Lifeways hosts first-ever ‘Our Voice’ mental health workshop

Lifeways has launched its first-ever Our Voice workshop for people we support in our Mental Health division as part of our passion for co-production. 

Our Voice workshops, which we already run in our Supported Living and Residential divisions, give people we support the opportunity to share what we’re doing well, what we could improve, and how we can bring more voices together across regions. 

A dozen people supported by Lifeways came together in Sheffield from our north-east and central regions for the first-ever Mental Health division workshop to share their experiences, ideas, and hopes for the future of support at Lifeways. 

Ruth (pictured on the right in below image), a person we support in Newcastle, was one of the delegates. She said: “The event has opened up a lot of opportunities. It’s welcoming and friendly, and it’s made us think more about what we would like to change. I love getting involved in things like this ... I hope that this process will make better outcomes for everyone.”

Josh (pictured below), a person we support in Scunthorpe, said he felt it was a great opportunity to give positive feedback to the people who support him.  

He added: “I wanted to get involved to give positive feedback and give something back. I hope my feedback helps other people who want to use the service.”

Caitlin and Leo are also supported in our Newcastle service. Caitlin said: “It’s been really interesting to meet new people and share ideas which can help all the services come together as a community and make things better.” 

Leo added: “I think it will open up a lot of opportunities for everyone. I wanted to get involved to make experiences better for everyone in all the services. I just want to make it top notch.” 

Catherine Bircumshaw (picture below), a north-east Area Manager in our Mental Health Division, said: “Our Voice workshops are going to become vital in finding out what the people we support want from us as staff, checking quality of services, getting involved in inclusive recruitment and, crucially, having a voice higher up in the organisation and affecting change. It’s really exciting to get this started and I’m really looking forward to seeing more and more people we support getting involved and having their say.”

The workshop also gave people time to share their personal stories, build new friendships and speak openly about their journeys with mental health and independence. 

Find out more about co-production at Lifeways here: 
https://lifeways.co.uk/for-families/our-care/co-production-at-lifeways