Promoting best practice
Many commissioners understand the huge and varied benefits brought to the services they commission by people with lived experience in both volunteer and paid roles.
They know the added benefits that service users derive from being supported by people who can share their own experiences as well as providing real-life examples of successful recovery. They know that peer volunteers can reduce feelings of isolation and increase feelings of self-worth and self-sufficiency, they can also build trust and confidence and, as a result, succeed in connecting the people they support to other services and opportunities.
Commissioners also know that they themselves benefit from the insights and different viewpoints of people with lived experience who are able to suggest improvements both to services and to the way in which they are commissioned. People with lived experience are increasingly represented at every stage of the commissioning cycle.
Below you can see short video interviews with commissioners about the value they and the services they commission have gained from supporting people with lived experience in both paid and voluntary roles.
You can also download the best practice guide here.
The views of commissioners
Manjinder Purewal, Head of Implementation for Lived Experience, talks about the value the Probation Service now places on people with lived experience both as peer mentors and employees. She details the progress the service has made and the plans to improve practice further.
Phil from Revolving Doors talks about the value of people with lived experience designing, conducting and analysing peer research. He talks about the training and support Revolving Doors give to everyone involved in peer research.