Child Friendly Bradford District

Child Friendly Bradford District is a new initiative to bring people together and help make Bradford a better district for children and young people to grow up in.

We have a shared ambition to create a place where they can be safe, happy, healthy and with access to good education and skills development. We are working to create more child-friendly organisational cultures where children and young people can have a voice and influence.

Central to this is Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which states that children and young people have a right to be involved when adults make decisions that affect their lives.

Our journey so far

In December 2022, Bradford Metropolitan District Council successfully completed a Foundational Year on the UNICEF UK 'Child Friendly Cities and Communities' programme which supports local governments in realising the rights of children and young people, using the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as its foundation.

During the Foundational Year, over 100 members of staff received Children's Rights training from UNICEF UK and a new child-friendly Children and Young People’s Strategy was produced for the district, informed by the views of over 5,000 local children and young people.

On 23 November we held our Child Friendly launch event at Valley Parade stadium where we were joined by children, young people and a range of stakeholders from across the partnership. At the event, children and young people helped set priorities for the year ahead, took part in a variety of marketplace activities and got to vote for their favourite entry in the Child Friendly Bradford District logo competition. The winning design was created by Bella from St John’s Church of England Primary School, and you’ll be able to find her original design on this page in the near future.

The Discovery Event also featured the launch of our new Child Friendly Bradford District music video "Yeah It's Bradford" produced by Gro Communications and featuring young people from the Healthy Minds Apprentices supported by local nonprofit education provider All Star Entertainment.

CFBD will ensure that children and young people are:

• Heard – have the voice and influence to shape their district and their future
• Healthy - have access to any mental and physical health services they need
• Happy – enjoy growing up in a district with more opportunities and facilities
• Safe – have secure and safe homes and communities
• Skilled - are able to learn in supportive schools and have access to valuable life skills

The Bradford District Children and Young People Strategy

One of the ways we will work together to create a more Child Friendly District is through our new Children and Young People's Strategy which contains four priorities:

• Physical and Mental Health
• Education
• Safe homes, places and communities
• Skills Development

Get involved

To find out more about how you or your organisation can play a part in making Bradford more child-friendly, please email us at: childfriendly@bradford.gov.uk.

You can also follow us on Twitter.