Online community sign-up - Childhood in Essex research

Overview

Thank you for showing interest in joining our ‘online community’ and being part of the Childhood in Essex research. This project is carried out by researchers at Essex County Council.

We are looking to engage with people living in Essex, who are:

• children and young people between 9 and 18 years old (or 25 years for those with a special educational need or disability)
• parents or guardians (referred to as ‘parent’) who have a child aged between 9 and 18 years (or 25 years for those with a special educational need or disability).

We want to better understand what it’s really like to be a child or young person today and to see how this has changed compared to their parents’ experiences. This will help Essex County Council and partner agencies make decisions better aligned to the needs and wants of our youngest residents.

Between Monday 12^th August and Sunday 18^th August 2024, we will be running an ‘online community’ using a platform called Incling. The community can be easily accessed on your own digital devices, including computers, tablets, or smartphones. Your participation will be through the online platform only. You will not need to go anywhere or meet anyone.

Over the week, we will ask you to complete a range of short and simple activities. For example, what makes you happy, sad, or excited? What are your hobbies and who inspires you? Through these we hope to get a better understanding of the everyday experiences of young people today. We will have separate activities for children and young people, and for parents, to cover the different viewpoints.

A new activity will be released each day. It should be fun and take around 15 minutes. You can complete it at a time that best suits you. Activities may include:

• Uploading short videos & photos (you don’t necessarily need to feature in these)
• Diary entries
• Answering short discussion tasks
• Sharing ideas
• Short surveys

Most activities will be individual to you, and for some you will be able to view and comment on what others within the community have shared.

On completion of the activities, individuals will receive a £50 e-voucher as a thank you. Where activities are being completed by children and their parents using a joint account, we will provide a £75 e-voucher instead. There will also be opportunities for bonus payments on certain activities!

• Children and young people aged 9-15 years will need their parents’ permission to take part.
• Young people aged 16 and older can take part without their parents’ permission. 

If you’re interested in taking part, sign up with your contact details using this form by Wednesday 31^st July.

You can sign up as:

• A parent – on behalf of yourself and your child
• A parent – taking part on their own
• A child or young person aged 9-15 years – some parental support will be needed
• Young person aged 16 years and older – taking part on their own, but may want to sign up a parent, too.  

We will use the information to select our participants. Unfortunately, not everyone who has expressed interest will be able to take part, but you can sign up for another online community, planned for October 2024.

The information you provide will be kept confidential and only used for this research purpose. You are not obliged to participate in the research and you are free to withdraw at any time.

We will select and start contacting participants from 5^th August, to get them set up to start the online community. This will include providing further information and answering any questions.

Thank you for your time and interest!

If you have any questions, please contact research@essex.gov.uk.

Data protection

Essex County Council fully complies with information legislation. If you would like the full details of how we use personal data, and the rights you have about its use, please go to www.essex.gov.uk/privacy-community or call 03457 430430.