Lived experience into lived solutions – introducing the National
Co-production Partnership

Homelessness is not a statistic. It’s people’s lives.

People who have lived through an experience understand what it’s like in ways that others can’t – we must be part of creating solutions.

“For me, the impact has been knowing my journey isn’t wasted. It’s being used to bring honesty and hope.” – Sam, Advisor

As Advisors on the new National Coproduction Partnership, our purpose is to ensure the Homewards programme is informed by lived expertise from the six local areas. We are supported by Groundswell and work closely with Homewards colleagues and partners.

Our number one priority is to shift public narratives. We need to understand homelessness better and remove the stigma if we are going to end it. This means showing where the system isn’t working and moving away from blame, finger-pointing and personal failures towards a new story. A new story that shows there are many things pushing people into homelessness; because we know that it could happen to more of us than realise, and we know that it’s not just rough sleeping.

Advisors meet monthly, usually online. We wish we had more chances to travel and get together in person.

So far, we have focused on setting the right foundations for our work.

We chose to call ourselves the National Coproduction Partnership because coproduction is what we’re working towards – an equal partnership where everyone is valued, rewarded and respected, and a commitment to sharing power and decisions across the Homewards programme from the start to the finish.

“Coproduction gives us the chance to work with other groups and share ideas. I feel like I’m not a one-man band working with homelessness” – Jim, Advisor

In our meetings we avoid making assumptions about other people’s experiences and to respect everyone’s opinion. This means allowing space for everyone to share and giving people time to express themselves. We aim to be trauma-informed; we are committed to prioritising connections and relationships and Advisors are not pressured to talk at length about their experiences if they do not want to.

We have also designed an approach to recruitment and diversity, seeking to include more voices of young people. We have done coproduction and storytelling training to ensure our work is as impactful and safe as it can be.

Although it’s early days for the Partnership, we have already provided expert advice to support a lived experience panel in Aberdeen, language guidance, and Homewards’ Data Lab.

We discussed ideas for how to achieve our goal of changing public perceptions of homelessness at our first in-person meeting in Sheffield with HRH The Prince of Wales.

In the coming months, we look forward to moving forward with this project, as well as linking in with all the local areas and helping Homewards to understand how to truly and meaningfully place lived experience at the heart of its programme.