Organisations that hire people with lived experience across mental health, criminal justice and youth sectors
The professional medical body responsible for supporting psychiatrists throughout their careers, setting and raising standards of psychiatry in the UK, and working to secure the best outcomes for people with mental illness, learning difficulties and developmental disorders.
Course providers often connected with psychiatric hospitals, offering courses based on lived experience of mental health and training people to become peer trainers who deliver their own courses.
Some universities hire people with lived experience as visiting lecturers to teach students and deliver workshops, including King's College London and the University of Birmingham. Criminology, forensic psychology and social work departments are particularly worth approaching directly.
Prisons hire peer support workers and other roles to help with rehabilitation.
Mental health community teams support people with mental health problems living in the community and often hire peer support workers. There are many local teams whose sites can be searched directly.
The NHS offers a wide variety of roles for people with lived experience, particularly in learning disabilities and mental health.
St Giles was established in 1962 to provide emergency relief for people experiencing distress and poverty. Today, there is still a vital need for this work: 2 in 10 adults and 3 in 10 children were in poverty in 23/24. 4 in 10 of these were in ‘deep poverty’ with incomes significantly below the poverty line (source: Joseph Rowntree Foundation). Employment can be a vital route out of poverty, but only when it’s stable, fairly paid, and secure. For many people we work with, accessing employment is a powerful step toward independence, improved wellbeing, and a brighter future. But work alone doesn’t always guarantee financial security. Insecure hours, low wages, lack of progression, and the rising cost of living mean that some people remain trapped in poverty – even while working. At St Giles, we support people to not only find work but to find better work.
Our aim is to help people build careers that offer dignity, security, and real opportunity. –St Giles trust
Mencap supports and helps those with learning disabilities and campaigns to make society fairer for those with these needs.
Most local community centres hire youth workers to work with the youth they service. You will often start by volunteering and may be offered a paid job or can apply if they are recruiting directly.
If you search for community centres in your locality you can contact them directly.
There are essential building blocks for a full and rewarding life: A safe home; acceptance; guidance; friendship; physical and mental health; academic support; employment skills; and access to real opportunities. Many young people have never known these things; other people have lost one or more as they grew up, but we all need them.
All of us At YMCA, we provide these critical foundations for a fresh, strong start for young people and a better quality of life in the community. –YMCA
Sometimes if you are working with a mental health team, prison or probation officer they may know of opportunities available. It is worth reaching out to them.
CQC is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England.
We regulate health and adult social care, we work together with the public, systems and providers of care to protect people, and to promote and improve the quality of care. -CQC