Our fourth Charity Collection Lunch for service leaders brought together organisations to discuss building services with, not for, their users. These gatherings always create space for honest conversations about the challenges facing service leaders - this time around embedding lived experience into service design, sharing practical approaches that lead to real impact. The session explored how meaningful participation can sharpen focus, improve decision-making, build trust, and accelerate learning.
We heard from Sarah Bell, Pancreatic Cancer UK who talked about how involving people with lived experience helped them explore new ways to extend their services’ reach. And Sally Kum, from Breast Cancer Now spoke about the the impact of their Service Pledge programme, giving patients a voice in shaping their care, while creating safe spaces for healthcare professionals to bring forward their ideas for improvement.
We reflected on participation not always being about doing more but about thinking differently, aligning user involvement with strategic goals. And by first clarifying why participation matters within your service or business strategy, you can more easily define who to involve and how to engage them effectively.
Attendees received our Participation Play Deck, a pocket toolkit to help service teams involve people meaningfully in the design and delivery of services. It turns good intentions into practical action, so you choose the right level of involvement, widen who’s in the room, and make better, faster decisions. If you'd like a deck, please get in touch.