Co-production Week 2026

This week (29 June to 3 July 2026) is Co-production Week.

Co-production Week highlights how working in genuine partnership leads to stronger, more responsive services. It brings together people who use services, carers, practitioners and organisations to share learning, inspire good practice, and spark important conversations about the future of care. 

This year's theme, ‘Care Equity’, explores what it means to ensure that everyone, regardless of their background, identity or circumstances, has equal access to high-quality social care.

This Co-production Week, we're celebrating the benefits of working together and highlighting the valuable contribution service users and carers can make in developing our services.

You can find out more about co-production across the Trust under the headings below:

Facts and figures

We meet the needs of around 97,000 service users
We deliver service from over 100 sites
89 volunteers
23 Activity Assistants
16 Volunteers Peer Mentor roles
49 Paid Peer Support Workers
Recovery Academy - 59 courses, co-designed and co-delivered by 79 tutors, 28 of which are people with lived experience

The Recovery Academy - celebrating the benefits of co-production, sharing good practice and the contribution of people with lived experience

Our Recovery Academy is honoured to be involved in celebrating Co-production Week, acknowledging the amazing contributions that those with lived experience of using our mental health services make to co-producing and co-delivering the wide range of courses and resources available to all.

Our Recovery Academy first launched in 2013 and has been a shining light of effective co-production in practice ever since. From opening its doors to all, the Academy has offered a wide range of learning opportunities for anyone looking to manage their own mental wellbeing or support someone else.

At the heart of the Recovery Academy lie its core values of inclusivity, empowerment and hope. These values are embedded within the Academy via the co‑production approach, meaning that all resources are co‑developed and co‑delivered with people with lived experience. This ensures that resources are accessible, reliable and informed by different perspectives. Lived experience tutors also provide a real sense of hope for students. The co‑production approach challenges traditional perceptions of support and recognises, with equal weight, the value of everyone’s experiences.

We spoke to one of the Academy’s students and co-facilitators Kelly for more information on what co-production means to them and why co-production is important for mental health services to champion.

Kelly, said:

"I first became involved with the Recovery Academy four years ago and appreciated how the courses provided different perspectives. It was empowering to realise I was not alone in my journey; hearing that others had similar stories gave me the belief that my own story could also inspire others.

"Since becoming a student, I have also had the opportunity to co‑produce several courses, including Understanding Neurodiversity, Let’s Talk About Domestic Abuse, Bridging the Gap (Tiers 1 and 2), and Professional Boundaries. I have also assisted with e‑learning packages. This work means a great deal to me; I am very passionate about co‑production and co‑facilitation because it instils hope and reinforces the idea that lived experiences matter. If I could use three words to describe the Recovery Academy, they would be hope, promise and safe.

Amy Lawrence, Recovery Academy Team Manager, added:

“I feel very honoured to have joined the Recovery Academy team earlier this year after many years working in clinical services within the Trust.

"Working alongside and learning from our experts by experience is a huge passion of mine, and I have really valued the opportunity to co-produce our work together, recognising the equal importance of lived and professional experience in shaping what we do.

"I have loved meeting so many people who want to use their experiences to empower others, ensuring our offer remains inclusive, accessible and responsive to the diverse needs of our communities.”

The Recovery Academy is free to join and available to:

anyone who is experiencing mental health and/or addiction problems (you do not have to be under the care of NHS mental health services)
their supporters (family, friends, and loved ones)
GMMH staff members, volunteers, and students on placement
any healthcare professionals

It's resources include 59 free face-to-face courses, focusing on areas such as improving understanding around mental health, learning new skills and supporting wellbeing through creativity. The courses are held in various venues across Greater Manchester, including Prestwich, Manchester, Trafford, Bolton, Salford and Wigan. The Academy also offers hundreds of free digital resources on their media hub.

If you would like to see what our Recovery Academy can offer you and create you very own Recovery Academy account, please visit the Recovery Academy website

Our staff and volunteers can access all resources via the Learning Hub.

You can also contact the Recovery Academy team directly with any questions.

Email: Recoveryacademy@gmmh.nhs.uk

Telephone: 0161 938 5122

Co-production in action: Shaping trauma-informed care together

Trauma-informed care isn’t something developed for people - it’s created with them.

From the outset, our Trauma-informed Care Strategy, whose principles are embedded in our overarching Care Strategy, has been built through collaboration.

Staff, experts by experience (EbEs) and carers have come together to shape a shared vision for care that truly reflects lived experience.

