The thoughts of more than 900 children and young people on the future of health and well-being in their home city will be showcased at a pop-up display on Liverpool’s waterfront.

The Young Voices, Big Ideas display at Museum of Liverpool opens on 19 October, bringing together children and young people’s ideas about how to make the city a happier and healthier place.

The showcase is running in tandem with pioneering research project Children Growing Up in Liverpool (C-GULL) looking into health inequalities across the Liverpool City Region.

The installation will showcase a collection of ideas and anecdotes collected from children and young people who took part in a project to gather their thoughts and ideas.

C-GULL is a study that will follow the lives of 10,000 babies born at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, from early pregnancy through childhood and beyond, to help transform health outcomes in the city. It is the first large-scale birth cohort study of its kind in the region, and it has the potential to make a significant impact on our understanding of complex health issues.

The museum installation will not only answer more questions about the study, how it will work and what the researchers hope to learn but will also bring to life the ideas of the children and young people on how we can improve their health and wellbeing and the wider city region in the future.

The Young Voices, Big Ideas project spoke to children and young people in Liverpool about how they could have a happier and healthier future, and how the ground-breaking C-GULL study could help answer children’s questions and improve their health and wellbeing.

Children and young people’s input was gathered via a pop up that visited schools, community centres, fayres, family fun days, youth clubs and city-wide events, and through workshops in primary schools across the city region since November 2023 on “changes we want to see for our future”.

Children and young people were asked to complete the sentence: “My future could be happier and healthier if….” and to draw or build a (Legoâ) healthy city for the future. Children and young people shared their thoughts and ideas in the form of audio recordings, digital messages, hand-written notes and pictures they drew.

While visiting the installation, families can see a selection of children’s drawings and voices, and more will be available on the Young Voices, Big Ideas archive. There will also be the opportunity to read children’s books designed with young people about growing up and living in Liverpool.

Colouring illustrations from the book will be available at the installation, and during half term there will be free, bookable workshops where children aged five-11 can unleash their inner Lego® master builder to build and think about how we can make a happier and healthier city to live in, with the Young Voices, Big Ideas trained Lego® Serious Play facilitator. You can book a session here.

As well as featuring these views and feelings, the museum event will also be an opportunity for children and parents to find out more about C-GULL and the work of the scientists who want to improve the lives of people in Liverpool and beyond.

Rebecca Geary, lead researcher on Young Voices, Big Ideas said: “Young Voices, Big Ideas has given us a unique insight into the hopes and dreams of our children and young people and how they want to make Liverpool a healthier and happier city region. This installation amplifies the children’s voices and the change they are advocating by sharing their drawings, voices and words.

“We are so grateful to all who have contributed so far, and we would encourage everyone to come to the museum to share the experience, learn more about what young people want and discover how C-GULL can be a game changer for health and wellbeing for our future generations.”

The C-GULL study is a partnership between the University of Liverpool, Wellcome, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Liverpool City Council, and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Get along to the Museum of Liverpool to find out more about the study with the C-GULL installation until 3 November.

Lego ® workshop dates:

• Monday 28 October 1-1.45pm, 2-2.45 and 3-3.45pm
• Wednesday 30 October 1-1.45pm, 2-2.45 and 3-3.45pm
• Saturday 2 November 1-1.45pm, 2-2.45 and 3-3.45pm

What children and young people have said during Young Voices, Big Ideas

“If the government cared more about the children who are hungry and the people who don’t get as much money as other people, and if they banned the cost of living and made at least enough to live because in this society today they don’t make enough to get by in life, and they barely have any money to like, just survive basically.”

“My future could be happier and healthy if we had cleaner parks with less dirt and people not littering. Because if we had cleaner parks people would want to go to the parks more and get more exercise and it might make people happier. I would also like there to be more parks with fun things to do for kids, and parks to be maintained more then people will like going to parks more.”

“More police on Liverpool’s streets on late nights to make people feel more safe when walking home.”

“Everyone wants to make the world a better place, it is just how we do it that we disagree on.”

The information gathered during the C-GULL study will help researchers, clinicians, and policymakers understand more about the early life origins of health and wellbeing.
People who are pregnant and have booked for their maternity care to be provided by Liverpool Women’s Hospital are eligible to participate in the study.

The study will collect extensive biological, biometric, socio-demographic, and psychosocial information at multiple points throughout the pregnancy and the child’s first two years of life. Innovative data collection methods will be used to assess areas including child development, physical and mental health, and the home and local environment.

People who are pregnant and being cared for at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital can register their interest in taking part in C-GULL here.