachers perceived to be gay) taught me quite the opposite. That said, I don't think Section 28 made any substantive difference to our sex education. It consisted of a video about 'intercourse' that is probably the source of some of my squeamishness now. I can only remember one sentence of any use – 'don't worry boys you can't come when you are going and you can't go when you are coming.' Not one of us – gay, straight or otherwise – could have left our sex ed armed with the useful information required ready to enjoy the trials and tribulations of our young desires reassured and happy.

But that appalling, but at least equitable, standard of sex education doesn't make me any less angry that politicians, the media and many people in society thought Section 28 was acceptable – not least in the face of AIDS which was just taking its ugly, devastating foothold within the gay community. (It would be too easy here to overlook the single good thing that did come out of Section 28 – Stonewall who have succeeded in positively influencing so much legislation, policy and practise in all areas of gay life – I am grateful to the brave individuals who set up the group, and the continuing work they do now in the UK and overseas).

Over the last fifteen years or so the UK has made terrific progress in tackling homophobia in schools and wider society. First we recognised the problem existed and started to face up to it. Then we equalised the age of consent and repealed Section 28. At the same time government took decisive action to address bullying of all sorts which eventually came to explicitly include homophobic bullying.

But sex and relationships education remains patchy, and sexuality is still too often invisible within schools. For some, Section 28 still creates confusion and concern. In the worst of cases Section 28 still legitimises homophobia and allows school leaders and teachers to be silent about sexuality and perpetuate their own unwelcome prejudice. In reality the number of teachers and school leaders who genuinely think Section 28 applies to schools is reducing rapidly. It was repealed a long time ago and many newer teachers haven't even heard of it.

But some still have and that’s the tricky problem. Like all myths and misinformation you do sometimes have to talk about them openly to correct them: and then by talking about them you help keep the myth and its possible impact alive. As an aside it is interesting that I cannot remember in recent times hearing anyone say the age of consent used to be unequal. Rarely do I see much information about the age of consent as it was prior to 2000 (when it was finally equalised at 16 in Great Britain).

Up until a few years ago I trained teachers regularly. When talking about sex education and the law I used to include reference to Section 28 to be clear it was ok to talk about homosexuality. Ironically many newer teachers would hear about Section 28 for the first time on that course and it would create fear. Despite all my words of reassurance that it didn't and had never applied to schools, and that it was no longer statute anyway I know from feedback that it frightened some.

So I decided to stop talking about Section 28 unless specifically asked what it was and I stopped referring to it in any guidance I was writing. Instead I made sure I only included the positive and helpful statements that affirmed the importance of teaching about sexuality – such as the very helpful and positive equal opportunities statement at the beginning of the national curriculum, and the sections of the SRE guidance which are clear prejudice is unacceptable and gay children must be supported. That seemed to work and instil confidence rather than fear.

So Section 28 is officially dead and has been for over ten years. Sadly we know from our work at Brook, and that of Diversity Role Models, Stonewall and others that homophobic bullying is alive, well, and in some cases thriving in our schools. There was however some good news last year in Stonewall's school report showing that some progress is being made in tackling homophobia in schools. There is of course so much more to do to support teachers, change cultures and ensure all children and young people regardless of gender and sexuality are safe and nurtured in all schools, including those 'with religious character.'

Only last week Brook and FPA had feedback from qualitative research commissioned in Further Education settings where young LGBT people said that their sex and relationships education can seem irrelevant and only targeted at heterosexual young people – their message was clear – unless we are actively and explicitly inclusive of different sexualities and identities they will often feel excluded and disengaged. Evidence has shown the same is true of resources and services – unless they say they are for people with all different identities there is an implicit assumption that the service, leaflet or website is not for diverse groups of young people. Almost 20 years ago in Sheffield they produced wallet sized cards advertising services that said Young Gay People welcome, and they found an increase in the numbers of young people identifying as gay attended the services.

