At Persona, we believe co-production is essential. By listening to people with lived experience we can improve and create services that meet people's needs.
We want to put people at the centre - not just of delivery, but of design because we know this achieves the best outcomes.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page for more stories.
As we celebrate Co-Production Week, we want to take the opportunity to talk about some of our projects, which show first hand the benefits of co-production.
Our Persona Your Voice Committee has been involved in a number of projects, truly shaping the future of our services.
Some of the things they've been involved in are:
Our Your Voice group helped us to choose the location and design of our accessible holiday lodge.
We bought a holiday lodge in Carnforth so everyone can enjoy an accessible, affordable break. It is designed for people with mobility needs, and is family and dog-friendly.
Here's what makes our lodge so special:
We're still adapting the lodge based on guest feedback, recently adding a chair compatible with hoists and providing absorbent mats for the wet rooms.
Click here to read more and here to book your stay | Follow us on Facebook or sign up to our mailing list for updates and offers!
In celebration of our 10-year anniversary, we worked with Cabasa Carnival Arts to create our legacy flags.
During a Your Voice meeting, we shared what Persona means to us and developed a mood board capturing our answers which were turned into designs for the flags. We invited everyone to attend sessions where they could apply batik wax and paint the silk using the colours of our values.
The finished flags were revealed at our Christmas Fair, showcasing the collective efforts of everyone involved.
These flags tell our story over the past ten years, through the shared experiences of our staff and people we support.
Over the years, our committee has shown a big interest in arranging more activities for everyone at Persona. Their feedback has opened up a new opportunity, leading us to recruit a lived experience activity organiser, who will get ideas from people we support about what activities and events they want. They will then set up different events throughout the year for everyone to join in.
We've hired someone who is excited about making this happen and we can't wait to hear more about our first activity or event!
During a recent meeting, the group talked about inclusion and what it means to us. This gave us an insight into what people we support and our staff value, which will influence our future decisions, helping us create an inclusive environment where everyone is heard.
Some of the answers people gave were:
Click here for more information about our next Persona Your Voice Committee meeting.
Our long-awaited refurbishment is complete and has created a lot of excitement with its modern design, improved accessibility, and calming spaces.
Every step has been guided by close collaboration with people we support and our staff team. Their ideas and feedback have helped create spaces that reflect what truly matters.
Some improvements we've made are:
Staff members took a group of people we support to Men in Sheds in Bury and everyone loved it. They had the chance to try new tools, learn practical skills, and create things they were proud of. When the shed closed due to a lack of funding, staff at Elton Community Centre knew they wanted to bring that same opportunity to Persona. They won funding through our Ideas Hub scheme, which helped them create Woodpeckers Workshop!
A small committee, consisting of staff, people we support, and their families, worked together to design the workshop. They researched equipment, planned the layout, and ensured that the space would be accessible for all. From sturdy, height-adjustable workbenches to spaces designed for people who use wheelchairs, every detail was carefully selected to create an inclusive and welcoming workshop. Sharon, who attends Elton, planned the opening of Woodpeckers Workshop with staff and cut the ribbon that officially opened the service.
Our brand‑new printing room workshop and mini social enterprise at Elton, shaped by ideas from people we support. It’s an exciting new space already shaping up to be of huge value to people we support, who have also shaped the service by sharing their ideas for the service's name and logo.
Persona Prints isn’t just a workshop. It's a chance for people to express themselves, learn, and take pride in contributing to something that reaches beyond the service. They will be able to create their own designs and learn the skills needed to print them.
Thank you to everyone who has helped us on our co-production journey so far. We look forward to more amazing work in the future!
Click here to read more about co-production at Persona.
Click here to read more about our Persona Your Voice Committee.
Liz joined the interview panel for a day and helped us choose new staff, bringing two of her own questions.
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Persona Your Voice Committee suggested several improvements to our website, including updates to our events calendar
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With the input of our Persona Your Voice Committee, we bought, designed and decorated an accessible holiday lodge for our staff and people we support.
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Our Persona Your Voice Committee created mood boards that inspired the designs for our Persona flags.
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Every step has been guided by close collaboration with people we support and our staff team. Their ideas and feedback have helped create spaces that reflect what truly matters.
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Daniel is sharing his lived experience to make NHS services better for everyone.
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Take a tour around the lodge and book your stay in Carnforth.
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Meeting regularly since 2020, the committee has suggested several changes that have impacted positively on people we support.
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Persona Your Voice Committee raised nearly £1000 for charity in 2023.
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