Guest Blog: Being a LET member
So, LET? What does it stand for, who are we and what do we do, along with who do we do it with? Questions that I hope by the end of this blog I would have answered for you.
The LET stands for Lived Experience Team. We are made up of people from all backgrounds and across the country. What we do as a team, and what Revolving Doors Agency do as an organisation, is to ensure the voices of those within the social justice spectrum are being heard and listened to when policies which affect our lives are being designed and developed. We work alongside academics, practitioners, decision makers, policy experts, commissioners, service providers and more to offer our perspective from the lens of a service user.
I am also a member of The National Lived Experience Team, this includes 12 members with lived experience and takes a broad perspective on healthcare across the justice system. The LET works with NHS England’s Health and Justice national team to assist in the creation, design, and implementation of healthcare services across the secure estate in England. I have had a long journey which has provided me with many a story to tell. They are not stories to tell others sitting comfortably by the fireside for entertainment, but stories that, because of the incredible work we do at Revolving Doors, I am able to cathartically share and help turn my past negative experiences into positives by using them to help others.
When I took the decision to change, I needed a new purpose -a ‘what can be’ rather than a ‘what was’ or ‘what is’. I used to sit in my cell daydreaming that one day I will be free and doing exactly what it is that I am doing. So, it is fair to say with thanks to Revolving Doors, and the organisations we work alongside who listen, I am indeed, living my dream. So much better than living a nightmare.
As well as being a dreamer, I am also a realist and I know that we still have a lot of hard work in front of us regarding change for the better within the social justice spectrum. However, before I became a member of the LET at Revolving Doors, I espied hope for fairness and justice for all of society on the horizon, I now see it on our doorsteps.
Change does not happen overnight, but it is happening.
My hope is we continue on this path and the change we seek, the change we need, becomes a reality.
It takes a village to raise a child.
