BY-AND-FOR ORGANISATIONS

Having been in the vanguard of the campaign around lived experience in the health and justice systems for the past 20 years, our Founder Mark Johnson has been selected for the Lloyds Bank Foundation’s Research Advisory Group into the value of organisations led by-and-for the communities they serve (more info on the research here).

There are long-standing debates over the role of lived (as opposed to learned or professional) experience in the charity sector. Variations between sectors have led to a range of terminology e.g. user-led, self-help, equity-led and lived experience leadership.

Although fundamental to the charity ecosystem, by-and-for organisations have often remained at the edges. More funders and commissioners are starting to recognise how communities can be better served by people who share lived experiences of the complex issues faced. Consequently, organisations led by marginalised communities can offer a refreshing antidote to the heavily criticised idea of being “hard-to-reach”. A self-help group is more likely to find funders “hard-to-reach” than the people needing its specialist services and activities.

We have played a central role in recruiting the research partner, the New Economics Foundation, who over the next year will be co-producing the research.

If you want to get involved, then get in touch.