We believe that the people we support should be genuine partners in everything we do, whether that’s shaping the services we deliver, or influencing the campaigns we run.
We are committed to listening to and learning from the people we support, involving them in every part of Nacro, helping to shape our service delivery, inform research and policy, and create better experiences.
There are many opportunities for our service users to get involved – locally, regionally, and nationally. You can find some of the different ways you can get involved below, how to find out more, and how to get in touch.
Nacro’s Service User Advisory Board works with Nacro’s leaders to ensure the people we support have a voice and can improve things both within and outside of Nacro. The Board is made up of up to 15 service users, representing different services within Nacro. It meets around four times a year, either online or in person. No experience is needed, although membership is ideally suited to those who have already taken a lead role locally or expressed interest in local community voice initiatives.
The Justice ExChange is a national forum for Nacro service users who have had contact with the justice system. The group meets regularly and is an informal get-together where attendees can share their experiences of the justice system; contribute to our campaigns and have their voices heard by those in power to push for change while gaining skills and experience. We regularly talk with MPs and decision makers, making sure they hear about the issues that matter from those with lived experience of the system.
Read the first in a series of briefings from the Justice ExChange Better Futures Project.
In every Education and Skills Centre and Totton College we hold learner forums within teaching groups for all learners. The ideas and suggestions from those forums are then shared at a centre forum each term. Representatives from each centre then have the opportunity to attend the national learner forum each term to share successes, raise issues and make suggestions.
In our housing services we ensure that tenants are involved in discussions around what support they need and how it is delivered. We get feedback on our services in a variety of ways, including house meetings, one-to-one support sessions, surveys, and forums. We listen to our tenants in order to ensure that our services are meeting their needs, and to help us to continuously learn and improve. And we listen to the challenges they face and work with them to inform and shape our policy and campaigning work.
We have a range of local forums across all our services, giving our service users the opportunity to have their voice heard. We encourage feedback in various ways, including our ‘have your say’ leaflets which are available in every service.
These allow you to submit your feedback to the team directly, ensuring that we feedback to our service users about the actions we’ve taken. These are displayed on our ‘ you said we did’ displays across all our services.
Being involved with the Advisory Board has helped me to feel confident and valued by the organisation. I have had the opportunity to be a judge for the Nacro staff awards, have been involved in the recruitment of senior staff and trustees, and inputted into the new brand.Gino - Service user involvement participant
Artwork by Karl Davis who has lived experience of the justice system and is a member of the Nacro Justice ExChange
Andrea Coady is Nacro’s Head of Service User Involvement. She works directly with our learners and service users to ensure their views and experiences shape Nacro’s services and the campaigns that we run. Andrea is passionate about ensuring that everyone has a voice.
She is a member of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP High Down, volunteers with Shannon Trust, and previously worked for The Magistrates’ Association after a career in law.
Mya Clark is a Service User Involvement Officer, working across Nacro’s Justice, Health and Housing directorates. Whilst at University, Mya volunteered with Nacro in the departure lounge based at HMP Doncaster, providing practical support for people on the day of release from prison. Since graduating, Mya has worked as a community and custody accommodation advisor at Nacro, supporting people both before and after their release from prison. She has seen first-hand the challenges people face when trying to rebuild their lives after being caught up in the justice system and so knows how important it is to offer a voice and platform to the people who are impacted most in order to try to create positive change in the system.
Mya is also the equality, diversity and inclusion champion for Nacro in South Yorkshire.
Carly Henderson is a Service User Involvement Officer, working across Nacro’s Justice, Health and Housing directorates in Wales.
Carly was a tenant in one of Nacro’s housing services in North Wales, and soon began volunteering with us. Carly was involved in a wide range of things as a volunteer, including being the chair of the community voice council (now the service user advisory board). Carly says ‘my own experiences really help me to relate to the issues faced by the people Nacro supports, and I have seen first-hand the importance of ensuring that everyone has a voice.’
If you would like to participate in service user involvement, or would like any further information on the activities outlined above, you can email us.
Email: communityvoice@nacro.org.uk
Richard is a tenant in one of our housing services. He is part of our Justice ExChange forum and regularly contributes ideas for campaigns and policy work that can help people in his situation.
