Children and young people

Supporting children and young people

We want all Belfast’s children and young people (CYP) to reach their potential and to know Belfast is the place to be to do just that.

In December 2014, we agreed a strategic outcomes approach to delivering children and young people's services.

We’ve made a commitment to support children and young people to be:

• empowered
• safe
• happy
• achieving at each stage of life
• playing their part in their city and communities.

We’ve made this commitment as a partner in the CYPSP’s Belfast Outcomes Group and to fulfil our duty under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

We encourage this by:

• providing thousands of play opportunities led by our dedicated citywide Play team
• supporting our Belfast Youth Forum members to be the city’s young advocates
• organising activities and events in our parks, summer schemes, community centre programmes, city events and festivals
• funding a range of programmes for children and young people in communities and neighbourhoods.

Working in partnership to consider and together support children and young people in the city. Links to the main partners are below however to see what may be available in your area, visit the Family Support NI website.

Members of the council have endorsed the current approach and each political party can choose to nominate a CYP political champion to support the development of this work. They also support the events and activities we provide throughout the year.

For more information, email [email protected]  or call our Play Development Officer on 028 9027 0470.

Safeguarding

Our Safeguarding Policy, which was adopted in 2022, emphasises that safeguarding is everyone’s business and that as a Council, we will strive to prevent harm to children and adults from abuse, exploitation, or neglect.

Our Safeguarding Policy is in two sections, the first section is in relation to Child Safeguarding, and section two is for Adult Safeguarding, as there is a subtle but important difference between the two areas.

You can read the policy online.

• Section one - Children and Young People
• Section two - Adult Safeguarding

For more information or if you have a concern in relation to safeguarding, call 028 9032 0202 and ask to speak to the Safeguarding Compliance Manager, or you can email [email protected].

Safeguarding children

The council is represented on the Safeguarding Board NI’s Belfast Safeguarding panel and the local government safeguarding network. We are an active supporter of ‘Keeping Children Safe’ training with officers trained to deliver the safeguarding training internally.