At the Down’s Syndrome Association we are lucky enough to have a team of people who have Down’s syndrome that work as part of the organisation. We love co-production, and working together is what the group is all about.
We believe in Inclusive participation which means everyone can take part in the work and activities of organisations.
Through ‘Our Voice’ and other activities people who have Down’s syndrome are involved in the planning and delivery of services, decision making at all levels of the organisation and evaluating our activities.
We think the best ways for people to participate is by creating things, and making decisions together; through co-production.
The Our Voice team meet weekly on Zoom to talk about important topics and work on projects together.
We would like to share with you a small selection of some of the projects the group have been working on.
Check out this ‘Our Voice’ video where members introduce themselves in a video they made for World Down Syndrome Day.
Celebrating our one year anniversary
Here is Our Voice member Sam talking about some of the work we have done together in the past year.
Our Voice Update
Due to the coronavirus pandemic the DSA started hosting weekly update webinars to inform people of important change and work that was happening to protect the rights of people who have Down’s syndrome. 28 were held in all.
The Our Voice team regularly presented at these events and shared their stories or discussed updates from the group. Here is an update which the group hosted themselves.
Joe talks about the principles of co-production from 18 minutes in:
Emotional wellbeing
The ‘Our Voice’ team helped in the development of lots of resources including the hugely popular Emotional Wellbeing resources with the aim to help parents, supporters and people who have Down’s syndrome to support emotional wellbeing.
Emotional wellbeing is about how we think and feel and how we cope with life events. It is also about how we deal with our own emotions as well as those of others.
We hope the resources will help people who have Down’s syndrome to feel good about themselves and give them ways of coping when life is challenging.
Find them here.Preview (opens in a new tab)
Our Voice interviews
The team have written questions for and interviewed many people, including some celebrities. Check out these interviews with Mr Motivator and Daniel Laurie.
Mr Motivator
Daniel Laurie – From Call the Midwife
How 2020 was for me
Our Voice members reflected on and discussed 2020 and how the year was for them. They held a support session where they shared their stories with each other. Some group members recorded their stories which we shared on our youtube channel.
Here is Daniel’s video…
You can watch the rest of the videos here.
More information
If you want to know more about Our Voice and DSA’s approach to co-production, find out more at the links below.