Co-production partner testimonials
Co-Production Partner's thoughts on redesigning the Turn2us Benefits Calculator
Syeda on co-production: "I have been working with Turn2us for a long time and we started with benefit calculator. We changed the whole entire setup and we come up with the most easiest way to look what you are entitled to get from benefits. We made sure that at the words we have used for the benefit calculator should be easy to understand for all."
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.
Karen's thoughts on co-production: “Working on the Benefits Calculator was an eye opening experience for me. It was the best thing I have ever done in my career. I felt respected, listened to and my ideas were actually used, so in turn gave me confidence and showed me what my strengths are. It was amazing!"
Check benefit entitlement
Find out what means-tested benefits you might be entitled to.
On the Turn2us grants verification application tool
Aneita's words: “Working on the demo application for a new, faster and more secure way to verify the financial situation for people applying for grants was so interesting because it allowed me to give my opinion on a slick and easy to use digital version of providing the required documents."
On working on the Impact and Programmes group
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.
On the thriving project
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.
Turn2us's model of thriving
Online collaboration
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.
On Co-Production in general
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.
Poems by Turn2us Co-Production Partners
Co-production, by Robin
- Turning disaster into an opportunity to help many others
- Turning defeat into successful life help for countless others.
Co production, by Dave
What is it to me?
It is sharing...
Stories
Feelings
Experiences
It is giving...
Attention
Understanding
Love
It is taking ...
Knowledge
Reward
Satisfaction
It is returning...
Trust
Gratitude
Creativity
It is completion...
Turn
2
Us
Thriving, by Toni
I fell from my life of security,
did not see it coming, looking the other way,
caring role required, loved ones are so ill,
the need to leave work,
to fall so far, it was a crash and burn.
Reached the depths of a feeling, embracing despair,
lost myself in there, my identity shifted so fast.
I became invisible,
looking back, money, food, shelter in abundance,
feeling great, active in the community, grounded.
Tasting life’s comforts, never reflecting, or feeling scared,
the warm hug of providence and abundance,
loss hits like a brick wall, cemented my fate.
Then, out of the blue, a connection reached out,
it was Turn2us wrapping around me like a guardian angel,
mindful and present, tolerant, and accepting.
Nourishing me quietly and without pressure,
helpful, the Benefits Calculator allowed improved access,
then grant giving, volunteers like guardians of hope on the phone,
relevant and embracing, improving outcomes,
Turn2us are outward facing, transparent, a philosophy rooted in hope,
improving lives,
an agenda of giving and empowerment.
Values I cherished all my life,
I was invited in,
assisted to raise my voice again in co -production vibes,
no longer communities without a voice,
enabling my lost voice to resonate again,
central to structural change,
shaping innovative service provision,
a voice once lost in the translation of poverty and despair,
hear my lions roar in whispers of confidence,
A radical acceptance,
rooted in reality,
validated and valued,
shaping our welfare state
bridging the wealth gaps unseen,
co-production brings hope of an everyday voice in the world,
it affirms, through quiet acceptance, enabling me to rise again in dignity,
I am seen in plain sight and heard, to tell you my back story
to thrive again, to have meaning, a plenty.
Peer evaluation, by Erica and Patsy
P is for Passionate person- centred work, where we
E explore and evaluate in order to educate and seek to
E entertain
R relatable responses, in
E equal measures, as all experiences are
V valued. And we
A accept and
L listen to lived experiences
U United in our shared understanding which we
A attribute to our ascent to
T thrive. So we
I invite, individuals
O one story and we are
N never judgemental.
Email us if you have experience of not having enough money to live on, and would like to get involved in co-production at Turn2us.