So my conclusion is it's time to stop talking about Section 28 as much as possible so its legacy does not destroy the confidence of another generation of teachers to talk about different sexualities in the classroom with confidence, and hijack another generation of children and young people's education and ultimately their safety and happiness.

Successive governments have shamefully ignored expert advice, the consensus and evidence about PSHE and wasted the opportunity to ensure PSHE makes a positive contribution to reducing homophobia and celebrating equality and diversity. And after the publication of the PSHE review we now know there isn't going to be new sex and relationships education guidance from government so it's down to schools, charities, experts, unions and determined individuals. Despite all the challenges there is much wider support for the work to promote positive sexual identities and reduce homophobia – there is a consensus that we need to make schools safe for all children even if there isn't always the skill, expertise and priority afforded to the issue.

Stonewall have some excellent resources for use in the classroom and support for schools which you can find out more about at www.stonewall.org.uk.

Diversity Role Models takes LGBT role models into school and provides workshops. For more information visit www.diversityrolemodels.org.
Finally last year a group of young volunteers at Brook developed a leaflet called Learn your LGBT ABC because they wanted a resource that could help young people understand that sexuality is diverse, life affirming and individual, not a label, a problem or a veritable political football. It’s a useful positive and affirming resource to trigger discussions. You can find out more about how to order the leaflet at www.brook.org.uk.

I have also just finished reading Maggie and Me by Damian Barr. I recommend it to you.

Follow on Twitter: @simonablake @BrookCharity @BeSexPositive

Responding to the Publication of the Government's PSHE Education Review

Personal, Social Health and Economic (PSHE) education is vital for children and young people. It is as important as reading, writing and arithmetic (and IT) yet it continues to be the 'Cinderella subject' of the school curriculum; neglected and ignored. Last month, the Government announced it would not be making PSHE education statutory in primary or secondary schools. Brook, like many organisations, believes this undermines children's rights, their health and their safety.

Young people are talented, resourceful, resilient and creative and even though many of them navigate life's path with few serious problems, everyone; parents, politicians, professionals and young people themselves, worry about them. We see the headlines: teenage pregnancy, smoking, obesity, substance misuse, sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, domestic violence and violence against girls and women, bullying including homophobic and sexual bullying and gangs. These are real and valid health and social concerns that require public and political attention, particularly in the context of the unprecedented economic and social change we are facing.

When they get excellent PSHE education, children and young people can learn about many of the issues that might affect their health and happiness. Things like relationships, sex, alcohol and other drugs, eating and fitness. Good PSHE education helps to develop vital personal and social skills, positive values, an understanding of equality and diversity and the importance of individual rights and responsibilities. PSHE education is not a magic bullet but where it is done well in primary and secondary schools it is proven to make a difference to young lives.

Last month, the Government had the chance to make sure all young people got good quality PSHE education with the publication of their long overdue PSHE education review. They could have made a simple, cost effective, workable change. Instead the Department for Education (DfE) chose the status quo.

The decision not to make PSHE education statutory flies in the face of children's rights as set out in the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, ratified in the UK in 1989 and works against other government departments' aspirations to improve PSHE education. The Department of Health (DH) thinks children and young people should have good Sex and Relationships Education (SRE), so does the Home office. DfE itself has stressed the importance of PSHE education and said it wanted young people to have good SRE (though obviously not enough to make sure that actually happens).

And it gets worse. Not only has the Government ruled out statutory PSHE education, its consultation on the national curriculum proposes watering down the minimal (but important) content in the science curriculum that contributes to good PSHE education. The review proposes;

• At key stage one, the names of genitals are not included in the requirements to teach 'basic parts of the body'. This matters because children need a language to describe their bodies if they need to ask for help.
• An unnecessary note tells teachers that pupils in key stage 2 'should not be expected to understand how human reproduction occurs' and there is no mention of puberty for children who need support and preparation for a huge change in their lives.
• The specific reference to 'sexual health' has been removed from the proposed new Key Stage 3 science curriculum and there is advice in the new Key Stage 3 content that learning about the structure and function of the male and female reproductive system should not include hormones.

