Yesterday (10 February) we were delighted to be at Cardiff Bay, hosting an event to launch our Lived Experience Toolkit — giving employers and partners practical tools to open up meaningful volunteering and employment opportunities.
Funded through the WCVA, the toolkit has two core functions:
- Supporting grassroot smaller organisations to learn and embed a lived experience model with practical tips and tools that could support them to implement their own lived experience volunteering strategy through such methods as co-design, peer evaluation and co-production as well as service delivery.
- Also designed for individuals with lived experience, the platform will provide insight and awareness on how they can use their lived experience to access service delivery opportunities whether through volunteering or paid work. The platform will have links to opportunities, job roles, resources for employability support, information on disclosure and guidance around self-care.
With approximately 1 in 4 adults in the UK of working age having a criminal record, the toolkit has an ambition to be a vital resource in supporting organisations to effectively recruit and retain individuals alongside increasing lived experience and diversity in the workplace.
The event was funded through the Welsh Government’s Taith initiative, which also enabled us to exchange insights and experience with a likeminded organisation in Norway. We highlighted our learning from the exchange at this event.
Guests heard from a range of speakers who highlighted the benefits of lived experience and called on organisations across Wales to back lived experience, create opportunity and help drive real change.
Tracey Burley, St Giles Chief Executive, said:
We are in a strong position with this work in Wales, thanks to the genuine partnership between Welsh Government, WCVA and the wider third sector. That collaboration has enabled significant progress, particularly alongside KBT College, the leading lived experience education provider in Europe, whose expertise and research insight have been invaluable.
As we move forward, it is vital that we continue to work together — learning from one another, sharing evidence and experience, and building on what works. By strengthening these partnerships, we can continue to do more, and do it better, for the people and communities we serve.
Thank you to everyone who attended and a special thanks to all our speakers and Mike Hedges MS for sponsoring the event. We were proud to welcome Jane Hutt MS, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, as our keynote speaker. We would like to thank Vikki Howells MS, Minister for Further and Higher Education, for her message of support.