Introducing ‘careFull co‑design’: principles shaped by our practice
Since 2019, Fullscope has been learning alongside children, young people, families and the practitioners who support them. Today, we’re proud to share our new careFull co‑design principles.
Building on our earlier Involving Children, Young People and Families framework, published in 2024, these principles reflect an evolution of our approach, bringing together learning that has been shaped by thousands of conversations, dozens of collaborative projects, and the steady work of weaving trust across a complex system.
Why careFull co‑design?
Across every project, one truth has held steady: co‑design only works when care is at the centre. Care is not an add‑on. It is the practice: taking time, giving space, respecting boundaries, and recognising the impact of life events. It is what allows children, young people and families to shape support as equal partners and experts by experience.
“We care more about building deep, honest relationships than ‘counting heads’ or hitting targets.”
Seven years of practice
These principles are rooted in the real work of the projects that have shaped Fullscope’s identity.
Fullscope associates, 2024
CBForward: listening first, building trust, shaping support together
In north Cambridge, CBForward showed what becomes possible when support is designed around a family’s real‑life experience rather than rigid thresholds.
“You gently move to support that person… embracing the silences, not filling the gaps.”
This work taught us that co‑design is relational, slow, and deeply human, and that families’ hopes and strengths must lead.
Understanding Self‑Harm: creativity as a doorway to expression
Working with nine young people we learned how creative practice can unlock expression when words feel too heavy. The young people co‑designed Ask Me How I Am, the award‑winning animated film now used in training for hundreds of professionals.
“This wasn’t about you come along and give us your views… this was sit and listen hard, listen deep.”
The young people’s leadership reshaped local understanding of self‑harm and continues to influence system practice.
Mapping Soham Stories: the wisdom of children
More than 1,100 primary‑aged children shared what matters to them through creative mapping, drawing and storytelling. Their insights travelled from classrooms to Parliament, reminding us that younger children - so often excluded from co‑design - hold powerful wisdom about their own wellbeing.
As Charlie, aged 9, told MPs:
“When I did this my imagination burst out of my head… You can explain better.”
Our Voices, 2024
Our Voices: young people shaping the system from the inside
“The power was shared very equally… we gave our opinion on everything.”
Our Voices has shown what happens when young people are embedded in decision‑making. They have shaped helped assessment tools, self‑referral forms, outreach materials and more, influencing conversations across the system. A legacy of their dedication is Help You Help Them, a peer-to-peer wellbeing support toolkit made by young people, for young people.
A system that listens, learns and changes
These principles are our anchor and an offer back to the system, a reminder that good support begins with listening, prevention starts with relationships, and children, young people and families’ insights must shape the services that affect their lives.
The principles are also our commitment that we will continue to steward this work with care, humility and determination, holding space for the voices that too often go unheard.
Download Fullscope’s careFull co-design principles
If you’d like to explore the thinking behind the principles, you can read more about our practice or revisit our earlier CYPF involvement framework.
And if you’re working on co‑design in your own organisation, we’d love to connect because the work of building a care‑centred system is collective and ongoing.
May 2026