BY JACK WELCH

When discussing health and wellbeing issues, there almost seems to be an endless saturation of stories on the news and in the newspapers.

Whether it be about the services available in our local areas, or a new crisis in respect of the costs of levels of care, there is always something that gets most people talking.

Quite often, there is a lack of opportunity for the voices of children and young people to be heard and they have little means in which they can say what matters to them most when it comes to their own health and their own experiences generally.

With that in mind, Healthwatch Dorset was able to step into the frame. As an organisation independent of both government and the NHS, the specially created project ‘Be Yourself: Everybody Else is Taken’ sought to rectify the issue and ensure that young people could have the space to be honest about their feelings.

As one of many Healthwatch champions across the county, I only know too well about the need for a channel in which young people are directly consulted and acknowledged within a system that simply does not work in some cases.

During the course of the project, there were 150 contributions made which took the shape of poetry, blogs, artwork and much more.

A special showcase was hosted last week at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium, with the football club having loaned their support for the project itself, and it included a moving and personal speech by autism activist, Joely Colmer.

One person described how ‘we all make mistakes. Unfortunately, for me, being me was mine.”

A sad reality it may be, but whether it is health services or the attitudes of people, there is something making the younger generation unhappier than they should be at an early phase of their lives.