As our Trust Trauma-informed Care Lead, Amanda Kathryn Smith, told us, the development of the strategy has been:

“…co-produced with the Trauma-informed Care Strategy Group, bringing together staff, experts by experience, and patient, service user and carer representatives.”

This commitment to co-production is especially visible in the development of our Trauma-informed Care training offer - one of the first tangible priorities to bring the strategy to life - which includes the development of a three-tiered training model:

Level 1 – Trauma Aware
Level 2 – Trauma Informed
Level 3- Trauma Responsive

Why co-production matters

Training that is designed in isolation risks missing what matters most. At our Trust, EbEs and peer support workers have played a central role in co-producing and shaping not just what is taught, but how it is delivered.

As Amanda reflects, their input ensures the learning stays:

“…grounded in real-world experience and is meaningful for both staff and the people we support.”

This isn’t token involvement - it’s genuine partnership

Learning together, delivering together

A key feature of this approach is shared delivery. As Kieran Jones, Peer Support Co-ordinator from the Wigan Neighbourhood Mental Health Team, told us, the Level 2 Trauma-informed and Level 3 Trauma-responsive training is:

“…co-designed and co-delivered by the Trauma-informed Care Lead and experts by experience.”

Even more powerfully, Level 3 sessions are co-facilitated by clinicians and EbEs, bringing professional knowledge and lived experience side by side. This creates space for honest conversations, reflection, and deeper understanding of trauma and its impact.

Co-production is a process, not an event

One of the strongest messages from this work is that co-production doesn’t stop once something is designed; it continues to evolve.

The Level 3 Trauma-responsive training programme has been shaped through repeated pilots, feedback, and refinement. As Kieran highlights:

“…feedback from participants has been continuously used to refine and improve the programme - demonstrating co-production as an ongoing process, not a one-off event.”

This step-by-step approach ensures training remains relevant, responsive, and impactful.

Building change through shared expertise

What makes this work stand out is the recognition that expertise comes in many forms. Clinical knowledge and lived experience are equally valued - and, when brought together, they create something stronger.

Amanda finishes by stating that this programme shows how co-production can move from principle to practice:

“…creating training that is relevant, impactful and rooted in lived experience.”

Why co-production matters in mental health – a personal reflection

To learn about the impact of co-production in our mental health services on a personal level, we spoke with Sadika Asmal, a member of our Service User Council, and asked for her reflections.

For Sadika, as someone who has used mental health services for many years, co-production has been more than just a concept - it has been a powerful part of recovery and change.

As she told us:

“Co-production with Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) has enabled me to use my experiences to help improve services for others. It has given me a voice, made me feel heard, respected and valued…”

For individuals, co production creates something deeply meaningful. It turns lived experience - even painful experiences - into purpose. Instead of feeling defined by what has happened, individuals can shape what happens next. As Sadika reflected:

“Being given the opportunity to use these difficult experiences to help create change and drive improvements has been an important part of my recovery journey.”

This approach supports recovery in a different way. It’s not just about receiving care - it’s about contributing, having influence, and knowing your voice matters.

For Sadika:

“Recovery isn’t just about receiving support; for me, it also means having the opportunity to make a difference.”

For organisations like ours, the benefits are just as significant. Co-production helps services become safer, more accessible, and more person-centered by ensuring decisions are shaped by real experiences.

Sadika continues:

“Through co-production, I have been able to turn lived experience into positive action and contribute to improving services for the people who use them.”

It also creates a culture where people are truly listened to and involved in decisions that affect their care.

For Sadika:

“GMMH has created opportunities… where our voices matter and where… we have equity in decision-making.”

A great example of co-production in action is the work on Martha’s Rule - helping ensure people and families can raise concerns and be heard when something doesn’t feel right.

Martha’s Rule is a patient safety initiative by NHS England, introduced across acute hospital trusts in 2024. It allows patients, families, carers, advocates and NHS staff to request a rapid review at any time if they have concerns about a patient's condition.

The implementation of Martha’s Rule was driven by the case of Martha Mills, who tragically died in 2021 after developing sepsis in a general hospital. Her family’s concerns about her deteriorating condition were not adequately addressed, and a 2023 coroner’s ruling indicated that she would have likely survived had she been moved to intensive care earlier.

Our Trust is now part of a pilot programme to implement Martha’s Rule across mental health inpatient settings, and Sadika is an essential part of this group. The group has developed a daily wellness check document, that was co-produced with services users who have lived experience of accessing our inpatient mental health services, to ensure it could identify any deterioration in an individual’s physical or mental health, as one could impact the other. This working group has also consulted our Service User Council to support this important implementation.

