"Sharing lived experience means not having to spell something out, not having a cultural norm questioned, not having a gender or sexual identity picked apart" Read more
"We recently held a session in collaboration with NSUN and Mind, exploring how we create spaces to talk about self-harm online. Here, we have tried to summarise some of the key points, focussing on those we believe often get missed when thinking about facilitating online." Read more
Blog by Nikki Mattocks Read more
Blog by Emily Katy Read more
Blog by Zaynab Sohawon Read more
Blog by Jennifer Reese Read more
"There appears to be a very fine line that implies we have just enough of the personal experience but without the hurt and pain and the identity and politics that surround it. We must ‘be professional’ at all times meaning we must never be too loud, too abrupt, too emotional..." Read more
"I now work in a service where I am explicitly paid to use my lived experience to try and bring about change in culture and practise. On paper I am part of the leadership team. This could be such a happy success story, couldn’t it... and yet... as the language has shifted along a bit, and a few of us given a salary, has anything really changed?" Read more
"It is not about me holding the power or authority as a 'Lived Experience Leader.' But being an enabler and facilitator of support for those with lived experience and myself, to make a change to improve the services that we use the most, and that matter to us." Read more
Let me die, before I am killed – a black male schizophrenic plea in relation to the Mental Health Act White Paper. Read more
Blog by Anne Beales and video by Principled Ways of Working Partners Read more
Blog by Alice Smith, founder of NSUN member 361 Life Support. "We believe in emotional evolution - for ourselves and for society as a whole. To see beyond. Was this ever needed more than now?" Read more
Blog by NSUN Member Kerry Harrison. "They say humans have a unique vessel to heal after experiencing some kind of traumatic life event. What happens if you feel despondent and on mute or don't have loved ones and friends?" Read more
Blog by NSUN member David Gibbs. "Covid has exposed many vulnerabilities but also has created an opportunity to look afresh at issues and reevaluate what is important as individuals and in our various affinity groups. We need new tools for a new age. The need for co-production has never been greater." Read more
Read more
Meerat Kaur, Sandra Jayacodi, & Rachel Matthews talk us through how the 4Pi Involvement Standards for co-production were used to facilitate meaningful partnerships between service users, the public, healthcare professionals, and researchers. Read more
Maureen Ndawana, Community and Engagement Officer for the African Health Policy Network and coordinator of Ffena, tells us about how they have been able to keep their members connected with help from NSUN. Read more
Jane Salazar, founder of SM Talking Circles, talks about her group for adults with selective mutism. They have been able to move online and start planning the use of non-verbal software for their group. Read more
Part 2. Amy Wells explores the experiences of those struggling with work, benefits, debt, and housing. Read more
Part 1. Amy Wells shares the experiences of those struggling with their mental health in poverty right now. Read more
NSUN Trustee Emily Reynolds blogs about the return to a new normal. Read more
Salma Lokat from MCRC tells us about the work they do to support disadvantaged South Asian women with mental health issues in Birmingham. With money from the NSUN COVID fund they were able to continue providing practical outreach to isolated and digitally excluded women. Read more
"There is no normal": NSUN Trustee Alisdair Cameron responds to talk of "the new normal". This is our first of a short series of three articles exploring unmet need & what "business as usual" actually means for mental health community groups & survivors of distress & trauma. Read more
Blog post by Andrew Lee, Director of People First, on the recent news from Yew Trees Hospital in Essex of ten staff being suspended after a CQC report found they "dragged, slapped and kicked" people staying in the unit. Read more