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Expert Citizens

Expert Citizens are a community interest company built by and for people with lived experience. We exist because we care about people and the world we live in. Our belief is that we can make a difference and that everyone has potential. We understand that everyone has an individual experience and treat each other with respect and dignity. Everyone is welcomed with kindness, humility, and love.

We challenge perceptions through honesty with ourselves and each other. Our belief is that fun is a key part of relationships and helps to build trust, creativity and openness.

Our goal is that systems are led by the people they are designed to serve for the collective interest of society.

National INSIGHT Awards

The National INSIGHT awards is a unique event that celebrates positive and outstanding practice aimed at tackling social disadvantages.

What sets this event apart is that it is judged and delivered by people with lived experiences of the systems and services that we believe need to change.

Awards

Nominations for the awards are open to both individuals and organizations who are making significant contributions to their communities.

Speaker Biographies

Darren Murinas - Chief Executive, Expert Citizens

Laura Bailey - Founder of Ulysses Youth

Surfing Sofas - Social Justice Poet and Workshop Facilitator

Samantha Billingham - Founder SODA (Survivors of Domestic Abuse)

Christopher Egan - Lived Experience lead at We Are Survivors (WAS)

Ann-Marie Douglas - Founder & CEO Peer Power Youth

Steven Duncan - Spoken Word Artist and Inspirational Speaker

Sarah Whitehead - Co-Director at Community Pride

Tammy Banks - Founder and Director of Taye Training

Akeem Thames - Lived Experience Practitioner and Music Artist

Redeyefeenix - Beats Bus

INSIGHT Awards Categories

Volunteering Award

Welcoming Award

Listening Award

Learning Award

Leading Award

Market Place

Visit our marketplace where a range of organisations will be promoting their services.

Please note: Photographic and Video images will be recorded by Inspired Film and Video throughout the event. If you do not

09:25 Registration

10:00 Welcome with Darren Murinas and Laura Bailey

10:10 Surfing Sofas

10:30 Samantha Billingham

10:50 Volunteering Award

11:10 Christopher Egan

11:30 Welcoming Award

11:50 Ann-Marie Douglas

12:10 Listening Award

12:30 Lunch

13:20 Steven Duncan

13:40 Sarah Whitehead

14:00 Learning Award

14:20 Tammy Banks

14:40 Leading Award

15:00 Akeem Thames

15:20 Final Thoughts with Darren Murinas and Laura Bailey

15:30 Close

Your Host Darren Murinas

Darren is Chief Executive of Expert , also a trustee of the Lankelly Chase Foundation and Together Active, Chair of the Changing Futures project board Stoke-on-Trent and Independent Chair of the Multi-Agency resolution Group (MaRG).

Darren has been working with local and national media outlets such as BBC Radio Stoke, BBC radio Hereford and Worcester, BBC Radio four listening project, Victoria Derbyshire show, the Guardian and the Huffington. Recently Darren also spoke at a TEDx event hosted by the University of

Darren is a national facilitator working with organisations like MEAM, Homeless Link, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Virgin Money Foundation, The Centre for knowledge and equity and many more where he is recognised as an expert in Co-production. Darren has worked alongside others over the last 10 years to bring in over £20 million worth of investment for people experiencing severe multiple disadvantage in Stoke-

Darren is also a national speaker, using his own experience of severe and multiple disadvantage to challenge stereotypes and the traditional narrative, dispelling the myth that people experiencing some of the toughest social issues of our time are making a ‘lifestyle

Face Book: @ExpertCitizens

Linkedin: Darren Murinas Website: www.expertcitizens.org.uk

Your Host

Laura Bailey

Laura Bailey is a youth engagement expert and social entrepreneur with over 15 years’ experience across youth work, community services, and education.

She is the founder of Ulysses Youth and has also curated and delivered a range of community events and programmes.

With an academic background in criminology and lived experience that shapes her practice, Laura is deeply committed to tackling social injustice and inequalities, and to creating inclusive, cohesive spaces and places where young people and communities can thrive.

Surfing Sofas Speaker

Surfing Sofas aka Justin Brown, is a social justice poet and workshop facilitator, whose poetry delves into themes of homelessness, mental health, hope, and upliftment. He was among the pioneering cohort of the world's first leadership programme for individuals with lived experience of homelessness, organised by Arts & Homelessness International.

He has also created spoken word albums about homelessness with Museum of Homelessness & The Royal Foundation. Surfing Sofas is currently poet-in-residence at the Centre for Homelessness Impact, where he is working on his third album.

