Respect Yourself Campaign’s success recognised
A West Midlands project, led by Warwickshire’s Respect Yourself Campaign, has been nominated for an ‘E-Oscar’ for work around tackling teenage pregnancy.
The idea came following a programme called ‘What shall we tell the children…about relationships and sex’ run in Kenilworth by Mothers Union, on behalf of the Warwickshire Respect Yourself Campaign.
Parents wanted to know how this topic is dealt with both in and out of the school setting in other countries such as the Netherlands. So the team helped to setup a regional consortium involving partners from Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust and Coventry Primary Care Trust, with support from EU Connects.
The group applied for funding to support visits to European partners so they could explore the issues around teenage pregnancy and how it is dealt with elsewhere. Although the bid was unsuccessful, the West Midlands consortium continue to share good practice, explore key areas of interest and hope to progress the project in the future.
It is amongst four other projects that have been put forward for the prestigious EU Connects award for ‘Best Consortium in the region’ with the winner announced at their Europe Day Celebration event in Birmingham on 8 May.
Amy Danahay, Respect Yourself Campaign manager, said: “It is absolutely fantastic that the work of the partnership is recognised with this nomination, and above all, that tackling teenage pregnancy is at the heart of the International agenda.”
“We are hoping to move this project forward by sharing knowledge with our European counterparts and using this in our programmes such as ‘What shall we tell the children’, benefiting parents and professionals.”
Ivan Burchess, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Research and Development Lead at Wolverhampton Primary Care Trust, said: “The collaboration, which has included considering the needs of young people with a learning disability has provided an excellent opportunity to learn from other services in the West Midlands.
“It is imperative families, communities and our services work together to reduce teenage pregnancy and support young parents. I hope the collaboration will eventually lead to the opportunity to share and learn from European partners.”
To find out more information about the Respect Yourself Campaign, visit http://www.respectyourself.info.
Entities for this story
- learning disability
- Birmingham
- Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust
- Coventry Primary Care Trust
- Wolverhampton Primary Care Trust
- Amy Danahay
- Ivan Burchess
- Respect Yourself Campaign Manager
- Consultant Clinical Psychologist
- Mothers Union
- Commission of European Communities
- www.respectyourself.info
- The Netherlands