The new proposals make a fudge of teaching children essential aspects of the science of their bodies, simply because some people feel a bit icky about sex and relationships.

We know that some schools take their responsibilities to young people seriously. Some schools deliver all of PSHE education well and some schools deliver parts of it well. But it's not required in law that every school teaches a minimum content or to a required standard. Teachers cannot train to be PSHE education specialists in their initial teacher training. As a result some children get very good PSHE education, and others get the absolute bare minimum required by law - the science of reproduction and infections (now under threat).

It is clear then why so many parents, professionals and organisations, including teaching unions, are deeply concerned that the Government has opted for more of the same rather than facilitate systemic changes in teacher training, curriculum planning and delivery.

Introducing PSHE education as a statutory subject in schools would be relatively low cost and high impact. It would reach the majority of children and young people with the core information and skills to help them manage their lives now and in the future. It would provide teachers with the essential training and skills they need to teach the subject well and it would make a proper difference to many of the problems that young people face today.

To refuse to take this opportunity and to propose the watering down of the science curriculum at a time when other sources of information and advice in the youth and community are being cut is short sighted and ill considered.

This decision fails children and young people. It ignores the consensus in this country in support of PSHE education and it ignores the evidence. It also overlooks the fact that the status quo does not work. Now it's time to work with schools and their community partners to support them to do the right and moral thing by children and ensure that PSHE education gets the time, attention and position it requires in school life.

Tales from a big place: Australia's first national sexual and reproductive health conference

Yesterday I spoke at Australia's first national sexual and reproductive health conference in Melbourne - my presentation: Tales from a little place - learning from the UK.

I always get a warm welcome from colleagues in Australia, and this trip is no exception. It is always interesting to prepare a presentation, particularly for an international audience, and we really have learnt a lot over the last 15 years or so, and have an enormous amount to be proud of.  Our teenage births declined by 35% during the life of the teenage pregnancy strategy.  Whatever the small group of opponents claim about the teenage pregnancy strategy, that is a roaring success. 

But when asked the inevitable question about whether England will sustain the progress during the current political and economic environment, whereas two years ago I would optimistically say that we could with the right drive and leadership, it is much clearer now that a lot of the intelligence and knowledge held in people is being lost, and that the strategic leadership so critical is in often absent. Clearly that has potential dire consequences for young people's sexual health.  But what I am able to say, of course, is that Brook and FPA, along with other organisations and individuals will do our utmost to ensure we continue going forwards (cue plug here for www.wecantgobackwards.org.uk).

The conference has been truly outstanding and here are some of the things I am taking away so far;

That much more needs to be done to address and improve the sexual health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities for whom the data shows much worse sexual health outcomes.  And the flip side of that is there is some truly remarkable work going on to promote positive sexual health and strengthen the resilience of communities.  I heard examples of stunning work helping communities get on with 'the business of living' and developing positive opportunities for open and honest discussion.  James Ward, a leading Aboriginal Health Researcher called his talk 'Focusing on the 'Rights' rather than the wrongs of Indigenous People to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes'.  He emphasised powerfully that the starting point is always a deficit one when it comes to Indigenous People, but that it is to all our shame that sexual health outcomes are so much poorer in these communities. If you closed your eyes and listened to his passionate plea to trust in young people from Indigenous Communities it could easily have been anyone of a number of us talking about the poor perception of young people in the UK.

Professor Rob Moodie gave some lessons from for Sexual and Reproductive Health from his time on the National Preventative Health Taskforce.  His key messages - progress take time and if you watch any journey it is small steps. He showed the timelines and critical steps/points on the journey in relation to smoking and road trauma to illustrate his point. He followed this with key advice - need the three A's Advocacy, Advocacy and Advocacy, and three P's - Persistence, Persistence and Persistence.

