Inspirational Lauren uses experience to help transform services
A young woman from Holt is helping to shape the future of mental health services through participation groups at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT).
Lauren, who is 25 and was recently discharged from NSFT’s Youth Services, has been working with the specialist mental health provider since February after finding out about Particip8, a group for young people with lived experience of mental health issues in Suffolk.
She said: “As I live in Norfolk, I was signposted to my local Children, Families and Young People participation team, where I met people participation co-ordinator Andrea Bland. I have since been working with her on a one-to-one basis.”
So far, Lauren, who went to school in Norwich, has been involved in a host of projects, including:
- Providing general and specific project feedback
- Safewards
- Discovery College
- Joining interview panels for staff recruitment
- NSFT’s 15 Steps challenges
- Norfolk County Council’s Flourish Awards
- Sharing her personal mental health journey and ideas for improvement at an NSFT board meeting
“Participation is so important because it is NSFT listening to and working with service users. It leads to us being able to improve services for those who need them,” said Lauren. “I feel I am helping to change things for other young people.”
Lauren’s proudest achievement to date was taking part in the Flourish Awards, hosted by the Children and Young People’s Strategic Alliance (CYPSA), for which she helped with the judging and attended the awards ceremony. “That was exciting as I got to walk on a red carpet as well as being part of recognising the contribution individuals and organisations make towards helping young people flourish.”
Next in the pipeline for Lauren is co-producing a young people’s participation newsletter each month with Andrea. She also hopes to join projects to support improvements in adult mental health services and Quality Improvement projects.
Andrea said: “Lauren has been an important part of our participation and her contributions are so valuable. It’s only by listening to the people who use or have used our services that we can improve what we offer.”
If you have, or know someone who has experience of the services offered by NSFT and would like to support the Trust to make improvements email participation@nsft.nhs.uk or visit nsft.uk/GetInvolved to find out about a wide range of different opportunities for you to get involved with at the Trust.