Researching Children’s Voices in Early Years Settings in the Young Knocknaheeny ABC Programme.

This participatory research project aims to include the voices of young children involved with the Young Knocknaheeny Area Based Childhood Programme (YK). YK is a community-based prevention and early intervention programme which aims to measurably improve the lives of children and their caregivers living in the north Cork city areas of Knocknaheeny, Farranree, Churchfield, Gurranabraher, and residents of local regeneration areas also. Adopting a whole-community approach, YK aims to give every child the best possible start in life by: respectfully enhancing the skills and early childhood development knowledge of all parents, practitioners and services in the area; strengthening and enhancing all relationships and environments that are important to every child’s early development; and, embedding systems and community change to support early childhood development and address childhood poverty.

This research project will support YK’s ongoing process and outcome evaluations and it will build on the existing data generated by the programme.