He also asked where the men were in the promotion of sexual and reproductive health (having recently been at the centre of a heated discussion because I was one of three men discussing contraception and confidentiality on R4's Today Programme the irony wasn't lost on me that the first session of the conference was all men - and was therefore very pleased when todays plenary session was an all women line up!)

The afternoon panel on abortion was fascinating. Medical Abortion is just being introduced into Australia and there is a lot of optimism that it will do much to improve women's rights. I had not realised that Australia had such a diversity of abortion legislation and policy which ranges from positive following legislative change in Victoria in 2008 to incredibly restrictive in Queensland based on laws from the 1890s.  Some really incredible advocacy and determination to improve women's choice including that of www.childrenbychoice.org.au  and so much of the discussion albeit with nuance that is reminiscent of the challenges and issues familiar in the UK and Ireland.  And as with Northern Ireland, MSI has played an important role in improving women's choice here in Australia.

I was treated to an evening out by a group of people - old colleagues and new - from both South and Western Australia. One of the doctors in the group used to work at Brook in the East End and Brixton in the 1980s so that was a real pleasure to find out more about how Brook and working in sexual health services for young people used to be.  

This morning's session was incredibly inspiring - first up Professor Vansesenbeek from Rutgers in Holland.  Completely demonstrating everything she described about Dutch culture and ways of being in her presentation Ine explained that if you want young people to be responsible then you have to have three things - sexuality education, youth friendly services and an enabling environment such as openness in the family, good parenting, a robust health system. 

She showed how Dutch young women are the best at Double Dutch - using the condom and another form of contrception together and reminded me of the importance of renewed discussions in Brook and the UK more widely about how we help young people understand Double Dutch is important and even 'cool'.

Ine explained that whilst sexuality education is not mandatory there is a conviction that formal education is needed and that it must be rights based, pragmatic and positive. She reminded us that the importance of SRE cannot be measured simply in health outcomes - it is also about rights and emancipation and sexual self esteem.  And we also should not overestimate what it can do because behaviour is determined by more than SRE.

Ine talked about parenting and positive parenting, but I was intrigued by the research and stopped making notes so I will come back to this but here her key message is Dutch parents are good parents, they are authoritative not authoritarian and focus on connectiveness with a liberal morality, and that their children report being happy children.

Finally she emphasised young people must be taught by parents,schools and communities about internal control - the ability to think for oneself, to develop critical awareness and competence.  Look at the evidence, it speaks for itself that the Dutch have got a lot right and we can all really learn from them.  For my money its about the enabling environment - the prevailing culture that we can and must learn most.

Next up Anne Mitchell from Australian Research Centre for Health, Sex and Society.  Anne has done an enormous amount on gay young people and sexuality education and it was great to hear a presentation with the word excitement in it.  She outlined 4 concepts that excite her in improving sexuality education as we move forward;

1. Thinking about healthy sexual development and what it means so we can set some clear agreed goals for sexuality education
2. Taking a strengths based approach which recognises that in the main young people manage their sexual health well and generally make good decisions and that we need to develop SRE that can help develop those strengths
3. Using a sexual ethics framework as outlined by Carmody which builds the ability to care for self, being aware of the possible impact of desires and wants on others, being able to negotiate and ask, and reflect
4. Moving beyond sexual rights and recognising that sexual rights are human rights and that if you take this approach you recognise sexual health inequalities are often the basis of systemic discrimination - this really resonated with James Ward presentation yesterday.

Finally in this morning's session, Dr Ailsa Gebbie, all the way from Edinburgh who outlined the brilliant work that has taken place in Scotland to develop an integrated sexual health strategy, Respect and Responsibility, and the development of the Chalmers Centre, the fantastic integrated sexual health centre in Edinburgh. I felt proud to be British as Ailsa described the work, the commitment and the persistence that has been required to develop such a brilliant service and integrated approach more broadly. 

