Skip to content
Dame Rachel de Souza profile image
Dame Rachel de Souza
Children’s Commissioner for England

As Children’s Commissioner, my job is to hear from children about what is going on in their lives, and to tell people in power what they should do to make children’s lives better. I have heard from a million children, and I want to ensure all children’s voices are heard and taken into account on decisions that impact them.

Find out more about my work



How to get involved and make a difference



Youth Voices Forum

If you’re aged 13+ you can join my Youth Voices Forum by clicking here, for more opportunities to have your say on important issues.

School Council

You can get involved with your school council if it has one – this is a great way to think about what more schools can do to make a difference.

Local Council & MP

You can go online to see if your local council has a Youth Council, or you can write to your MP about an issue you really care about.

Listen to The Big Conversation Podcast

The Big Conversation: In conversation with the Children’s Commissioner and her youth Ambassadors is my podcast series where I share the voices and views of England’s children. 

The podcast draws on the themes in The Big Ambition and will focus on the most important issues that are impacting young people’s lives with solutions developed with children from across England.    

What you’ve told me

Child Poverty


[I worry about] what if we won’t have enough to eat this month….We do try as much as possible to save up what we have

Girl, 14

Pornography


“It’s just so common, it’s so normalised and everyone’s just so desensitised to it, but a lot of people just accept it as kind of a normal which is wrong.”

Girl, 16

Unregistered Alternative Provision


“I’ve been coming here since Year 9, coming up three years now. I haven’t been to mainstream school
since the end of Year 8 […] it’s good to be in this environment to get used to it for college. […] It’s smaller and much easier to concentrate.”

Boy, 15, attending an unregistered AP

How can you get help?

If you are feeling worried about any of these issues you can call Childline for support or go to their website.

If you are living in care, are living away from home, have a social worker or are a care leaver you can contact the Children’s Commissioner’s Help at Hand team.