News - Championing the voice of lived experience

Cheshire West Voluntary Action (CWVA) is playing an important role with helping community sector organisations and partners develop their lived experience work.

The Local Voices Framework has been created, outlining a set of principles for a consistent approach to coproduction across west Cheshire and guiding organisations in this area.

• More about the Local Voices Framework

Tyra Goodwin, Lived Experience Consultant at CWVA, has been leading the roll out of the Local Voices Framework and offering wider lived experience support in the following ways.

• Four organisations – Chapter, Wilderness Tribe, Motherwell Cheshire and Fallen Angels – have been given funding for developing their work with lived experience. Funding has led to training, workshops, setting up forums and more so people with lived experience have a strong voice in the community
• Three workshops have been delivered on the Local Voices Framework, with 23 people attending across the sessions, looking at how their organisations can use the framework to embed coproduction in their work
• 13 organisations have been given bespoke, one-to-one support to look at their current lived experience work and how the Local Voices Framework can be fed in
• Working with the Refugee and Asylum Seeker team at the Council and supporting community sector organisations that have received sanctuary funding to explore how they can build on their lived experience work and embed that through their projects and organisation
• Exploring a Local Voices Network to bring together people and organisations to discuss coproduction and learn from one another
• Feeding into new strategies and projects like the All Age Mental Health Strategy

Tyra’s lived experience helped her gain employment as a Participation Worker at West Cheshire Foodbank, before moving to CWVA, and she also set up Thrive to Survive in Ellesmere Port, offering a support service for families and vulnerable women in Ellesmere Port and Elton.

She recently attended Parliament during Challenge Poverty Week as part of her role with the Let’s End Poverty Enabling Group, discussing with policy and decision makers in Government how lived experience should be built into new strategies, reviews and legislation from the very start.

• Find out more about the Let’s End Poverty campaign

If you’d like a chat about the Local Voices Framework or CWVA’s wider work around coproduction and lived experience, please email: tyra.goodwin@cwva.org.uk.

Tyra can link you to upcoming training opportunities for the Local Voices Framework or offer more bespoke support for your organisation to support you on your journey with embedding lived experience.