Ailsa emphasised the importance of leadership, agency buy in to shared and common goals, the investment in services, in training, in capacity and in data use to drive improvements. And she set out some of the challenges ahead including keeping sexual and reproductive health a priority - a constant challenge for all of us in the context of differing needs and limited resource - and ensuring that they reach those at highest risk of sexual ill health.

An inspired conference so far, and still an afternoon to go.  

  

Guest blog from Jules Hillier, Brook’s Interim Deputy Chief Exec

Today, I’m handing over to Jules Hillier, Brook’s Interim Deputy Chief Exec, who is guest-blogging her thoughts on the presence of Life on the Sexual Health Forum.

Jules says,

“Like many, my first response to the news that Life had been given a place on the Government’s Sexual Health Forum was a sharp intake of breath and a rush of anger. There’s so much history between the pro-choice and the anti-choice movement and much of it is bitter and personal.

Anyone who’s been on the sharp end of anti-choice campaigning tactics – the call I had when I was pregnant saying they hoped my baby died of a sex infection, having to draft ‘parcel bomb policies’ to protect staff in the 90s, the name-calling (we’re baby-killers, pornographers and child sex advocates, don’t you know), the intimidation of young people accessing services - will struggle with the idea of sharing a platform with any anti-choice organisation.

When my first flush of anger subsided, I reflected for a while to see if I could find a less emotional reaction, and I thought about Brook’s work. Here, through our education work, we aim to help young people to set, understand and respect boundaries, to develop and hold values, to negotiate relationships and to build a level of self esteem and self confidence which will enable them to navigate whatever life and relationships throw at them.

We do all this, and more, not just because we are passionate, committed and motivated to improve young people’s lives, but also because we have the evidence which tells us that this work, combined with our clinical, advice, information and counselling services will make a difference.

It would be a shame, wouldn’t it, I told myself, wagging my finger, if we weren’t able to adopt the same approach to difficult situations as adults that we aim to help young people develop through our work.

So, I took a deep breath, thought about the 260,000 young people who come to us for help and support every year, thought about the 600 talented and committed staff who work with them and thought about all the other excellent organisations in the field who make a difference to young people’s lives every day. And I realised that all that good work will continue regardless of the make up of a government forum on which Brook still has a confident, values driven, evidence based position. And from that position, we can ensure that the voices of young people are put front and centre and their needs are always paramount, just as we have always done.”

A ridiculous storm in a teacup

Today's Metro has the front page story 'girls, 11, to send text for sex pill'. Another storm in a teacup where the mistruths and lies are hidden behind hysterical headlines.

As far as I can tell the service provides young people with the opportunity to text their school nurse in the holidays so s/he can tell them where the nearest sexual health service is if they need sexual health advice and information. Sounds very sensible to me and will to most sensible adults once they can see beneath the surface.

So why create 'sex pills' and produce inflammatory headlines that make people object. Yes, theoretically an eleven year old could text their school nurse. Most won't because very small numbers of 11 years are having sex (most under 16 years old aren't). And if they are having sex and they do they ask for help the school nurse will have an identified process to follow and there is a real chance to identify any harm and abuse.

There are all sorts of things that theoretically I can do and I won't which suggests they don't deserve the front page -that doesn't make space for a headline that can only create mistrust between parents and professionals. And just for the record, children's professionals across health, education and social care are not in the business of undermining parents. We know partnerships between parents and professionals work. And health professionals work to Fraser Guidelines when working with under 16s that explicitly require them to encourage communication with parents.

Sex and relationships education – the myth makers continue their work

I have been travelling around the country in the last week and I have heard again at least three times about the breakdown of morality amongst young people and that sex and relationships education is the cause.

So the myth makers continue their work - pronouncing that levels of sexual activity have gone up amongst young people, and that sex and relationships education is the reason behind this increase.

Their premise is that sex and relationships education has been around for over 40 years now, and this government has ploughed more money into this failed approach – failure confirmed apparently by our declining teenage pregnancy rates.

