SKIP is looking for Youth Members!

Dalhousie University based Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP) is looking for youth under 25 who have lived experience with pain and who have also had previous experience as a patient partner in healthcare, health research, or knowledge mobilization activities to join their Patient and Caregiver Advisory Committee (PCAC) as a youth member.

The PCAC advises SKIP in its patient partnership activities through a lens of Patients Included Ethics charter.
Members will meet every 2 months for 1 hour and will be compensated for their input.

To learn more and to apply; please visit: https://kidsinpain.ca/work-with-us/

The Sandbox Project, The YCRH and Healthy Debate re-release special series In Their Own Words

TORONTO, Dec. 21, 2022 - The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge and lasting effect on the entire Canadian population. Many voices have been heard including health professionals, scientists, politicians, media personalities and private citizens. Yet, there is one group whose stories have not been told, and whose perspectives have not been sought - Canada's youth. This in spite of the fact that they will be forced to deal with the long-term and lasting consequences of the pandemic.

In 2021, The Sandbox Project, The YCRH, and Healthy Debate collaborated on a youth driven special series, In Their Own Words. This series allowed Canadian youth to have a voice and offered a space in which they could share their COVID-19 experiences.

Youth across Canada, a year later, still have more to share with us and we must listen. This series continues to provide youth the opportunity to relay their experiences of how the pandemic has affected them, in their own words using their preferred styles and media form. It is imperative that we learn and understand the current needs of youth, which can then inform the public at large as well as policy makers about future changes which should be implemented to foster growth of current youth as well as those to come. Who better to teach us than the youth themselves?

Series Release Schedule

  • 21.12.2022

  • 27.12.2022

  • 30.12.2022

  • 03.01.2023

The Healthy Communities Initiative is a $60 million investment from the Government of Canada to transform public spaces in response to COVID-19. Thanks to their contribution, we were able to reopen submissions, receiving 120 stories from coast to coast.

About The Sandbox Project:
The vision of The Sandbox Project is to make Canada the healthiest place on Earth for children and youth to grow up. It is focused on improving children and youth health outcomes with respect to injury prevention, obesity, mental health and the environment.

About the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health:
The Young Canadians Roundtable on Health was created in 2013 based on one of the recommendations in The Sandbox Project's founding report, Reaching for the Top. The recommendation focused on creating a national advisory of youth leaders to participate in decision-making around child and youth health. They collaborate with industry, government, research, health practitioners and families.

For further information: on In Their Own Words, please contact: Stacie Smith, Co-Executive Director, Young Canadians Roundtable on Health, (902) 830-3504, ssmith@sandboxproject.ca

The Current, On the Ground Landscape of Youth Engagement in Health spaces in Canada- The YCRH releases Best Practices Report

To better understand what meaningful youth engagement is, the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health (YCRH) carried out an environmental scan on strategies and best practices and published their findings. The report identified the most effective strategies for youth engagement and highlighted some of the opportunities that exist when youth engagement is part of the project’s design.

The report can be read here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/575c7d10044262e4c49720f7/t/63447c6133d2d81fa625722a/1665432715625/The-Current-On-The-Ground-Landscape-of-Youth-Engagement-in-Health-Spaces-in-Canada-Challenges-Strategies-and-Opportunities.pdf

UNICEF's Youth Advocacy Program is accepting Applications!

UNICEF Canada’s Youth Advocacy Program is looking for young people between the ages of 13-24. This is an opportunity to develop knowledge and skills and learn how to become powerful advocates and activists on issues that matter the most.

The program provides:

  1. Opportunity to learn more about advocacy, rights, the government decision-making process, and how to become powerful advocates and activists to improve the lives of young people across Canada

  2. Opportunity to connect with diverse young people from across Canada

  3. Opportunity to learn from youth and adults who have successfully advocated for change in their communities and for vulnerable children and youth around the world

  4. Opportunity to be involved in UNICEF Canada advocacy initiatives advocating for children's rights domestically and internationally

  5. Opportunity to develop your own advocacy plan based on your advocacy interests

  6. Opportunity to engage directly with decision-makers about the issues you are passionate about

  7. Opportunity to collaborate with, teach and learn from others in a participatory environment.

UNICEF Canada Youth Advocacy Program in 2023 will take place from February to December 2023. There are 8 core sessions, with space for additional sessions as identified by participants. The sessions will last anywhere between 1.5-3 hours.

