Policy and Participation
At the heart of Lynn’s work is bridging the gap between people and policy to deliver sustainable, person-centred outcomes. She brings people together, building trust and engagement across communities, and empowering individuals to actively contribute to the policies that affect their lives.
Explore further in the examples below.
Citizens Advice Bureau
Lynn trained as a volunteer CAB advisor in 2013 covering a wide-range of issues and conducted confidential interviews with clients to quickly generate solutions to problems. She discovered a particular passion for connecting cases to local and national policy (depicted in the photo opposite), influencing change for the better. She was offered employment with CAB to manage communications, training and policy work. Head to the gallery below to see how she learned to translate information to make an impact.
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Wall of Fame
Local and national press coverage was displayed on our ‘Wall of Fame’ to motivate volunteers and show the impact of their work.
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Snacks and Surveys
To understand issues, Lynn would arm herself with snacks and hand-drawn surveys and chat to the volunteers. This better suited the age-group than sending an email, and the information gained would form future training.
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Welfare Awareness Week
There was a low uptake of the Scottish Welfare Fund, therefore Lynn designed a wall mural with key information and flow charts for the volunteers to upskill. As only 50% of the funds had been claimed, the biscuits given out were only half-covered in icing!
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Organisational Tree
An organisational tree is a much more attractive way to display an organisational chart!
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Stats Awareness Week
Evaluation forms are extremely important to secure funding and track impact, but the volunteers found it quite a chore. Lynn ran an awareness week to demonstrate the importance of data.
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Funky Shirt Friday
On Fridays we wear funky shirts. Because why not!
See Me Scotland, national programme to end mental health stigma and discrimination
When? 2019 -2021
What happened? Lynn drew on engagement, partnership and influencing skills to empower people with lived experience of mental health issues to challenge stigma and discrimination at a local and national level. She delivered a programme of community-development-based engagement and training.
Underpinning the engagement of lived experience was the flexibility of communication strategies beyond one email or one survey. Lynn effectively tailored methods to keep 60 volunteers, staff and stakeholder working collaboratively. This included: phone calls, texts, a newsletter, a tailored online hub, an updated client management system, a Facebook Group, regular local meetings, a discord channel, all staff emails, attending staff network events, 1-2-1s and group support. This multi-pronged approach, along with clear and creative messaging, enabled team working and inclusive involvement.
Case Study
Case Study
Online poetry event, ‘More Than My Mental Health’.
An interview about the importance of tackling mental health stigma.
Virtual workshop facilitated by Lynn training people to open up conversations about mental health.
Anti-Stigma Summer Sessions
This involved a series of online events on the topic of mental health which served multiple purposes – to keep our volunteers engaged, to reach new audiences, and to call people to action.
Lynn led on the schedule of events (screenshots opposite), working across programmes and gaining buy-in from multiple audiences.
Impact measured through survey:
“I want to get involved and I’ve already started conversations online.”
“I have got actively involved in local mental health groups.'
“I loved the event! It was the best I’ve been to.”
“I didn’t think a session about mental health and stigma and discrimination could be fun.”
Numbers:
68% more confident talking about mental health after the events.
78% more equipped to tackle mental health stigma.
75% more equipped to tackle mental health discrimination.