About Us

In 2003, service user-led research, coordinated by Jan Wallcraft, resulted in the report “On Our Own Terms”. Among other recommendations, it urged the formation of a national network to bring groups together, to encourage good practice, and to build capacity within the sector.

Inspired by this report, the Sainsbury Centre funded a number of meetings and a conference in London in 2005 to agree on some practical actions based on the OOOT recommendations.

Together and the Mental Health Foundation also contributed to the development of this work, and a Steering Group organised a conference focused on how to set up a national service user /survivor network.

Nearly 200 service users and survivors attended the “Our Future” conference (see video of the event) in Birmingham in March 2006. The National Planning Group that grew out of the conference included representatives from a whole range of service user and survivor led groups.

Together they obtained funding from Comic Relief and the Tudor Trust. The National Planning Group was then dissolved and replaced by a management committee, selected by an independent panel of service users and survivors.

This management committee met for the first time in February 2007. Currently the committee includes:

• Carolyn Anderson
• Anne Beales
• Alisdair Cameron
• Tina Coldham (Chair)
• Sue Haworth
  
• Kath Lovell
• Mike Llewlyn Cox
  
• Clare Ockwell

We plan to recruit more people to this committee.

In May 2007 the newly named National Survivor User Network (NSUN) adopted the Inaugural Mission, Aims and Values of the Network for the coming period.

NSUN shares an office with Catch-A-Fiya, a national network organisation for service users and survivors from Black and Minority Ethnic Communities.

As of May 2010 NSUN became a fully independent charitable company.