People’s Voice Media recently worked with Dr. Dayo Eseonu from Lancaster University on a research project investigating racial justice and equality that saw us work with racially minoritised young people in South Manchester as part of a 3-day Community Reporting programme. Tony, our facilitator, shares his experiences of the programme…

The participants are young people (13 to 15 years old) who were attending Rekindle’s summer school in Hulme, Manchester. I was tasked with equipping the young people with Community Reporting skills to share their lived experiences about their experience of place from a racial justice and equality lens.

There was so much that resonated with me about this piece of work as it brought up my early years of experience of education and racial injustice. As a part of my preparation, I visited the school’s website and was immediately impressed with the school’s ethos and especially their strapline “The school you wish you’d attended”.

There were some challenges on the project, such as the age range of the group being slightly younger than I had expected and each day having slightly different participants (rather than the same group throughout). However, I adapted the session plan to keep the young people engaged with a variety of participative activities and I was mindful of a conversation that we had previously had at People’s Voice Media, wherein we spoke about giving ourselves the permission to be creative. Technical issues with the recording kit meant that the stories we gathered couldn’t be used as recordings due to sound quality but we were still able to get rich insights from the young people about their experiences of growing-up in the city. They developed skills in interviewing and storytelling, even if the technology failed us! 

Working on this project it was important that I created Timothy Clarke’s four stages of psychological safety in order to make it a space in which the young people could share lived experiences connected to racial equality and justice:

1. Inclusion Safety: People feel comfortable and wanted in a group.
2. Learner Safety: People feel able to ask questions, try things out and make mistakes. (The group did this in bucket loads!)
3. Contributor Safety: People feel safe enough to share their own ideas without being embarrassed.
4. Challenger Safety: People challenge other group members’ opinions including the group leader’s opinion. Fostering the culture of safety to challenge meant that young people were able to have ‘brave space conversations’ which are more meaningful than safe space conversations.

It is these pillars that enabled us to have so many insightful, challenging, productive and human conversations throughout the three days. 

Overall, the sessions were fun, there was a point when one of the young people asked me about my motivation for working with young people and I paused, looked up and another young person was trying to fit an elastic band around his head… I explained that it is moments like these that I relish working with young people.

The HOME? heritage project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund has been focusing on the collection, curation, and dissemination of lived experiences of migrants (including refugees, people seeking asylum and other migrants) living in Northern England over the last 10 years. 

In August we pulled together the feedback gathered from the 5 Knowledge Exchanges in the 5 areas during Refugee Week in June and the Pan Northern Knowledge exchange in July in Liverpool. We are now collating the feedback to create roadmaps/action plans for each area including an overarching one for the North of England.

A total of 117 people attended the Knowledge Exchanges and people in each of the areas had the opportunity to hear people’s oral histories about their lived experiences of coming to live in the UK. 

The Knowledge Exchanges gave the wider community the opportunity to learn about this heritage, provoke discussion around the issues and people came up with ideas to input into a local road map/action plan that will help to – 

• disseminate the learning.
• create actions that help people to develop compassion and understanding. 

People said the event had inspired them to “get more involved”, “pay more attention”, “speak out more” and given them greater awareness. One expressed an intention to start volunteering. People demonstrated a shift in attitudes. One response described how they would “talk to people more positively about new migrants”, while another stated they would “be more aware of the importance to make people more aware of the similarities we share with asylum seekers, why they come and should not be a competition for resources, housing or jobs”. Another answer described how the event had left them feeling “more excited to be positive and keep working hard to adapt to life as a newcomer in the UK”. These responses show a positive personal impact on some of the attendees of the events.

The main key ideas that came up from the Knowledge Exchanges are:

• Campaigning for better rights for Migrants, Refugees, and asylum seekers – this includes the right to work, better housing, better financial help, better health support and more legal support.
• Connecting support services together more effectively.
• The need for specific trauma informed mental health support.
• Creating more activities for people to combat social isolation, especially for young men.
• Better targeted health care support for women.
• More ESOL support.

The feedback from the Knowledge Exchanges and the roadmaps will inform project resources that are being produced now, in phase 4 of the project, which is focusing on Widening Impact by producing –

• an educational toolkit – this will be a resource pack for organisations and individuals to use.
• a website – the stories, newspaper database and toolkit will be available from the website.
• a local newspaper story archive/database
• an animation – which will also be part of the toolkit and screened across the 5 areas in early 2024.

During each Knowledge Exchange there was also the opportunity for people to sign up to get involved with the project and many people have signed up. In response to this we are currently planning more Community Reporting training, Archive Research Training and Train the Trainers training that will happen from Oct through to March.

