Our goal at People’s Voice Media is to use lived experience stories to change the world. One of the key ways in which we can do that is through building and supporting a movement of lived experience storytellers. In the run up to our conference, we’re asking anyone and everyone who works with lived experience stories to fill in our survey to help us get a better understanding of the challenges people face and what solutions we might be a part of. In this blog, Communications and Community Engagement Manager, Lauren, explains why we’re asking these questions, why now, and how you can help.

My role as Community Engagement Manager is a new one at People’s Voice Media, and, for me, the starting point for understanding how I do my absolute best in this job is to ask questions and listen to the answers. The world around lived experience storytelling is full of passionate, dedicated and frustrated people, who are often juggling competing demands on their time and energy. This is true of a mother fighting to get support for her autistic daughter who is struggling to feel safe attending school. It is also true of a NHS middle manager who wants to make the service they provide more person-centred, but is hampered by budgets and dismissive senior staff. We appreciate that most people don’t end up in this arena unless they care deeply about other people and about making things better. 

So the big question in my head is: how can we support people to do that? Whatever we deliver, I want it to be absolutely the thing that helps people take their work or their advocacy forward. Of course, what that looks like will be different for everyone and their own individual circumstances and goals. But it is also crucial that we link people to build a community and a movement around lived experience storytelling. Doing a survey in this way helps us see common areas where we might step in to provide that extra training, support or expertise that will help people progress the change they are trying to make.

I’ve already had informal chats with people during our online Community Reporter Catch-Ups and skills sessions, but this survey is an attempt to formalise a bit of that learning and reach a wider range of people. In particular, those who aren’t able to, or haven’t been attracted to come to our events for whatever reason.

About the survey

Surveys aren’t generally how we work here at People’s Voice Media – we are always championing methods that give in-depth responses in people’s own words.

Gobby surveys are a little different to your standard tick-box response form, though. They allow free-text answers, so you can answer in your own voice. They also allow us to work a little bit with “the wisdom of crowds”, because when you are filling in a Gobby survey, you can find answers from other people that “match” your own, and give those answers your support too.

Here is a video from Gobby explaining a bit more about how their surveys work:

Ready to join in? Click here to complete the survey, or read on for more information.

What am I being asked to do?

Take our short survey over on Gobby, which contains 10 questions and should take about 15 mins to complete. You can complete it on a phone, tablet, or computer

The survey asks questions about:

• how you are using lived experience storytelling and the issues you care about
• how we can support you and what skills would you like to develop
• how we can make our support and communications more accessible to you
• creative and alternative ways of lived experience storytelling
• making sure we don’t cause harm or re-traumatise people in our work

Why should I take part?

We do have a carrot for you – everyone who takes part has the option to be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 gift voucher.

However, even if you’re not the lucky winner, we will actively use these answers to plan the activity and support that we offer to our network and community in the future, so if you’ve ever thought something like:

• “I wish People’s Voice Media would do a session on this topic.”
• “It would really help me if I could build some skills in writing policy briefs.”
• “I wish I could go to that catch-up, but lunchtimes don’t work for me at all, I’d rather meet in the mornings.”
• “I keep missing the advertising of these events because I’m not on Facebook.”

Or similar, then now is your chance to influence the direction of People’s Voice Media’s support.

Who can take part in the survey?

Anyone who works with or is involved with lived experience storytelling – in the broadest sense. You might be:

• a trained Community Reporter
• someone campaigning for change based on their own lived experience
• a professional whose role involves hearing and acting upon people’s lived experiences
• a community organiser or activist on an issue that affects people
• an academic with a research interest in lived experience methods
• someone with lived experience trying to get their voice heard

If you are interested in lived experience storytelling in any capacity, we’d love to hear from you. You don’t have to have worked with or engaged with People’s Voice Media before.

Also, if this applies to you, you might also be interested in attending some or all of our Stories for Change week of conversation and learning! 

I’m interested in the results – will you be sharing them?

The survey is being run to tie into our week of conversation and learning, Stories for Change – you can find out more about that in our blog here. This will run from 23rd-27th November and the results from the survey so far will be fed into the discussions held in these sessions, and summarised in our Day 5 Celebration and Community Commitments workshop. We’d love to see you there to expand on the answers or reflect on other responses. You can book onto all the events that week here.

If you have any more questions or would like to chat more, please drop me a comment below or email enquries@peoplesvoicemedia.co.uk

We have come to the end of the journey for our Amplifying Voices project, but as one participant so powerfully said, “this is not the destination, this is a stop on the journey.” Issac Samuels reflects on what the programme and its participants have achieved so far, and looks forward to the next steps.

From the very beginning, Amplifying Voices was more than just a programme. It was about creating space: space to be heard, to be seen, and to bring together racialised individuals committed to social justice and community change. Led by Isaac Samuels and Cecily Henry, the programme supported participants to develop their skills and knowledge in community reporting, while grounding their work in real-life issues affecting their communities.

Building a community of changemakers

We had over 70 applicants for the Amplifying Voices programme, which was a year-long journey of support for changemakers from Global Majority communities. The people taking part received training in digital storytelling, facilitation, and story curation, but crucially became part of a close-knit community – a diverse group of individuals united by a shared commitment to change. What stood out most was the sense of connection. Alongside their learning, the participants on Amplifying Voices supported each other, collaborated, and created lasting bonds that will continue far beyond the programme.

I came for the training, but I’m leaving with a community.

Rooted in real stories

The Amplifying Voices changemakers quickly put their new skills into action to support the causes that were important to them. Across the programme, participants led powerful grassroots projects tackling issues such as:

• Health inequalities within racialised communities
• Suicide prevention and mental health awareness
• Elevating the voices of carers from racialised backgrounds

Each project reflected lived experience, shaped by those closest to the challenges—and the solutions.

For the first time, I felt like my story wasn’t just valid – it was necessary.

Learning to amplify

Through the programme, participants developed practical skills in digital Community Reporting. These tools enabled them to:

• Change perceptions through storytelling
• Amplify messages that matter at a local level
• Build confidence in sharing their voices

As well as these valuable and effective strategies for change, what also emerged was a collective sense of purpose.

We’re not just telling stories. We’re shifting narratives that have been ignored for too long.

What we learned

This journey also highlighted important truths. Many racialised individuals are already doing vital work in their communities, but often without the support they need. This lack of support carries both emotional and practical impacts, making their work even more challenging.

We carry so much. Not just our work, but our communities. That weight isn’t always recognised.

For People’s Voice Media as an organisation, there was a lot of valuable learning too. The programme reinforced the importance of:

• Creating space for community care and wellbeing
• Recognising the emotional labour behind grassroots work
• Supporting individuals not just as changemakers, but as people

And perhaps most importantly, we learned that the path is not always easy.

Passion gets you started, but support is what keeps you going.

Looking ahead

While this chapter of Amplifying Voices is coming to a close, its impact continues. Rather than seeing this as an end point, we are using it as a moment to pause, reflect, and carry forward everything that has been built. The stories shared, the skills developed, and the connections formed will continue to grow, evolve, and shape what comes next.

Your thoughts

We’d love to hear from you:

• What does “amplifying voices” mean to you?
• How can we better support grassroots changemakers in our communities?
• What stories do you think still need to be heard?

This work was generously supported by The National Lottery Community Fund – thank you! You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.