On Wednesday, 2nd July, Chair of the Youth Board, Taliesin Skone, was invited to speak at the launch of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s Manifesto for the 2026 Senedd Election.
Tal was given a short slot to talk about the importance of child health to him and his family and friends, covering the four calls contained in the College’s manifesto:
- Empower the child health workforce: Attract, support and retain a workforce able to care for current and future generations.
- Embrace data and digital innovation: Revolutionise child health through data transparency and digitalisation, investment in IT infrastructure and facilitating record sharing across sectors.
- Transform health services: Prioritise children’s health, happiness and wellbeing within the planning, funding and delivery of the NHS.
- Deliver for all: Ensure every child has an opportunity for a healthy life by mitigating the wider determinants of health.
Supported by his parents, brother and other members of the Youth Board, Tal spoke about the importance of having children involved in their care as full and active participants, helping to decide what works for them. Tal also talked about the importance of accessible spaces, having access to peer groups with similar experiences, how we can improve mental health, the importance of Children’s Hospices, and keeping active, or, most importantly to Tal, hitting people very hard, legally, on a rugby pitch!
Tal’s speech contained some questions to the audience, including multiple members of the Senedd, medical professionals, including experts in child health in Wales and other members of the Welsh Government who will be key in helping the ideas in this manifesto and in Tal’s speech become reality.
Dr Nick Wilkinson, an Officer of the Royal College of Paediatrics in Wales, said of Tal’s speech:
“It was lovely to have Tal speaking at our manifesto launch today. When talking about children’s health, their voices must be at the centre of everything we do. It’s vital that the Welsh Government listen to Tal’s concerns and implement the asks in our manifesto, as well as funding providers like Tŷ Hafan and Tŷ Gobaith appropriately, in order to ensure that we deliver on a healthy future for Wales’s children.”
Everyone at Tŷ Hafan is incredibly proud of Tal for standing up and speaking publicly on behalf of himself, the Youth Board and everyone who uses a children’s hospice in Wales.
To mark Tal’s achievement, we celebrated at the hospice with the Youth Board. A special cake was made, and Children’s Rights and Education Practitioner Katie Simmons gave a speech on Tal’s incredible achievements.
Llongyfarchiadau/Congratulations and well done Tal!
