Torbay Young People’s Vaping Project
Listening to young people to shape local prevention
Torbay Public Health commissioned Engaging Communities South West to explore young people’s experiences, views and understanding of vaping in Torbay.
The project was designed to hear directly from children and young people aged 11–18, while also gathering views from parents, carers, teachers and professionals. It used a youth-led approach, making sure young people helped shape the work from start to finish.
This project shows how co-production with young people can lead to more honest insight, better evidence and stronger local prevention work.
Click the link below to see a video of this youth project in action.
What the project did
- Recruited a Young People’s Panel of 12 young people aged 11–17 from Torquay, Paignton and Brixham
- Supported a 16-year-old Young People’s Lead to help guide the project
- Worked with the panel to shape the survey, engagement activities and key messages
- Gathered survey responses from 445 young people aged 11–18
- Worked with Sound Communities to reach young people who may not engage through formal settings
- Delivered a creative Year 6 session at Watcombe Primary School
- Collected additional feedback from 44 teachers/professionals and 16 parents/carers
- Produced a final report to inform local public health planning.
Impact and outcomes
- Created one of the clearest local evidence bases on youth vaping in Torbay
- Highlighted the need for prevention work before and during the move to secondary school
- Showed that vaping is often linked to stress, anxiety, social belonging and habit
- Identified gaps in information, support and confidence across schools, families and services
- Strengthened understanding of how peer-led and youth-led approaches can support better public health work
- Provided practical recommendations for education, prevention, cessation support and enforcement.
Involving Young People
The Young People’s Panel played a central role throughout the project. They helped refine the survey, shared what they were seeing and hearing about vaping, co-designed a primary school lesson, supported adult survey collection in Paignton and presented their reflections at the final project event.
Their involvement made sure the work reflected real language, real experiences and real social settings – not adult assumptions.
The project showed that young people need more than warnings about vaping. They need clear information, trusted support, safe spaces to talk, and prevention messages shaped with them.
It also showed that young people can play a meaningful role in local public health research – helping to design methods, gather insight and present findings to decision-makers.
Project news
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Young people lead Torbay research to help shape local response to youth vaping
A group of young people from across Torbay have helped lead an important new research project exploring young people’s experiences, views and understanding of vaping. The Torbay Young People’s Vaping Research Project, commissioned by Torbay Public Health and delivered by us here at Engaging Communities South West, used a youth-led…
