ABSTRACT
Investing in Children (IiC) is a Community Interest Company (CIC) based in the North East of England and was established to promote the human rights of children and young people.
IiC uses a ‘rights based’ approach to create spaces in which children and young people can come together, discuss issues and develop arguments through hands-on research that can support them in entering dialogue with adults who have the power to promote their agenda.
This chapter discusses the main principles upon which the service is based and how young people take the lead with implementing the four principles. One measure for the effective involvement of children and young people is the Investing in Children membership awards, which is recognised by many organisations as good practice and evidence of the organisation’s commitment to listening to young people and acting on their recommendations for improvements. ‘Enablers’ and ‘barriers’ are explored to show how a rights-based practice that creates opportunities for children and young people – ‘the powerless’ – to participate in processes alongside ‘the powerful’ enables progress to be made.
