Forum

Young People's Forum History

In March 2004, beat hosted a conference for young people in Birmingham. This event offered young people with experience of eating disorders a chance to talk about their views. This included their perspectives on beat’s services, as well as other organsiations and services specific to the treatment of eating disorders. beat recorded the feedback taken from the young people and now use it to develop beat services and challenge the views of professionals working in the industry outside of beat. This is where it all began.

Young People's Forum

The forum has a number of roles

• telling us their opinions about our services and information and helping us to develop further.
  
• commenting on the services and information provided outside beat and helping us to influence change for the better
  
• giving young people a voice at beat and outside of beat, for example in the media and in the healthcare system 
  
• challenging how eating disorders are perceived by people and helping to change this.
  

What beat does

• provides a chat facility for the youth forum to support one another and discuss subjects relating to eating disorders
  
• regularly  communicates with the forum, bringing you beat news of events, ideas we are developing and items we need your opinions of and help with.
  
• a webzine which forum members can contribute to with articles, real stories, tips to help others etc You could also have a go editing it!
  
• a website full of information to help you recover or continue to be recovered from your eating disorder
  
• support and information if you are struggling

Many young people have joined our forum. Young people have told us that they find it difficult being heard. We hope the forum will give them the opportunity to tell others how they feel and really be listened to.
To join the forum click on the face on the top right!

If you are interested in politics and campaigning for young people the youth forum is a great place to start, for more information on politics you can click here to go the the National Youth Agency page on politics