If you have documents, websites or presentations about your youth participation project, and they spend more time talking about your organisation, or the consortia and collection or organisations involved in the project - than they spend talking about the project itself - something is probably wrong.

If your consultations are designed around your internal organisational structure, rather than being based on the issues and themes that matter most to the people you are consulting - something is probably wrong.

If to access your services young people need to provide all sorts of management information that is just for your funders, and which provides not added value to the young person - something is probably wrong.

Good participation isn’t just something you bolt on to your organisation - it shifts the focus. It’s not about you. It’s about change for young people.