Lift’s training programmes are designed to provide its participants with the skills and confidence to evaluate the effectiveness of front line services and to build on our ever growing peer support network of current and former service users.
Graduating from a Lift course is not an end in itself. We encourage and support our participants to become “peer consultants” in their own right, so that they can translate their training into real practical action.
Our most recent supporting people course was designed for those who wished to take a more active role in developing and improving the services that they currently receive.
13 people from 5 West London boroughs completed 13 training sessions over 3 months, covering community research skills such as interviewing and focus group facilitation, as well as community development and presentation skills.
The graduation on Tuesday 27th March was attended by commissioners, supporting people staff and the families and friends of the new Peer Consultants. Mimi Konigsberg, the Director of Community Services for Hounslow, impressed upon the audience the importance of ustilising the Peer Consultants and the importance of their involvement in service reviews.
This is the fifth time Lift (formerly B.HUG) and Supporting People have run this course. Over 70 people have now completed it across West London. Each year the course is redesigned with input from previous learners, co-facilitators and those working as peer consultants.
Our learners have gone on to a number of occupations including retail and admin jobs, mental health training, consultation and community research. One former trainee is now the Vice Chair on Lift’s Board of Trustees
We are now looking forward to the next programme, and will be speaking to potential co-facilitators soon.
Lift would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the graduates of this year’s West London Supporting People Training Programme and wish them all the best for the future.