Speaker

Samantha Billingham

Samantha Billingham is a passionate advocate for survivors of domestic abuse, bringing both professional insight and personal experience to her work. As a coercive control consultant and a survivor of coercive control and domestic abuse, she offers unique perspectives and strategies for understanding and addressing these complex issues.

Samantha set up SODA (Survivors of Domestic Abuse) an online support group for men and women to come together without judgement. As the founder of her business, Stronger Beginnings, she currently works with the BBC, Naturewatch and Cheshire without Abuse in an advisory capacity.

Speaker

Christopher Egan

Christopher is the Lived Experience lead at We Are Survivors (WAS), the UK’s leading charity supporting male survivors of sexual harms.

Prior to taking up his current role, Christopher had been a long-standing client of WAS and takes pride in knowing that the support once vital to his own recovery has now come full circle, allowing him to advocate for and guide his fellow male survivors, so they too have opportunities to heal, be heard and to thrive. Christopher credits WAS with helping him to find his voice after years of silence and strives to empower others to discover their own survivor voices, in whatever forms they may take.

Christopher is passionate about the role Lived Experience plays in raising awareness and driving meaningful change and has spoken publicly at events across the country, detailing his experiences of sexual trauma, domestic abuse, addiction, and incarceration.

In late 2023, Christopher helped establish the Manchester Trauma and Sexual Violence Network in conjunction with Manchester City Council Public Health Department and several other sexual violence support services. In this context, Christopher ensures male survivor voices are a part of the conversations and that they are heard loud and clear.

Outside of work, Christopher is a storyteller and published author; his work, based around his own experiences of sexual harms, showcases how the re-framing of trauma can help aid recovery and how happier endings can be created on the page.

Speaker

Ann Marie Douglas

Anne-Marie's belief in the transformational power of empathy and personal experience led to her to found the charity Peer Power Youth, launched in 2016.

The charity does vital work to support young people dealing with trauma and intersectional inequalities, and then helps them to support others, by creating system change nationally in support services, such as mental health, justice and social services.

Proud to lead with ADHD, AnneMarie has worked nationally across statutory and voluntary youth sectors for twentyfive years and is a Churchill Fellow, researching empathy internationally.

She is a champion for ethical lived and learned experience, and the role of participation, professional love, and empathy in the transformation of support services for those most excluded.

Speaker

Steven Duncan

I am a Bristol based Spoken word Artist, Inspirational Speaker and Criminal Justice Consultant. My poetry has been commissioned by the BBC, the NHS and many Probation services nationwide. I am an award winning poet who regularly facilitates workshops in Prisons, Schools, Colleges and other educational settings.

I am also a person with convictions .In February 2013 I formed insider insight with my business partner and agent Ian Glennie, it is primarily a Criminal Justice communications company that seeks to raise awareness around issues of Desistance from the offending cycle and facilitate an easier journey of rehabilitation and re integration for those marginalised through complex issues such as stigmatised Criminal convictions and Substance Misuse issues. We offer services such as Staff motivational engagement, Desistance And Recovery workshops, Mentoring training, Employment engagement etc.

I have done many presentations and talks on these matters, including delivering a presentation at the House of Lords.

You can follow my work on X: @blessheadsteven or on you tube: (Steve Duncan Poet)

Speaker

Sarah Whitehead

Rising from the grassroots, Sarah Whitehead has been the co director at Community Pride CIC for a decade, using her lived experiences of poverty and social inequality to create environments where communities can come together to impact lasting social change.

Having grown up in one of Salford's most deprived areas at the height of the 80s and 90s heroin epidemic, Sarah found herself as a young single parent not in work or education, living a desperate life of survival, feeling lost and alone. At the age of 23 a chance encounter with a neighbourhood officer and a nun would send her on a journey to empowerment, discovering her voice and the power of her story that would change the world around her forever.

Sarah has been a fringe panel speaker at Labour and Conservative Party Conferences, has designed and delivered grassroots projects for institutions like JRF and has travelled Europe as an alumni member of the German Marshall Fund Transatlantic Inclusive Leaders Network, speaking about Radical acts of Community and the extraordinary power of everyday people.

This year Sarah was awarded for Outstanding Contribution to the VCSE sector in Salford and featured in a photographic exhibition at The Lowry. She is also a past winner of the National Insight Listening to People Award for her work in communities supporting people to raise their voices on the issues that affect them."

