Yasmin Geddis attended the latest Northern Area Mental Health Collaborative workshop in Ballymena, representing the Zachary Geddis Trust and contributing from a community and voluntary sector perspective.
There were lots of important conversations, but one thing Yasmin was particularly keen to raise was the need to ensure more community and voluntary organisations have opportunities to be involved as this work develops.
Our sector is hugely varied with organisations of different sizes, supporting different communities, specialising in different areas and bringing very different experiences to the table.
No one organisation can speak on behalf of all.
If we want genuine co-production, we need to create space for those different voices throughout the process, not simply ask for feedback once decisions have already started to take shape.
Grassroots organisations are often supporting people at the earliest stages of difficulty, walking alongside families through incredibly challenging circumstances and continuing that support long after other interventions have ended.
That experience matters and it is important that Zachary Geddis Trust has been involved in these conversations from the beginning.
Zachary Geddis Trust will continue to advocate for equality of voice, wider representation and genuine co-production as the Collaborative develops.
