The benefits of co‑production
Co-production between team members and people we support, allows us to achieve together.
At Achieve together, co-production is at the heart of everything we do. It means people we support, and team members work together as equals – sharing ideas, solving challenges, and shaping the future of our organisation.
Co-production is a collaborative way of working that recognises the unique value of lived experience. It’s about people being actively involved in shaping the support they receive – using their insight and expertise to help us design services that truly work.
Why co-production is so successful at Achieve together
At its core, co-production values each person and empowers them to contribute their knowledge, lived experiences, skills and insights in the planning, design, decision-making, delivery and evaluation of the services and support they receive.
Drawing on people’s lived experience helps us understand what a happy, healthy and meaningful life looks like for each person. That insight shapes the way we design our support – making sure it fits each person’s needs, goals and inspirations.
We’re not just participants. We’re planners, presenters, and leaders.
Mary, Unity Co-chair
Our co-production team
Our co-production team works alongside two self-advocacy groups formed by people we support, Unity and Campaign 4 Change.
Co-production team roles include:
Co-production is how we work.
At Achieve together, it’s embedded into our culture, our decision-making and our day-to-day support.
Unity, our co-production group brings together people we support who are experts by experience. They guide and shape the way we work – sharing insights, ideas and lived experience to help us continually improve.
Many Unity representatives specialise in different areas of the organisation, where their voice and experience helps drive positive change. These specialisms include:
These roles help build stronger partnerships across the organisation – connecting Unity representatives with board members and support teams like estates, quality and recruitment to make sure people have a voice in every work stream.
Members of Unity continue to co-host and present at the monthly Town Halls, are active participants in the monthly team member and manager of the month judging, and again this year were critical partners in the co-production of the annual Heroes awards.
Co-production Big Plan
Working in partnership with Campaign 4 Change and the Co-production Team, Unity led the development of Achieve together’s first organisational co-production strategy. This strategy outlines our shared vision and priorities for embedding co-production across the organisation, along with our broader ambitions around social impact and collaboration with both local and national partners.
Unity has written and released a co-production policy – available in both Easy Read and plain English – which outlines key responsibilities, making sure that the people we support are central to the decision-making and design of the support we provide. It also includes Unity’s new Stamp of Approval – a three-tier award given to projects and initiatives within Achieve together that people we support either co-produce, co-design or are involved in.
The steady growth of co-production is a win-win. Its impact can be seen across so many projects – helping us evolve, improve and stay person-centred.
Driving this is our ever-larger group of Unity representatives, whose lived experience and voices are invaluable in shaping how we develop. They have been heavily involved in creating a new survey framework which will enable us to collect feedback on a rolling basis from people we support, team members, professional partners and families.
Co-production embodied
Meet Simon Tobin, Autism trainer & ambassador and a person we support.
Simon’s experience of self-advocacy and training makes him an invaluable contributor to the co-production team. Here, he tells us about his work:
“I have worked for Achieve together for over 10 years. I started off as a receptionist and now I am an Autism trainer and ambassador. I am one of the two co-chairs of Unity working to promote co-production within Achieve together. I work on co-produced projects and initiatives across the organisation with my fellow Unity members. I also work with the learning and development team to deliver Oliver McGowan learning disability and autism training. I have over 15 years of experience delivering autism training as a person with lived experience.”
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