11 Million Children And Young People Have A Voice

Partnering with interactive agency Cimex and The Team, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England has rebranded and launched with a new website www.11million.org.uk to encourage more children and young people to use their site and to keep in contact with the organisation. Cimex built the site incorporating flash and html development, while corporate branding and the pin-board approach was developed by The Team with 11 MILLION
and children and young people on the 11 MILLION branding reference group.

Lisa White, Director of Communications and Participation for 11 MILLION, said: “Our whole approach has been to shift our organisation and its web presence to being more relevant to the 11 million children and young people in England. They have a voice and now they have a website that is for them – not adults. It doesn’t end here though. Further developments are afoot for 2007 for our website – by creating online participation tools for children and young people to have more say in shaping the organisation’s priorities.”

The new name 11 MILLION represents the number of children and young people in England. It was chosen following the involvement of over 3000 children and young people across the country and the logo reflects their interests, concerns and views.

The Children’s Commissioner for England was established under The Children Act 2004 to be the independent voice of children and young people and to champion their interests and bring their concerns and views to the national arena.

Children and young people are the major stakeholders and target audience for the site and the content is, therefore, child-focused, interactive and user-friendly. Incorporating content designed by children and young people, the site’s unique design layout is based on a child’s bedroom wall where different things can be hung on and attached.

Features on the site include information on mental health, children’s rights and information and help on bullying to name a few. 11 MILLION aims to expose issues informed by children and young people; provoke discussion and debate particularly through the media; influence the public, parents, carers and politicians; inform and scrutinise policy affecting children and young people; hold organisations and people in positions of authority to account; and most importantly, celebrate and promote the role of children and young people in our society.

The previous website was mainly visited by policy makers and the media. Further features and enhancements, including user generated content will be added to the site throughout the year.