Co-production partner testimonials

I helped on the revamp of the Benefits Calculator 2 providing co-producing team input. It was exhilaratingly creative being part of a wonderful project.

I worked on the Turn2us Benefits Calculator project and in meetings with the other panel members would brainstorm ideas for improvements to the Calculator. Each meeting was well guided with tasks and exercises that made me feel both challenged and rewarded. I felt a sense of achievement as the project went along and I was able to see how our ideas were being used to make a better Benefits Calculator. It was very satisfying to see the finished result and I feel grateful to have been part of a such a valuable project.

Working on the impact and programmes group gave me the confidence to apply for employment and I am now working for the first time in six years.

I'm currently working on the project ‘Surviving not just Thriving’ as a person with a lived experience and this is something I have found to be very helpful as a learning opportunity and also as someone able to contribute to a working definition of what it is to thrive. This team work has enabled me to contribute at all stages with turn to us workers and the researchers And together we have enriched the theory of what it looks like to thrive.

I took part in the Twitter takeover back in August 2020. I logged into Twitter as one of the Turn2us team to speak from my point of view on important topics surrounding benefits and stigma attached to them. I fully enjoyed speaking from such an accessible and widely effective platform to address people in need of support or just raise awareness.

I have supported Turn2us by speaking at various online events. The audiences were donors that financially contribute on a personal and commercial basis to the charity. I found the experience really beneficial for my own personal development and I feel like I can pay something back to Turn2us after receiving support myself.

Being a co-production partner makes me feel a more valued member of the Turn2Us family. It enables me to use my experiences to help make a contribution to our work and hopefully be part of a process that makes a difference to the lives of our beneficiaries in ways that I couldn't have done as just a [volunteer] visitor. There are so much that needs doing to aid people struggling in poverty and it is wonderful to be part of an organisation that is doing such great work.

I think co-production is the chance to contribute to national change, to feel visible and to be productive, to leave a footprint in the world of enablement, empowerment and inclusion. Co-production is a way of being outward focused, of contributing to a very real sense of active purpose with an organisation that is at the heart of change, growth, enablement and positivity.

Finally, I have found an organisation that listens to and uses the observations of real experts; people like me who live with financial difficulties on a daily basis. Being a Turn2us Co-Production Partner means I can give back to the charity who gave to me when I needed it and help people to get what matters - non-judgemental practical help.