Speaker

Tammy Banks

Tammy Banks champions effective solutions to prevent abuse and poverty through her personal history, academic achievements, and frontline work experience. As the Founder and Director of Transform your Training(Formally Taye Training), she leads a socially focused company delivering essential training to service providers like the Police, charities, and education sectors. She developed the Training 4 Influence methodology, detailed in her Amazon bestseller Transform Your Training, and her flagship Train the Trainer programme won the Princess Royal Training Award in 2023.

Tammy believes training should be expertled, tailored, engaging, and values-driven. A 2x TEDx speaker and multiple award winner, including Women of Innovation 2023, she is also Chair of Children’s Services Sunderland and a Fellow of Westminster Abbey.

Previously, she served as a Lay Member on the House of Commons Committee for Standards and has 15 years of frontline service experience. Tammy tirelessly champions change and is on a mission to help people recognise the true power of training.

Tammy Banks will talk to Safeguarding in context, share her personal story of overcoming adversity, highlighting the transformative impact of kindness and the power of being trauma-informed to our self and others.

Transformyourtraining.org

Speaker

Akeem Thames - Boat$

Akeem Thames, also known as Boat$, is a lived experience practitioner, community volunteer, and music artist dedicated to empowering young people and amplifying unheard voices. Drawing on his own journey, Akeem uses his experiences to inspire and guide others, blending creativity with community action.

He volunteers with a local youth organisation, where he mentors boys through 5-a-side football and introduces them to music recording as a positive outlet for expression and growth. Alongside this, he works within the city’s drug

and alcohol support service and contributes to forums on youth and community matters, bringing authenticity and insight to shape better support and opportunities.

As an artist, Akeem performs at local events and has had his music featured on BBC Introducing, where his storytelling and lyrical honesty continue to resonate with audiences. Whether through football, music, or community forums, his mission is to create spaces where young people feel seen, supported, and inspired to reach their potential.

Speaker

Redeyefeenix

Stephen Arnott, aka Redeyefeenix, is a hip-hop emcee from Hull with over two decades of live performance experience across the UK. In 2014, he achieved a milestone by becoming internationally signed, marking a significant moment for Hull's music scene. His dedication to community work and workshops earned him an award from the official Zulu Nation.

Throughout his career, Redeyefeenix has released four albums and working on his fifth, three solo projects and one with his group, Projekt Feenix, which disbanded in 2009.

As the founder of Beats Bus Records, a social enterprise, Steve established a mobile recording studio for outreach work. The Beats Bus discovers young talent and uses educational music videos to campaign for youth safety. It teaches the history of hiphop to communities in Yorkshire and the Humber, particularly those with limited access to the arts, providing young people with hope and aspirations while imparting the values and elements of hip-hop alongside learning, development, and confidence-building classes.

For more information or to support their initiatives, visit their website: www.beats-bus.co.uk

Volunteering Nominations

Volunteering is one of the purest expressions of community. It’s the choice to give time, care and compassion, not for recognition, but because it matters. The Volunteering Award celebrates the people and organisations who make this possible, creating opportunities for others to contribute, connect, and find meaning through service. They show us that even small acts, given freely, can transform lives and strengthen communities. In their hands, volunteering becomes more than a gift of time, it becomes a force for hope, belonging, and change.

Tammy Teague

At Brighter Futures, Tammy Teague gives her time, her kindness, and her heart to create a space where women can truly be themselves. As a volunteer at the Orchid Women’s Service, Tammy co-runs the Loose Women group, safe, welcoming space where laughter, conversation, and creativity help women rebuild confidence and connection. She brings understanding, lived experience, and patience to every session, listening, encouraging, and helping each woman find her own path forward. Whether through crafts, conversation, or simply being there, Tammy makes sure everyone feels valued and included.

For women facing difficult journeys, her warmth and constancy offer something rare, a sense of safety, belonging, and belief. Tammy’s volunteering shows that leadership doesn’t always mean standing in front, sometimes it means standing side-by-side, offering hope, and reminding others of their own strength.

Niall Love

For years, Niall has been a constant presence in Manchester’s fight against homelessness, quietly changing lives, one practical act at a time. Through his volunteering with Coffee 4 Craig and the Manchester Homelessness Partnership, he has helped hundreds of people open bank accounts, a small step that often marks the first real chance to rebuild a life. His persistence has even helped banks change their own procedures, making financial inclusion possible for those most excluded.

