Time to Listen: Engaging Young People with Lived Experience of Harm

This event explores how we can create meaningful, safe and empowering opportunities for participation for children and young people who have already experienced harm and trauma through violence and exploitation.

While many programmes include young people from affected communities, they don’t always reach who have been directly impacted - young people who often feel excluded from traditional engagement spaces or who carry the weight of direct experiences of harm. This event focuses the conversation on the importance of centering the voices of young people who have already experienced harm, making sure they are not just included, but actively shaping the conversation.

What to expect:

• Insights from organisations running participation programmes that successfully engage young people with direct lived experience of violence and exploitation.
• A closing session led by young people themselves, shaped from concept to delivery, where they will share their perspectives, experiences and ideas.

Key questions we’ll explore:

• How do we engage young people with lived experience in ways that are genuinely meaningful?
• How do we listen in ways that feel safe, empowering and non-tokenistic?
• What does effective participation look like for those who have been directly impacted by violence and exploitation?

Confirmed speakers:

• Carly Adams Elias, Director of Practice Safer London
• Nabeela Yousaf, Service Delivery Lead Safer London
• Members of the Safer London VIP participation group

Pay As You Can

We’re operating a Pay As You Can ticketing system with a minimum contribution of £1 to help keep the event as accessible as possible. You're welcome to pay whatever you can beyond that amount.

If you're able to contribute:

• £10 helps cover a young person’s travel to attend
• £20 helps support remuneration for a young person sharing their time and expertise

We also warmly encourage you to bring along any young people you're working with who might be interested in this event. We don't expect them to purchase a ticket; just email their names to [email protected] and we will add them to the event.

About Safer London

At Safer London we support young Londoners to move from harm to hope. We stand beside young Londoners and families caught in cycles of violence, exploitation and trauma. We are a team of dedicated specialists who believe that every child deserves safety, stability and a future free from harm.

We don’t give up. We show up when others can’t or won’t - offering trauma-informed, one-to-one support that builds trust and transforms lives. Our work is rooted in compassion, resilience and a deep commitment to the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. We challenge the systems that fail young people and advocate for protective, not punitive, approaches.

We are here for young Londoners - not just to help them escape harm, but to help them heal, rebuild and believe in the brighter futures they deserve.

www.saferlondon.org.uk

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