We currently meet once a month. We talk about the services in Bristol that are working to protect us and what we think could be done better. We use our voice to make sure the adults in the KBSP keep children and young people at the heart of designing services. It is a place where professionals can hear children and young people’s issues and concerns around safety.
Sometimes we invite senior members of Bristol City Council, Avon and Somerset Police, and the Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (health) to our meetings to find out what they are doing to help children and young people in Bristol. We attend Keeping Children Safe meetings, Executive meetings, and go to events to talk about our projects and influence how children are kept safe in Bristol.
We always need new members on the board. If you are interested, please contact: kbsp.shadow@bristol.gov.uk or complete this form
In 2021, the Shadow Board undertook a Mystery Shopping exercise to test how First Response supports children and young people to make referrals about themselves, their families, and their peers. This first report was highlighted as a great example of strategic safeguarding, and so in December 2022 the project was repeated to test the changes that had been made as a result of the initial report. The report was published in April 2023
The 2022 report can be found here.
The initial 2021 report can be found here .
In June 2024, the Shadow Board hosted a discussion session around the ethics of Stop and Search.
The session was co-produced and planned by KBSP and police colleagues.
There was representation from the following other youth groups or organisations at this
discussion:
Each youth group also had a support worker present that was known to them.
Present from the police was the force lead for Stop and Search, Chair of the Ethics in Policing
Committee, and local engagement police officers.
In depth discussions were had on the following topics:
Feedback was given to the police though discussions on the topics and what was written down.
It is worth noting that this is the first public ethics discussion that the police have completed in the community as opposed to at the police station. The event has received positive feedback from young people and the support workers that were in attendance.
The feedback given will be used by the police to review how they conduct Stop and Searches through a report back via the Ethics in Policing Committee. The information and context provided by the young people will also go to neighbourhood policing teams where they can adapt their engagement practice within these communities.
Following on from the success of the event, the police are planning other similar engagements in different venues within the community.
Knife Crime and youth violence has consistently been raised as a priority that young people in Bristol believe needs addressing.
The Shadow Board found that there was a gap in resources for parents/guardians around how they talk to children about knife crime.
This video was produced in Summer 2024 with the script for the video being co produced with the board members and one of them recording the voiceover for the video.
It has been presented at the KBSP Adults & Childrens Boards and was shown to a large audience at the 2025 Partnership Day.
The video can be found here
In November 2024 the Shadow Board met with the councils Executive Director for Children & Education, Hannah Woodhouse.
At the meeting we were also joined by young people from the Youth Council, Integrate UK and Youth Moves.
During the meeting we discussed the priorities that Hannah has set for the statutory services she is responsible for and if these aligned with what young people were also thinking given these services support children & young people
This resulted in Hannah taking away 3 areas to focus on. These will be taken to the Children’s Delivery Group at the next meeting in January with a lead to be identified for the following
We look forward to welcoming Hannah back to the Shadow Board soon for another discussion and updates on progress in these areas.
The Shadow Board are involved in young peoples interview panels for interviewing for staff roles within the KBSP and Bristol City Council