Each month, Niall researches and updates a detailed list of food support across Greater Manchester, work that helps thousands of people in crisis find hot meals, accurate information, and dignity. And every week, he’s there serving food, welcoming people by name, offering warmth and laughter when it’s needed most. Niall’s dedication is a reminder that real change often begins with compassion, commitment, and the will to keep showing up, again and again.

Pathways

This peer-led group for people with young onset dementia, their families, and carers is run entirely by volunteers. People living with dementia, former carers, nurses, and supporters all give their time freely, creating a community built on compassion, equality, and shared experience. From welcoming members and cooking shared meals, to fundraising and running craft sessions, every act of kindness keeps the group thriving. During lockdown, volunteers delivered craft packs and hosted online meetups, ensuring no one was left behind. Today, their online community reaches nearly a thousand people, extending hope and understanding far beyond their local area.

Pathways’ volunteers show that lived experience is a powerful force for good, breaking down stigma, restoring confidence, and reminding people they’re not alone. Together, they’ve built more than a support group. They’ve built a family, proving how generosity and humanity can change lives.

Welcoming Nominations

The Welcoming Award celebrates those who open their arms, their minds, and their hearts. Those who remind us that true inclusion begins not with policies or programmes, but with people, people who see potential where others see problems, and who create spaces where everyone belongs. These nominees show us that a simple act of kindness can spark extraordinary change. They meet people where they are, listen without judgement, and help them to believe that they matter. Through their warmth, compassion, and humanity, they transform lives and remind us all what it truly means to welcome.

Yellow Brick Road Projects

At Yellow Brick Road Projects, welcome is more than a word, it’s a way of being. Their open-door policy invites anyone in need to step inside, to be heard, valued, and truly seen. Here, a cup of tea, a smile, and a safe space become the starting point for hope.Through the You Matter programme, young people take charge of their own journey, deciding what they need, and how they wish to grow. For some, it’s the first time they’ve ever felt in control of their lives. And the results are remarkable: young people moving into homes, finding jobs, starting businesses, volunteering, and discovering self-belief they never knew they had.

One young person said, “You took the time to listen and understand, others said they would help, but never really listened.” That’s the heart of Yellow Brick Road Projects, a place where every welcome can lead to a whole new beginning.

The Next Steps Team

At the Orchard, the Next Steps Team has created more than a service — they’ve built a sanctuary. A place where people in recovery are not defined by their past, but supported in rediscovering hope, community, and purpose. Through simple acts, a shared walk, a craft session, a quiet conversation — the team shows what welcome truly means. They meet each person with kindness, patience, and respect. One woman, once too afraid to open her curtains, now creates art and joins community groups, her confidence growing day by day, all because someone believed in her worth.

Co-production is at the heart of Next Steps. They listen, adapt, and empower, offering safe spaces for men, women, and LGBTQ+ individuals to talk, to heal, and to belong. Their outreach reaches those most isolated, ensuring no-one is left behind. In every moment, the Next Steps Team remind us that recovery begins with welcome and that being seen, heard, and valued can change a life.

Jennie Fortune

In Westminster’s Maida Hill Market, a place often overlooked by many, one person has helped to change the story. For more than three years, Jennie Fortune has been a constant presence, meeting people others might pass by, with patience, warmth, and an open heart. Through her pioneering Blue Light work, Jennie reaches those facing severe social disadvantage people whose lives are marked by isolation, alcohol dependence, and hardship nd shows them something different: genuine welcome.

Jennie’s approach is simple, yet profound. No forms. No expectations. Just human connection, a cup of hot chocolate, a conversation, a shared moment that restores dignity. Her weekly one-stop-shop at Maida Hill brings housing, clinical and welfare support directly to those who need it most, building trust where once there was only distance. Because of Jennie, people are finding homes, healthcare, and hope again. She is changing not only lives, but perceptions, reminding an entire community what it truly means to be welcoming.

Listening Nominations

True listening is an act of respect, a way of saying, your experience matters. The Listening Award celebrates those who listen deeply, with patience, curiosity, and empathy, to truly understand the realities of people’s lives. These nominees don’t rush to respond or to fix. They take time to hear what’s really being said, and in doing so, reveal insights that can shape better, fairer services. They remind us that real understanding comes when we listen without judgement, with open hearts and open minds. Because before change can happen, we must first hear and truly understand.

