Finalist category: Community Impact Award
#T4GMOMO
Community Impact Award, Winner, 2018
Better care happens when children are listened to.
What children say about MOMO
“I finally found a way to tell someone what was happening to me. I got help to make me safe.”
“I love the apps, they have helped me express my feelings. Thank you!”
“It got me thinking for myself. They are very good apps and very easy to use.”
“I find speaking in this way much easier. Its revolutionary!”
So what’s it all about?
MOMO’s purpose is to give all children and young people a voice. We believe better care happens when children are listened to. Involvement of children and young people in the services they use is vital for better outcomes: It should be easy for them to speak up when they want, say what they want and fully participate in the education and care they are receiving.
Our core principle, not to overlook any child or young people, means we tackle challenges others avoid, rejecting assumptions that some groups are too difficult to work with. The MOMO One app gathers and communicates the authentic views of children and young people who use health, social care and education services while MOMO Express caters specifically for young children and those with a learning disability.
Help to say difficult things
“We had very strong reason to believe that Scarlet was being sexually exploited. She denied this was happening for sometime. She was ashamed to tell us face to face but she was able to do this through MOMO. Scarlet expressed she felt hopelessness. “I don’t care, nobody cares for me, I feel lonely, everybody knows about me”. She said she felt ashamed and that’s why she couldn’t go back to school. She told us all of this on the app. We would not have been able to act as quickly without it. We were able to get her out of this dangerous situation”
Support for keeping children safe
“Paige, a ten year old girl I work with, saw her brother being smacked by the foster carer. She wrote 25 lines in MOMO about what her life looks like and said “I’m not sure what I want to do”. Paige recorded her mood as ‘calm and unhappy’. Paige’s disclosure has led to action and it will be used in court. Her own words and her own thoughts are so important. As social workers we were not aware of her situation. MOMO really gave her a voice and helped her to be safe.”
Better conversations with the social worker
“I found MOMO to be a very powerful tool to create a conversation and gather views.” Fiona, Quarriers
Facilitating change in professional practice
“I can know what these young people are thinking and feeling despite having limited time to go out and see them. I can get views for child protection conferences. I get to hear in the moment what is going on rather than them having to wait to tell me when they aren’t upset. My tip – USE IT!!!! Try it! Think who will benefit from it, encourage children to use it each time as it saves you time travelling, typing and chasing up children’s views.” Social Worker, Gloucestershire
Don’t just take our word for it!
Listen to what Callie has to say….
How the apps work
We need your help to help us reach more children.
