PARTICIPATION & CAMPAIGNS

The meaningful participation of children and young people is central to our work at Chiva. The whole staff team strives to involve children and young people in everything we do, supported by a Participation Manager who also leads specific initiatives.

  • We encourage previous Chiva participants to lead activities and mentor younger people, including providing structured support for those who take on the role of Camp Leader.
  • The Chiva Youth Committee (CYC) is an integral part of the charity’s structure, has its own work programme and sits alongside Chiva’s Trustee Board and Steering Group. 
  • During the CYC’s residential meet-ups, Chiva’s Participation Manager is supported on the pastoral care side by a young adult living with HIV.
  • When we start work on a new project, we talk with the CYC and other young people from the outset to ensure that projects are youth-led and will meet their needs from the start.
  • A CYC Alumni attends public facing events and meetings on behalf of the youth committee, feeding back to them about the wider HIV policy agenda.
  • Young people’s voices are at the heart of our awareness-raising and influencing activities, such as our Education toolkit and Life Growing Up film. 
  • We work closely with a number of clinical trials and studies to ensure the meaningful involvement of young people living with HIV.

Use the links above or contact Abi at [email protected] to find out more about our participation work. We are always interested in working with other organisations on specific youth participation projects.