This is, of course, utter nonsense. We don’t have the evidence about levels of sexual activity, and the age of first sex remains broadly similar (the biggest decrease in age, was post war Britain). And sex and relationships education is still not universally established in schools or the community – 22,000 young people recently reported that their SRE is still not good enough.  This finding reinforces yet again what we have known for decades.

So join me in eradicating the myths and replace them with facts –

Sex and relationships education is still not universally established in schools – many children and young people get excellent sex and relationships education, and many more get poor, mediocre or just about good enough.

Teenage pregnancy rates are the lowest they have been for twenty years - areas that have strong programmes of sex and relationships education, coupled with good, visible young people’s contraceptive services and supported by an effective youth service continue to see the biggest decreases in teenage pregnancy rates.

If 25% of young people have sex before the age of 16, that means 75% do not – surely that is worth celebrating and acknowledging so we help create a social norm that supports young people in their choices about sex.

And anyway, seems to me many of the same myth makers who want to abolish sex and relationships education haven't spoken to many children and young people for a long time. Some of them also believe smacking children is a good idea and a parents right.

Why waste the chance?

Last week Brook was extremely disappointed government wasted a significant opportunity to maximise the protection available through the new HPV vaccine programme.  A vaccine offering less protection than another on the market was chosen for a national vaccination programme. Whatever the 'pre determined criteria' the spokesperson for department of health referred to in defence of their decision, young women have been let down with this decision.

We also saw increases in rates of abortion for the first quarter of 2007. Who knows the reasons behind this, hopefully quicker access and better referrals. Both are needed. In February government announced increased investment in contraception. Three months into the financial year professionals are telling me the money isn't reaching contraceptive services in many areas. Didn't we see this with the Choosing Health money for sexual health a few years ago? 

We must not let it happen again. Young people need and deserve good quality support and investment in their sexual health. Chances to make a significant improvements to young people's sexual health cannot be allowed to slip away without those making decisions know we are bothered.

What words for teaching about love?

Love and the overwhelming power of the feelings connected with love have been on the top of my mind over the last few weeks. At a friends wedding the lump in my throat was very big as speeches were made - the love was palpable and it felt amazing. A couple of friends have also had babies this month and alll parents are just describing the immediate strength of their love. And last night I went to a friends pre-wedding party (a modern day hen do, with men and women - is that a sten or a hag do?)

As often happens at these party's those who have already committed to marriage think nothing of the huge decision that has been made - to commit to someone for the rest of their life - and those who have not yet got to that point, stand in the corner and wander how she knows this is the right time and the right one - even though we can tell by the sparkle in her eyes and the ways she is that it is the right time. Last night a friend and I talked about how we can communicate the concept of love to young people so they understand it, look for it, feel it, work at it, treasure it and are not be fooled by it. In a world that is perhaps increasingly cynical about enduring love it seems important to me, that we spend some more time discussing love with our young. If anyone has found good ways of doing it, that have truly engaged with young people I would be interested to find out what you have found works.

The case for vaccinating girls against HPV

A new study published in the Lancet today has strengthened the already convincing evidence that vaccinating girls and young women against the human papilloma virus that causes cervical cancer is important. The combined results of four trials across the world show the vaccine is 99% effective for girls who have never had sex.

So, we have a vaccine that saves lives. This vaccine is a major scientific breakthrough and it is much more effective if we vaccinate young women before they become sexually active. No arguments then - ensuring universal access to the vaccination is scientifically and morally the right thing to do. My guess is most people would agree. Despite this there is a minority voice that argues vaccinating children is likely to encourage earlier sexual activity. This assertion is no more rooted in fact or evidence than the well refuted claim that sex and relationships education does the same.

Like sex and relationships education however, the vaccination is not a universal panacea. It must be administered in a macro and micro cultural context where emotional literacy and competence is developed, sex and relationships are talked about honestly; where young people learn that trust within relationships is important and they have rights to make choices about the sex they do or don’t choose to have.