As Sadika explains:

“Martha’s Rule is an important step towards ensuring that people are listened to, AND their concerns are taken seriously…”

The impact of co-production in mental health settings is clear:

individuals feel valued, empowered, and part of their own recovery
services improve through real insight and collaboration
care becomes safer, more responsive, and more human

Co-production isn’t optional - it’s essential. When lived experience and professional expertise come together, everyone benefits.

Find out more about Further Martha’s Rule on NHS England’s website

Co-production in the development of our Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework Plan

We are working to improve fairness in mental health care through the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF).

PCREF is a national NHS England programme that helps services improve racial equality and ensure people from racialised communities have a stronger voice in shaping care.

We spoke to our PCREF Lead, Oyinkansola Ogunleye (preferred name: Honey), who shared these reflections:

“We know that not everyone has the same experience. Many people still face inequalities in access, experience and outcomes, and things need to change.

“That’s why co-production is so important, and community engagement has been a critical element in developing our PCREF plan.

“Co-production means working with people, not making decisions for them.”

As our work shows, and as Honey explained:

“Co-production is at the heart of PCREF… working alongside communities to understand challenges, identify solutions and measure progress together.

By listening to people’s real experiences, we are learning what matters most, including:

earlier support

culturally safe care

better communication

stronger community partnerships

We’ve also heard powerful feedback from our communities:

“Stop asking us about our experiences. We’ve told you enough. Do something about it.”

And from engagement work, the following experiences stood out for Honey:

“A cycle where language exclusion worsens access, poor access increases crisis, crisis responses shape distrust…”

Honey states that these voices are helping us take action and shape real change:

“We believe lasting improvement only happens when communities are equal partners.

“Together, we can build services that are fairer, more inclusive, and truly responsive to everyone’s needs.”

If you would like to get involved or learn more about PCREF please email PCREF@gmmh.nhs.uk

Garden for Time and Space: Co-producing a creative wellbeing course for stroke survivors

Our Recovery Pathways service has been working with Lana, a stroke survivor, to develop and deliver garden-based wellbeing courses.

Lana shared:

“Since being introduced to Recovery Pathways through the Arts for Good Health programme, I knew that I would find encouragement and a place to recover and restore some aspects of my being that had been lost through suffering a stroke five years ago.

“The garden at Studio One, in particular, offered such a healing place. It provided a quiet environment where people were kind and approachable, and allowed me to grow in confidence while participating in various activities.

“During last winter, as part of my ongoing recovery, I invited two tutors to visit a garden created for stroke survivors in Chapel Alerton Hospital in Leeds. It was a great and rewarding experience for all involved.

“I was overwhelmed and touched when asked if I would co-lead a garden course specifically for stroke survivors with a tutor.

“It was amazing that Recovery Pathways tutors were keen to spend time with me, planning and creating such a course.

“My thoughts and feelings were mixed, as I was nervous because it would expose my vulnerabilities.

“I had benefitted from the Recovery Pathways service so much during recent months, and I really wanted others to experience and grow through the space and quiet that the garden and the well-planned activities would provide.

“Meeting the stroke survivors was very cathartic for me. I felt a real connection and sense of being in the right place at the right time.

“My previous experience of meeting stroke survivors has shown that every stroke is different, and all stroke survivors have a life-changing experience that is unique to the individual.

“While spending time together in the Garden for Time and Space, we discovered commonality where we could identify and belong.

“Throughout, the courses were sensitively supported. Knowing that, for me, increased my confidence and reassured me when I sometimes felt my vulnerabilities creeping in.

“On reflection, I feel a sense of happiness and achievement, and I will always be so grateful to Recovery Pathways and the tutor for willingly stepping into the world of a stroke survivor to offer care, understanding and support, and enabling me to be brave, given my current circumstances.”

Recovery Pathways Wellbeing Tutor, Kate Ulrick, added:

“It has been an honour to work closely with Lana on these courses. We have taken time to reflect together throughout the planning and delivery, and these conversations have been rich in learning for me. I have gained insight into the particular mental health challenges that can come with a having a stroke. I have felt very supported by Lana in the sessions. She sets a warm and compassionate tone, and her openness has helped people to find shared experiences.”

One course participant, said:

“I found my tribe."

Visit our Recovery Pathways webpage to learn more about the service

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