Established in November 2007 the National Participation Forum (NPF) brings together a group of influential organisations and individuals committed to the participation of Children and Young People.
As participation is required to take place more and more, the forum will keep a collective overview of the quality of what is being undertaken, what standards and challenges are evident within different sectors and will provide a platform to exchange expertise and ideas in order for the forum to have maximum impact in reaching into different sectors and vulnerable groups.
With the participation of children and young people now a legal requirement within service provision in the children’s sector as a whole, the NPF is looking towards a long-term existence, with clear definitions of working with children and young people from 0-19, and up to 23 years old for those who are vulnerable in England.
The forum is serviced by Participation Works and has representatives from all six Participation Works partners, along with a multitude of other leading national organisations from across the third and statutory sectors.
The forum is chaired by Barbara Hearn CBE (Deputy Chief Executive of the National Children’s Bureau), co-chaired by two young people, and has a Vice Chair, Lesley Gannon (the National Association of Head Teachers).
Read the National Participation Forum Aims and Objectives (8kb PDF)
See a list of organisations in the National Participation Forum (5kb PDF)
National Participation Forum Meetings
The NPF meet three times a year. You can view details of each meeting by downloading agendas, minutes and other relevant documents from this page.
Research Publications
Research publications produced by or on behalf of NPF
National Participation Strategy: Have your say
Read the National Participation Strategy and leave your feedback
Find out how to order Participation Works publications, toolkits and resources on our 