In the bustling heart of the Black Country, a transformative initiative is stirring waves of change, reshaping our interactions with healthcare systems. The partnership between People’s Voice Media and Wolverhampton Voluntary and Community Action has created the space for an inspiring endeavor: Community Reporting within the Black Country Integrated Care System.

In a world where countless stories often go unheard, Community Reporting emerges as a beacon of change. This visionary project bridges the gap between citizens and healthcare systems, capturing the everyday experiences of those accessing health services. It illuminates the intricate nuances that shape our interactions within the healthcare and care systems, enabling local people to have a voice.

On Day 1 of the workshop, seven local individuals embarked on a transformative journey. With fervent curiosity, they delved into the world of Community Reporting. Techniques such as snapshot storytelling took centre stage, showcasing diverse ways stories can be woven, captured, and shared. 

At the core of Community Reporting lies the belief that every voice holds value. This principle reverberates throughout the process, linking stories with individuals and organisations capable of driving positive change. It weaves a rich narrative tapestry, offering a real world view of lived experiences that might otherwise remain unheard.

Beyond traditional healthcare boundaries, this two-year project overflows with innovation. The Integrated Care System framework finds a potent ally in Community Reporting, identifying what works and unravelling transformational opportunities. The project promises to infuse the Black Country’s healthcare landscape with a vital wave of innovation.

As we navigate this inspiring narrative, the potential for profound change becomes evident. Community Reporting empowers individuals and communities, forging connections, and nurturing empathy. Together, as participants, storytellers, and advocates, we amplify voices. We are crafting a future where every lived experience contributes to a healthier, more inclusive society.

Do you want to work in better partnership with those who receive your services?

Do you think that Coproduction is a good concept but not sure how to make it real in your work?

Do you want to listen more to people’s stories of their lived experience but not sure where  to start?

Do you want to find others who have the same values as you and learn from their work? 

Ideas Alliance together with People’s Voice Media are running a three-year-project from 2021-2024 looking at how we develop, explore and exchange knowledge of co-production across England, with funding from the National Lottery’s Community Fund.

We are looking for people from 12 organisations/ groups from (or with connections in) North East London to be involved in the project for its third year from October 2023 – July 2024. We are keen to partner with groups and organisations that are community-focused to deliver this. 

The project will include access to a Community Reporting Training programme and the Institute for Community Reporters web platform as well as co-production learning workshops, 1 to 1 coaching and an end of project community learning festival which we will co-create together.

The offer across the project is not ‘fixed’ –  we want to work with people who can co-create what support they need in relation to co-production, and what support they can offer other people. This will be a journey of learning together and supporting each other to develop a deeper understanding, and greater knowledge of co-production and its impact.

View the up to date information sheet below and express you interest in being involved via this form. 

Join the team at People’s Voice Media and members of the Community Reporter network as we host our 2nd online catch up of 2023.

People’s Voice Media hosts 2 online catch-ups per year for the people, groups and organisations that make-up the Community Reporter network. These meetups are a great way for members to keep up-to-date with what is happening in the Community Reporter network, learn new stuff, share expertise, exchange knowledge, find out about opportunities they can get involved in, meet other members, network and much more and connect to other peers.

And if you’re not a member of the Community Reporter network… then don’t worry – you can still come along and find out more about us! Everyone is welcome and we are always looking for new members.

It’s only an hour, so grab a brew and a biscuit if you like, log on and find out what exciting stuff is happening across our network! This will be held on Zoom.

You can sign up to get involved through eventbrite (we’ve conveniently included a checkout link below) and best of all it’s free!

If you’d like a little more information about what we’ll be discussing – you can find that here.

Financially supported places

A quick heads up – we have 2 financially supported places available for this catch-up that will be allocated on a first-come, first-allocated basis. The financial support is up to a maximum of £25.00. This can be used to cover:

1. Expenses such as childcare costs etc. that you incur through attending the meet-up. To claim this, you’ll need to send us an expenses form and receipts.

2. Other support costs such as a PA to support you to attend. To claim this, you’ll need to send us an expenses form and receipt OR ask your support to invoice us directly.

3. Internet costs – These can be paid at a rate of £5.00 per hour, or if you are purchasing a online connection for this session (i.e., internet cafe etc.) then you can claim the full cost, up to £25.00 with a receipt via an expense form.

4. Contribution fee. To claim this, you’ll need to send us an invoice and be responsible for your own tax and insurance as a self-employed person.

To request a financially supported place, please indicate this on the registration form and our team will get in touch before the meet-up with further details.