First class service all round

I was recently in Manchester for a Black Health Agency Board meeting. I took the opportunity to visit our services in Manchester. The speed of Virgin trains leaves me feeling decidedly sick for the first half an hour after arriving so to right myself, I walked in the rain to the Centre which is 15 minutes from the station. When I arrived, I couldn’t help but wonder if this is what Chief Executives are supposed to look like. Vanity fears aside, I met some staff who I have not met before, and others who I recognise, but still struggle desperately to remember the names of. Their determination to make the centre a welcoming and comfortable place for young people and to keep on getting better and better at what they do is simply remarkable. (And the new building is lovely too!)

I also visited Stockton to meet some of the team who have just established our new services there. They are already starting to fly – they are getting out and about in the schools and youth settings as part of their outreach. 17 young people attended one of the clinic sessions in the last couple of weeks, and whilst some of the other sessions are slower to start, I am sure it won’t take long before those who are visiting the service tell others, who tell others, who…

Then when I got on the train and looked at my seat reservation, I realised I was in first class – two single tickets, including one first class ticket had been cheaper than a return… Probably a very good job I won’t be getting used to it - the size of the seats make it harder to use a laptop comfortably anyway.

Making time to listen

One of the high points of last week: the manager of Ask Brook is taking the lead for young people’s participation at Brook’s central office. She is tasked with ensuring young people are at the beginning, middle and end of everything we do. Next week a young woman who is part of the Education 2 Employment scheme will begin six weeks’ work experience with us. At our team meeting we reminded each other of the opportunities and challenges this affords us. In essence the message was ‘this means we will have to change the way all of us work. We will all need to make time and prepared to listen and help and receive feedback about the way we do things’. The feeling amongst the team is excited trepidation and a desire to make it a good experience. What a privilege to lead a team that are really willing to change the way they work ensure we meet the needs of those we are here to support. We intend to have young people from our local communities on work experience with us all the time. Watch this space - there will be many lessons for sure.

Let's talk condoms

It’s National Condom Week 2007. We know that to bring about the dramatic decline we need to see in rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) we must encourage much greater use of condoms, alongside other forms of contraception that protect against pregnancy.

In 20 years we have seen dramatic changes in public attitudes towards condoms, but there is a long way to go.

This week see how many times you can talk about condoms, see if you can slip them into conversations wherever you are and whoever you’re with. Have one hour each day when whatever you are asked you reply condoms, play word association games starting with condoms, have serious conversations with your children and friends about condoms & safer sex. Just get everyone talking about them. Be a condom champion.

Brook meets the young farmers

Last weekend Brook had a stand at the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs annual convention in Torquay. Five people from across the Brook Network gave out condoms and talked with delegates about sex, sexually transmitted infections and sexual health on two of the three big ‘disco’ nights. We also ran a quiz about sexual health which included the question “what is the most important thing for you to know about sexual health?” Among the responses: “be careful it can kill you”; “it’s good fun”; “always use a condom”; and “practice often but be safe”.

Both Brook and Young Farmers staff observed how much more confident people were coming to our stand on the second night to ask for condoms or advice. We know that changing cultures and attitudes towards condoms requires community interventions. We need to promote dialogue with young people and make the issue visible.

We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and are now busy identifying other opportunities like this through which we can help make condoms a mandatory requirement for young people on a big night out.

Valuing health

I recently went into the West End for some new clothes and apart from the crowds (I am from Cornwall) I loved the big stores. I started thinking about advertising and what attracts us to buy things or catches our attention. Young people, like adults, are bombarded with sophisticated advertising, and when they go shopping, it is a real experience. Stores are exciting, slick and cool and researchers have spent thousands and thousands working out what will appeal to their audience. I was left wondering how do adolescent health services fare in comparison and if they don’t fare well what message does that give to our young people – that their health is not as valuable as fashion or music? And if that is the case, what do we have to do better to make health an important asset for young people that they value and ‘invest’ in?