Luke Edwards

At Number 11, Luke Edwards listens in a way that few can because he’s walked a similar path. Once without a home, living in a tent in the woods, Luke found stability, purpose, and success, graduating from Keele University with first-class honours, and now pursuing his master’s degree. But it’s how he uses that experience that makes him extraordinary. In one-to-one sessions, in groups he’s co-created, through quiet empathy and intelligent curiosity, Luke helps clients share their struggles, hearing not just their words, but their fears, hopes, and potential.

Luke stands beside those who need a voice in courtrooms and medical appointments, His patience and insight have helped people find volunteering opportunities, rebuild confidence, and reconnect with community.

Luke reminds us that listening isn’t passive, it’s an act of courage, of presence, and of faith in people’s ability to rise again. His story shows that when we truly listen, we help others believe in themselves.

Changing Futures / Bad Kamra

Sometimes, listening isn’t about words, it’s about giving people the space to speak in their own voice, on their own terms. Through Unseen Voices 2: Fairy Tales from the Edge, Changing Futures and Bad Kamra have created just that, a courageous, creative platform where people experiencing multiple disadvantage can tell their stories with truth and strength. Co-produced from start to finish, every scene, every line, and every moment belongs to the participants themselves.

In this safe and supportive space, poetry, music, dance, and film become instruments of healing transforming trauma into art, and silence into influence. The project has already inspired new opportunities, from higher education to paid creative roles, and it is shaping the very systems that once failed to hear these voices. Changing Futures and Bad Kamra remind us that when we truly listen, with patience, empathy, and equality, the unheard can change not only their own stories, but the world around them.

Triband Care

For Triband Care, listening is the foundation of everything they do. Whether it’s supporting someone moving from homelessness into their first home, or simply taking time to share a cup of tea and reassurance, they meet each person with patience, kindness, and respect. The Triband team listens not to fix, but to understand, trying to adapt every plan, every visit, to the needs and wishes of the individual. Their compassion reaches those other care organisations might turn away: people experiencing homelessness, addiction, and complex disadvantage. Nominations commented that they go where some others won’t, into temporary accommodation, onto the streets bringing warmth, care, and hope.

Their clients describe them as “a rock,” “a lifeline,” and “friends for life.” They listen without judgement, advocate tirelessly, and remind everyone they support that they matter.

Triband Care shows us that when listening is guided by genuine empathy, no one is beyond reach and every life deserves to be heard.

Learning Nominations

Learning is what happens when listening becomes understanding and understanding becomes change. The Learning Award celebrates those who turn insight into action. People and teams who don’t just hear what needs to change, but take the brave steps to make it happen. They test, adapt, and improve, guided by the lived experiences of the people they serve. Their work challenges assumptions, reshapes services, and builds systems that truly respond to human need. They remind us that progress isn’t found in grand gestures, but in the willingness to learn, to do better, because we now know better. These nominees show us how learning, done with heart, transforms lives and communities.

The Growth Project

Out of listening came learning and out of learning, The Growth Project was born. In Sheffield, this pioneering service works alongside women who have experienced the heartbreak of child removal. Guided by their voices and their lived experience, the team designed a service unlike any other in the UK, offering not only homes and psychological support, but legal advocacy, understanding, and hope.

Every element, from recruitment to training, has been co-produced with the women themselves. When they said one child’s removal was pain enough, the service changed its criteria. When they said legal advice was missing, a specialist solicitor was brought in.

Today, The Growth Project challenges stigma, shares learning with other professionals, and provides a safe, continuous space for women to rebuild their lives. Fourteen women housed, supported, and empowered, but countless others inspired. Through compassion and courage, The Growth Project shows how listening, when truly learned from, can transform the system itself.

Unlimited Potential

At Unlimited Potential, learning starts with listening and grows into lasting change. Led by a cooperative of local people, this social enterprise works with communities to tackle the toughest social and economic challenges and to turn their insights into real transformation. From neighbourhoods in Salford to the halls of parliament, their work is shaping how services, councils, and national bodies think, plan, and act.

Through projects like Elephants Trail, Dadly Does It, and Positive Masculinity, they empower people to tell their own stories, changing not only perceptions, but systems. Their Homes project gave young parents a voice in housing strategy, while Live Well Hubs put local people at the heart of wellbeing across Greater Manchester.With compassion, courage, and creativity, Unlimited Potential reminds us that learning from lived experience is not a slogan, it’s a movement. When communities lead the way, better systems follow.

