Dawn’s Story: Using Lived Experience to Help Shape Support for Carers

Turning lived experience into positive change

Dawn has been an unpaid Carer for her adult son for the past 15 years. Through her own experiences of caring, she has developed valuable insight into the challenges Carers can face and what can make a real difference.

Dawn now uses that lived experience to help organisations listen to Carers and improve the support they provide.

Her feedback has helped organisations including Sandwell African Caribbean Mental Health Foundation (Kuumba Centre), Bridgit Care, Sandwell Council and Sandwell Carers Service.

Here, Dawn shares why having her voice heard matters to her.

Giving something back to the Kuumba Centre

“The Kuumba Centre has been an enormous help to me. Advisors arranged ten weeks of free counselling for me, and I regularly attend their Carer Support Groups.

“As a Carer, I know it’s vital to look after your mental health. It plays such an important role in your life. If you don’t look after your own mental health and wellbeing, it can become much harder to look after the person you care for and manage everything else in your life.

“Helping the Kuumba Centre is my way of thanking them for all the support they have given me.”

Dawn takes part in Kuumba’s quarterly co-production meetings, where people with lived experience can share their views and help shape future support.

“I can share my views on things such as how we can improve outcomes for Black communities. At our last meeting, we discussed what services we would like to see at the centre and the activities and day trips people would find useful.”

Helping shape Sandwell Carers Service

Dawn has also worked with Sandwell Council, alongside other Carers, commissioners and professionals, to help co-produce Sandwell Carers Service.

Through this work, Dawn and other Carers have been able to contribute to important areas including:

• the service specification
• the Sandwell Carers Strategy
• priorities such as respite, emotional wellbeing, accessibility and culturally responsive support
• communication and website improvements
• ensuring lived experience remains at the heart of decision-making.

“It’s wonderful to think that I have helped shape the service that supports hundreds of Carers across Sandwell.”

Making digital support more accessible

Dawn was also introduced to Bridgit Care and invited to take part in activities and workshops to help improve its online support for Carers, including its information, tips and practical toolkits.

“I am dyslexic, so I was able to give the team a different perspective as someone actually using the service. I know that was really helpful to them.

In turn, Bridgit has also helped me with my personal finances at home.”

Dawn’s experience demonstrates why it is so important to involve people with different experiences, backgrounds and needs when services are being designed and improved. Something that works well for one person may not work for everyone.

Making Carers’ voices count

Dawn said,

“I have enjoyed helping all of these organisations, and I feel proud that my experience of being a Carer for my adult son has been used to make service improvements and help other Carers like me.”

Bernie Huntingdon, Carer Engagement Project Manager added,

“Sandwell Carers Service continues to gather feedback from unpaid Carers through opportunities including in-person focus groups. We want Carers’ voices and lived experiences to be at the heart of how our service develops.

By listening to Carers like Dawn, we can better understand what is working, what needs to change and what matters most to people with caring responsibilities.”

Have your say

If you are an unpaid Carer in Sandwell, your experiences can help shape services too.

Through our Carers Voice programme, you can share your views, take part in focus groups and consultations, and help influence how support for Carers develops across Sandwell.

Find out more about our Carers Voice programme and complete our form to join. Once registered, you can receive invitations to future focus groups and opportunities to have your say.