To learn more and to apply; please visit: https://www.unicef.ca/en/youth-advocacy-program

The YCRH's 2023-2024 Strategic Plan is now available.

As the end of the year approaches, The Young Canadians Roundtable on Health (YCRH) have released their Strategic Plan for 2023-2024. Building on feedback gathered from members and lessons learned from previous years, the new Strategic Plan has 4 clear goals and 12 objectives on advancing youth engagement.

The vision of the YCRH remains the same: to help build a world where youth have the ability to share and discuss concerns about their health and wellbeing and contribute to the development of initiatives that influence their community.

You can read the Strategic Plan here.

Empower youth by donating to the YCRH this Giving Tuesday!

The Young Canadians Roundtable on Health (YCRH) was created in 2013 in response to the interest generated by the report Reaching for the Top: A Report by the Advisor on Healthy Children and Youth, conducted by The Sandbox Project’s founder, Dr. Kellie Leitch.

 Over the last 8 years, the YCRH has grown its membership and is composed of strong Canadian youth leaders from regions including Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, with ongoing recruitment of youth from regions including Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut. The YCRH comprises over 40 students and young professionals ranging from 15 to 31 years old with an academic and/or professional background in: Public Health, Public Relations, Health Policy, Global Politics, Criminology, Epidemiology, Kinesiology, Psychology, Sociology, Social Work, Therapeutic Recreation, Nursing, Medicine, Nutrition, Biomedical Engineering, and Programming and Web-Development.

The diverse academic and professional backgrounds as well as national membership distribution allowed the YCRH to expand its reach in partnering with organizations such as: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s IHDCYH youth advisory council, Healthy Debate, Children’s Healthcare Canada, Frayme, Inspiring Healthy Futures, and Participaction; with additional access to collaborating partners of The Sandbox Project including: Jack.org, BGC Canada, CHEO, Wisdom2Action, Mental Health Literacy and many more.

The YCRH’s broad network and young professional membership allows for the creation of youth-led projects and collaborations with youth across Canada as well as professionals who work with youth. The most recent project “In Their Own Words” partnered with Healthy Debate, a news outlet that publishes journalism about health care in Canada, and The Sandbox Project. This series facilitated the storytelling of Canadian youth’s COVID-19 experiences utilizing multimedia as a form of communication. Presently, the YCRH is leading a Children’s Book regarding youth resiliency throughout COVID-19, partnering with professionals who work with youth including Psychiatrists, Pediatricians, Principals and Psychotherapists. The YCRH is concurrently pursuing a Photovoice project, a qualitative research project that aims to understand youth’s mental health experiences during COVID-19, utilizing photos to express the participant’s story accompanied by group discussion sessions. 

To support the YCRH to amplify youth voices, please consider donating here: http://sandboxproject.ca/support-the-sandbox-project

Please ensure you select “The Young Canadians Roundtable on Health” as the fund you would like to donate to.

The YCRH will present at "Seizing the Opportunity: Equitable Child Health Research in Post-Pandemic Recovery"

On November 18th, the Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Children is hosting the inaugural Annual Symposium “Seizing the Opportunity: Equitable Child Health Research in Post-Pandemic Recovery” in Toronto. The event will gather leading Canadian and international academics and policymakers to discuss the role that research should play in addressing equity in children’s health outcomes in an era of pandemic recovery.

The YCRH’s Stacie Smith and Raissa Amany have been invited to participate as a presenter in a workshop titled “Community Engagement & The Youth Voice”. The workshop will cover why community engagement with youth matters; how to plan and design the engagement process for youth engagement; and lessons learned from their community engagement initiative post pandemic.

November 20 is National Child Day!

November 20th is National Child Day in Canada. This annual celebration recognizes two historic events: the 1959 signing of the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 (UNCRC).