BAC O’Connor

At BAC O’Connor, learning begins with listening and leads to meaningful change. When feedback revealed that people with opioid dependency were leaving treatment early, the team didn’t see a statistic, they heard a story. They spoke with clients and staff, looked at every detail, and learned that for some, the therapy programme came too soon after detox.

So they adapted. With empathy and courage, BAC O’Connor changed their approach, introducing flexibility and compassion into the early weeks of treatment, giving people permission to rest, to recover, and to engage when ready. The results speak for themselves: higher completion rates, fewer early discharges, and people feeling seen, supported, and understood. It’s a testament to the power of learning that listens and to a team who know that lasting recovery starts not with rules, but with understanding. BAC O’Connor shows that when we turn insight into action, lives and systems, can truly change.

Leading Nominations

Leadership isn’t about titles or hierarchy. It’s about standing alongside others, sharing what you’ve learned, and helping people discover their own power. The Leading Award honours those who are shaping the future of services through collaboration, courage, and conviction. These nominees place lived experience at the centre, ensuring that change is not only made for people, but with them. They set a benchmark for others to follow, showing that leadership can be generous, inclusive, and grounded in humanity. Because when we lead by lifting others, we build systems and communities that are stronger, wiser, and kinder.

Salford Poverty Truth Commission

Since 2017, the Salford Poverty Truth Commission has been redefining what leadership looks like. It begins not in boardrooms, but in community rooms, where people with lived experience of poverty sit side by side with decisionmakers to listen, learn, and lead together. Each three-year commission builds trust through honest conversation, exploring what life in poverty really means, and finding new ways to act together. The results have been extraordinary:

Salford City Council changed how it communicates about debt, ending the use of bailiffs and saving millions while offering genuine support. Other task groups have inspired Salford Mad Pride, new youth inclusion projects, and creative resources for families and children. For those involved, the experience has been life-changing, new friendships, new confidence, and a stronger voice in shaping their city. The Salford Poverty Truth Commission shows that true leadership isn’t about power, it’s about sharing it, and helping others find their own.

Saul Hewish - Rideout (Creative Arts for Rehabilitation)

For more than thirty years, Saul Hewish has led through listening, creativity, and courage. As Director of Rideout (Creative Arts for Rehabilitation), he has built spaces where people with experience of the criminal justice system can be seen, heard, and valued. Through drama, writing, and performance, Saul helps people tell their own stories, not as offenders, but as human beings with insight, complexity, and strength.

His projects, from Punishment Acts to In Plain Sight, co-created with Expert Citizens and B-Arts, challenge the way we think about justice, forgiveness, and change. In prisons and communities, Saul’s work restores dignity, confidence, and connection, helping people discover their own power to shape new futures. His leadership extends far beyond the stage: teaching, mentoring, and influencing how the arts can transform rehabilitation. With empathy and integrity, Saul Hewish has shown that real leadership is not about control, t’s about creating space for others to find their voice, and be truly heard.

Changing Futures Plymouth Peer Research Network (Improving Lives Plymouth)

At Changing Futures Plymouth, leadership doesn’t sit at the top, it grows from lived experience. The Peer Research Network was co-designed from the very beginning with people who have faced multiple disadvantage. Every stage, from job descriptions to recruitment and delivery, was built around inclusion, trust, and psychological safety.

Today, the peer researchers are shaping how the city listens, learns, and leads. They’ve created trauma-informed toolkits for recruitment and commissioning, ensuring that services and systems truly reflect the realities of people’s lives. Their work has inspired a new city-wide community of practice, over fifty HR leaders learning from their approach. For those once excluded from opportunity, this has been life-changing, discovering confidence, purpose, and their own source of power.

Through courage, collaboration, and insight, Changing Futures Plymouth, Peer Research Network is redefining leadership itself, showing that the most powerful change happens when lived experience leads the way.

Marketplace

Visit our marketplace where a range of organisations will be promoting their services, including Expert Citizens.

Expert Citizens are a lived experience organisation, we are a community interest company built by and for people with lived experience. We exist because we care about people and the world we live in.

Our belief is that we can make a difference and that everyone has potential. We understand that everyone has an individual experience and treat each other with respect and dignity. Everyone is welcomed with kindness, humility, and love. We challenge perceptions through honesty with ourselves and each other.

Our belief is that fun is a key part of relationships and helps to build trust, creativity and openness. If you’d like to become a member, please get in touch with Phil or Rachele.