It’s not every day you get to sit at the centre of a meeting, next to one of your mates, and share your lived experience of addiction and the justice system with the people who can change how things work across Greater Manchester.
That’s where I found myself. A few years ago I was on the wrong side of that system. This time I was at the table, being asked what needs to change.
A room full of people with real influence
The room included Dame Carol Black, who led the government’s independent review of drugs. There were people from the Home Office, the head of Wigan Council and Probation.
Revolving Doors were there too, a charity that works on justice reform and puts the voices of people who have been through the system at the centre of it.
And there were plenty of others with real power and influence. For someone with my history, being in a room like that was unreal.
The biggest thing was being heard
The names and job titles weren’t what stayed with me. Being heard was.
We got to speak openly about what we’ve been through, what needs to change and what could make a difference to people going through addiction and the criminal justice system. People listened to our experiences and took them seriously.
I’m proud of that. It meant a lot.
Why lived experience belongs in rooms like this
A lot of people with lived experience never get the chance to have their voices heard in rooms like that one. Decisions about addiction and the justice system get made without the people who have been through them.
That’s a gap. If you’ve lived it, you know things that don’t show up in a report. You know what it feels like when that life is your normal. You know which kinds of help reach you and which ones don’t. You know what it takes to get out and stay out.
When people with lived experience are in the room, the conversation gets more honest. That’s good for the people making the decisions and for the people those decisions land on.
Bring lived experience into your room
This is the work I do through Iron Minds Academy. If you want the people you work with, or the people you work alongside, to hear what addiction and the justice system look like from the inside, I can help in three ways:
- Talks and speaking: for team meetings, training days, events and conferences, shaped around your audience and what you want them to take away.
- Workshops and group sessions: boxing, circuits and fitness alongside honest conversation, for young people and adults who need a reason to engage.
- One-to-one mentorship: steady support for someone who is trying to change direction.
I work with local authorities, the police, prisons, charities and schools. You can read more about how I work and my own story.
Life really can turn around
From some of the darkest points in my life to sitting at a table trying to help shape change. I wouldn’t have believed it if you’d told me.
Life really can turn around. I’m proof of that.
If you want a lived experience voice at your next meeting, event or session, get in touch and we’ll start with a conversation.