Co-Production Meeting Summary
Date: 5th August 2026
Venue: 9 Hills Road, Cambridge

Upcoming Events / Updates

Feedback on community lead insights – people with lived experience being involved with research.

Ideas expressed at coproduction disappear – how do we know that we are reaching
people. We need to have somewhere to keep this information so it can reach who it
needs to and be acted on.

Training members of the group so they can be Peer researchers and are confident to gather information from people with lived experience that don’t want to meet in a group setting. Will be applying for money to start a group for people that are interested in doing this. People will be recompensed for their time. The coproduction group will be in charge of the project.

Feedback Damita – Cambridge Access Surgery

We want to make the surgery better. We have been hearing that there are issues
with initially calling in to the surgery. Will be looking at training on this so that we
are trauma informed. Are there people that would be interested in attending
sessions with the Access Surgery to advise on what the training should be about and
how it should work.

Advocacy role at the Access Surgery – happy to take the lead from the Copro project
on how to progress with this.

Lisette – The Expert on Myself (TEOM)

Work with people with lived experience – help people to raise their voices. Visits to organisations and get people to listen to them. Worked with health, businesses and local councils.

Previous Projects
First one was Experts on Autism – created a workshop around what people with Autism wish people know and wanted the world to know about them. From this information developed a training course that we delivered.

Branched out and explored Experts on Neurodivergence – learnt that people that are
neurodivergence had lots in common not just physical health but with keeping secure
housing, jobs amongst other things. Developed a training course and delivered it.

Current Project
Would like create a new project working with people with lived experience of homelessness to improve people’s health outcomes who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. Need to apply for funding for this and would like to gather feedback on the proposal.

Learning event around respecting personal choice and a person’s own decision of
their best interests. If someone want to remain homeless then services respecting
that and allowing someone to do that.

If your mental health means that you want to give your property up, then services
not trying to save it for you as this can lead to more debt and a poorer outcome.

Staff in services can have no idea about the people that they are dealing with or have not had the same experiences of people that have been homeless substance misuse.

Breaking down the them and us. Sharing experiences and so staff and service users
can get to understand each other.

Having time to do these things – we are often over stretched in our work.

Being able to share your experiences if you want to but not feeing forced if you don’t
want to share them. The information that you hold is owned by you and up to you if
you want to share it.

Commonalities between service users and staff. What your perspective is on your
peer group.

Staff not being respected in their workplace.

Sometimes if someone is trying to enforce rules and being supportive it can be hard
to trust that person. Maybe need to separate these out.

Think about the kitchen with a head chef and all the other people that are involved
in the communication and with a common goal or getting the meal out.

Budget for travel to get to the location, recompense for time via a supermarket
voucher. Will be in Cambridge, near to public transport so easy to get to for people.

Making sure that the space is a safe place so that people and people running the
group are aware of clashes and the group of people that are together.

AOB:

No time to discuss the advocacy work. Will find a future date for this.

September – Cambridge City Council will be coming to discuss the database they ask
services to use to help homeless people

October – Representatives from central government departments will be coming to ask
what is important for people with lived experience to address and how would we know if it is working

Next meeting: 2nd September 2026 1pm St Paul’s Church