CLC Wales is delighted to announce a new partnership with Just for Kids Law on the Child Justice Changemakers project, following a major five-year investment from The National Lottery Community Fund.
The project will support children and young people from across England and Wales to develop the skills, confidence and opportunities to influence how policing impacts their lives and the lives of future generations.
For CLC Wales, this is an exciting opportunity to build on our growing work in youth justice, children’s rights and policing, while strengthening a partnership that has been central to our development as an organisation.
Just for Kids Law has been a valued supporter of CLC Wales since our formation. We are therefore especially pleased to be working together on a project that reflects our shared commitment to ensuring children are heard, respected and empowered to influence the systems that affect them.
While the project will operate across both nations, CLC Wales will bring a distinct Welsh perspective, drawing on Wales’ longstanding commitment to children’s rights, participation and prevention.
In recent years, CLC Wales has contributed to important national discussions on issues including the age of criminal responsibility, the strip-searching of children, police use of Tasers on children, and the future of youth justice reform in Wales. Through research, policy development and collaboration with partners across Wales, we have consistently advocated for approaches that place children’s rights, wellbeing and lived experience at the heart of decision-making.
The project comes at a particularly significant moment for Wales as discussions continue around the future devolution of youth justice and policing powers. At the same time, Welsh Government has renewed its commitment to strengthening children’s rights and embedding human rights across public services. As these conversations develop, it is vital that children and young people have a meaningful role in shaping the future.
Across England and Wales, around 58,300 children aged 10 to 17 were arrested for notifiable offences in the year ending March 2025. Behind every interaction with the justice system is a child whose rights, dignity, wellbeing and future matter.
The Child Justice Changemakers project reflects a shared belief that young people are experts in their own experiences. By supporting them to develop leadership, advocacy and campaigning skills, the project will create opportunities for young people to influence decision-makers and contribute to meaningful reform.
Working together across England and Wales, CLC Wales and Just for Kids Law are excited to support a new generation of young changemakers and ensure that children’s voices are at the heart of conversations about policing, youth justice and children’s rights.
Dr Rhian Croke, Strategic Litigation and Policy Lead at CLC Wales, said:
“This funding is exciting because it puts children and young people where they belong, at the centre of conversations about policing and youth justice.
We’ve spent several years highlighting concerns around issues such as the age of criminal responsibility, strip-searching, Taser use and children’s rights within the justice system. This project creates a real opportunity for young people to take those conversations forward themselves.
At a time when there is growing discussion about devolving youth justice and policing to Wales and building systems that better reflect Welsh values and children’s rights, it is vital that young people’s experiences help shape the future.”
Professor Anthony Charles, Trustee of CLC Wales, said:
“I’m delighted that we will be working alongside Just for Kids Law on this important project. Our organisations share a belief that children’s rights and lived experiences should help drive reform.
Wales has often led the way in championing children’s rights, but there is still much work to do to ensure those rights are fully reflected in children’s experiences of policing and justice.
The most powerful voices for change are often those with lived experience, and this project will give young people a real opportunity to influence debates that will shape the future across both Wales and England.”
CLC Wales would like to thank The National Lottery Community Fund and National Lottery players for making this work possible. We look forward to working with young people, partners and policymakers across Wales and England over the coming years to help build policing and youth justice systems that better respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights.