From Unpaid Carer to National Research Contributor: Angela’s Story How Lived Experience Can Transform Services
Angela’s story shows how one person’s lived experience can influence local services, regional partnerships and even national research.
Creating Better Services Through Co-production*
Angela Mitchell was one of a group of unpaid Carers invited to join Sandwell Council’s Co-production Panel to ensure that the voices and experiences of Carers shaped the future of support across the borough.
*Co-production means people helping to shape the services they use by working together with professionals to make them better.
Working alongside fellow Carers, commissioners and professionals, the panel played a key role in developing the specification for the new Sandwell Carers Service and helping to select the organisation that now delivers the service on behalf of Sandwell Council—Forward Carers.
Angela’s story shows how one person’s lived experience can influence local services, regional partnerships and even national research.
My Journey as an Unpaid Carer
I am a lived experience contributor, educator, advocate and community leader. Everything I do is rooted in one simple belief: the people who use services every day are experts in their own experiences and should be equal partners in shaping them.
My journey began through caring for both of my parents. My mother has limited mobility and complex health needs, while my father is living with cancer.
Like many unpaid Carers, I never chose the role—it grew from family responsibility, love and necessity.
Supporting them meant navigating complex health and social care systems, coordinating appointments, repeating our story to different professionals and constantly advocating to ensure they received the right support.
These experiences taught me something invaluable: people with lived experience hold knowledge and insight that should influence how services are designed, delivered and evaluated.
Professional Experience That Strengthened My Perspective
Alongside my caring responsibilities, I work in education as a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO), Designated Safeguarding Lead and senior leader. Supporting children and families with additional needs has reinforced what my caring role had already shown me—that services achieve the best outcomes when they are designed with people, rather than for them.
Discovering the Power of Co-production
My involvement in co-production began through Sandwell’s Co-production Programme.
Through the African Caribbean Community Initiative in West Bromwich, I was invited to represent my community by joining the Sandwell Co-production Panel. As my involvement grew, I was also invited to join the Annual Carers Group, creating further opportunities to influence how support for unpaid Carers was being developed across Sandwell.
During this work, I recognised something significant within my own community. Many people were providing substantial care for family members but did not see themselves as Carers. They viewed caring simply as a family responsibility. Because of this, many were missing out on support, information and services that could make a real difference.
Building a Community Through Shared Experience
Recognising this gap inspired me to establish the West Midlands Community African Caribbean Lived Experience Group. What started as a small WhatsApp group has grown into regular community meetings where people come together to share experiences, support one another, build confidence and use their collective voices to influence change.Creating spaces where people feel heard has become one of the most rewarding parts of my journey.
Learning That Co-production Means True Partnership
My co-production journey introduced me to Keymn Whervin, who became an important mentor. Through many conversations, she encouraged me to think beyond consultation and helped me understand what genuine co-production looks like – working alongside people as equal partners rather than simply asking for opinions. Her support opened doors to opportunities through West Midlands ADASS, allowing me to contribute to regional co-production work and collaborate with organisations committed to improving adult social care.
Helping Shape the Sandwell Carers Service
One of the highlights of my journey has been helping co-produce the Sandwell Carers Service, delivered by Forward Carers on behalf of Sandwell Council. Working alongside Carers, commissioners and professionals, I have helped influence:
- the service specification
- the Sandwell Carers Strategy
- priorities including respite, emotional wellbeing, accessibility and culturally responsive support
- communication and website improvements
- approaches that keep lived experience at the centre of decision-making.
A key focus has been challenging barriers that many Carers experience, including having to repeat their story, navigating complicated systems and struggling to access the right support. For me, co-production is much more than consultation. It is about moving away from doing things to people and towards working with people. Lived experience should never be an afterthought—it is expertise that leads to stronger decisions and better services.
From Local Change to National Influence
As my journey has continued, I have had the privilege of contributing alongside organisations including:
- SHIELD
- The Principal Social Worker Advisory Group at the University of Birmingham
- Liverpool University research projects
- Carers International
- West Midlands ADASS
- a range of research and co-production networks.
These opportunities have reinforced my belief that lived experience should influence not only local services but also regional and national policy. Most recently, I was honoured to be appointed as a Lived Experience Contributor with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). This role enables me to ensure that the voices of people with lived experience help shape health and social care research, influencing research priorities, funding decisions and outcomes that affect communities across the country.
Why Lived Experience Matters
Looking back, what began as one invitation to join a local co-production panel has grown into opportunities to influence local services, establish community networks, contribute to regional initiatives and now support national research. It has shown me that when organisations genuinely invest in people with lived experience, they create leaders who strengthen communities and improve services for others.
Although caring remains an important part of my story, I increasingly describe myself as a lived experience contributor. Caring is part of who I am, but lived experience reflects the broader knowledge, understanding and insight gained through life, community and professional practice. The experiences people live every day are not simply personal stories—they are expertise that can help create better systems, stronger partnerships and more inclusive services. My ambition is to continue championing lived experience locally, regionally and nationally, ensuring that people are recognised not only for the support they provide but also for the knowledge, leadership and expertise they bring.
About the Sandwell Carers Service
Forward Carers delivers the Sandwell Carers Service on behalf of Sandwell Council in partnership with trusted local organisations:
- Age Connects (formerly Age Concern Birmingham) – leading the Carers Hub support and information service.
- Age UK Birmingham and Sandwell – delivering community-based activities and outreach.
- Midland Mencap – providing specialist support for Parent Carers.
- St Albans Community Association – hosting a welcoming weekly drop-in where Carers can access advice, information and peer support.
Together, the partnership is committed to ensuring unpaid Carers across Sandwell are recognised, valued and supported.
Get Involved – Your Voice Can Make a Difference
Every unpaid Carer has a story, and every story has the power to improve services.
- Like Angela, you can help shape the future of support for unpaid Carers across Sandwell by sharing your experiences and helping us understand what works, what could be better and what matters most. Find our more about our Carers Voice Programme and sign up to influence change.
Read how Carers in Sandwell have contributed to improving Sandwell Carers Service. - If you would like to share your lived experience of being an unpaid Carer how it has impacted your life and help and inspire other Carers, use this form to help you write your story.
- For information about joining the West Midlands Community African Caribbean Lived Experience Group, please contact Aemitchell64@outlook.com