Canada signed the UNCRC in 1991 and made a commitment to ensure that every child have every opportunity to reach their full potential. The commitment also includes:

  • Providing children opportunities to have a voice (speak out and be heard)

  • Protecting children from harm

  • Ensuring children's basic needs are met

National Child Day is an excellent opportunity for educators, parents and caregivers to teach children about their rights.

Join The Sandbox Project and partners to celebrate National Child Day this November 20th.

 

MLSE Foundations "Change the Game 2.0" Research Study is live!

To better understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth participation in sport, MLSE Foundation and the University of Toronto partnered together to release the Change the Game 2.0 report following the removal of COVID-19 restrictions on sports in Ontario.

Over the course of a year, over 8200 youth (aged 6-29) and parents shared their experiences related to sport access, engagement, equity and culture. The purpose of the study was to better understand the current state of sport and Sport For Development offerings in Ontario.

The report, infographics and data sets can be found on the ML:SE Foundation’s website. You can also click here

Child Welfare League releases “Equitable Standards for Transition To Adulthood for Youth in Care Evaluation Model”!

This month, The Child Welfare League of Canada released the “Equitable Standards for Transitions to Adulthood for Youth in Care Evaluation Model” and it’s accompanying Primer Report.

The ultimate goal of the model is to create conditions where youth in/from care can be part of a society where they are valued, invested in and interdependently supported throughout their entire lives.

The model and the report was a collaborative effort between the Child Welfare League of Canada and the National Council of Youth in Care Advocates. To read the report and review the 8 pillars of the module, please click here

The Sandbox Project is proud to have supported this important effort through the Sandbox Impact Program.

Sandbox Impact Program Partners wanted!

The Sandbox Project is proud to annouce the launch of the next iteration of the Sandbox Impact Program.

The Sandbox Impact Program is designed to empower collaborations to achieve better health and wellbeing outcomes for children and youth across Canada. This program was created to assist initiatives that leverage multiple partners to address a specific health and wellbeing challenge faced by children and youth in a Canadian community.

By bringing organizations and sector leading individuals together and providing microgrants and in-kind services, we take our shared priorities to the next level.

In-Kind Services:

Along with Microgrants of up to $4500, The Sandbox Impact Program also provides partners with in kind services. We have partnered with Altus Group for this iteration to provide program partners access to skills and expertise housed within Altus Group. Project partners will identify the skills that would be most beneficial and work closely with Altus Group staff for a total of 10-12 hours over the project span to fill this skill gap.  The in-kind support provided by Altus Group include:

·         Fundraising

·         Marketing and branding

·         Legal and Governance(including Board matters)

·         Financial management

Eligible partnerships in need of other in-kind skills are still encouraged to apply. Please provide a brief paragraph about the support needed and how this will facilitate the completion of your project.  

The Sandbox Impact Program continues to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable Canadian children and youth. The four focus areas of this program are:

·         Mental health and wellbeing

·         Social determinants of health and vulnerable populations

·         Improving access to services and programs for caregivers, youth and children

·         Filling data gaps that exist in the sector

Who Can Apply?

The Sandbox Impact Program support is available to project teams supporting child and youth-focused initiatives in Canada. Project teams must be composed of:

1.      A minimum of one young person (aged 25 or younger) or youth-led initiative

And

2.      One charity, not-for-profit organization or foundation

And

3.      Team Members from at least two other organizations whose area of focus are:

·         Research OR

·         Healthcare OR

·         Policy

Deadline

 The Expression of Interest is due on November 15, 2022, by 11:59 PST.  Eligible partners will then be invited to submit a complete application. Completed applications are due by 11:59 PM PST on November 30 2022.

Application Process

The application process begins with completing the Expression of Interest form here:  http://sandboxproject.ca/apply. The purpose of the Expression of Interest is to let us know how your project team meets the initial program criteria. If you qualify, you will be invited to submit a full application.

Alternatively, prospective project teams are welcome to submit a video that addresses all the application criteria. To submit a video, please send us a YouTube or Vimeo link or share the file via Dropbox or Google Drive.