• Evidence for a College of Lived Experience

Please use this cloud to tell us about work that you are doing that is relevant to the development of the College. Below is information about a group that has been set up in Powys and how we plan to develop a training programme around sharing our lived experience.

Making a Difference – Sharing Our Learning from Lived Experience (MAD SOLLES)

What is MAD SOLLES?

MAD SOLLES is a programme for people with lived experience of mental health issues, which aims to help people think about what they have learned from their experiences and how they might share their experiences and learning with others to raise awareness about mental health issues.  It also aims to raise awareness generally about mental health issues and reduce stigma and discrimination, and change the way that people with mental health issues are treated for the better.  MAD SOLLES is part of the DIY Futures project being run by Powys Agency for Mental Health.

What is meant by ‘lived experience’?

The term lived experience refers to having had direct personal experience of a particular issue, in this case mental health issues.  We learn all the time from our experiences and even seemingly negative experiences can have positive outcomes.  MAD SOLLES aims to help people think about the skills, knowledge and expertise they have gained from their experiences of mental health issues, and how they might use these to make a positive difference.

What is involved in the programme?

MAD SOLLES involves a number of activities.  There is a MAD SOLLES Network which holds regular meetings to get people together to share their experiences and look at ways of raising awareness about recovery in mental health.  The Network is approaching different organisations such as the police, ambulance service, schools etc. to see if we can work with them to improve the way they treat people with mental health issues and create a more open atmosphere within the organisations so that their workers with experience of mental health issues feel more able to share their experiences and promote more ‘mentally healthy’ environments.

MAD SOLLES also involves a training programme for people with lived experience of mental health issues, who would like to share what they have learned with others. 

What is the training programme?

The training is in three stages, Sharing Our Learning from Lived Experience, Living Library and Training for Trainers.  You can take part in as many stages as you like, you don’t have to do all three.  Stages 1 and 2 last for 6 three hour sessions, Stage 3 is 6 day sessions.

Sharing Our Learning from Lived Experience – for this stage, people will come together and share their experiences of mental health issues, think about the skills, knowledge and expertise they have learned from them, and how they might want to share their experiences and learning with others.  This stage will include sessions on mental health awareness, values in mental health, recovery and anti-stigma and discrimination.

Living Library – a ‘living library’ is where people with knowledge of a particular issue are the ‘books’, and talk to people who want to find about the issue, the ‘readers’.  For this stage you will think about what you want to get across to people about mental health issues and how you want to get it across.  There are different ways that a living library can work, for example at face-to-face group events, one-to-one face-to-face meetings, or by making DVDs or animations.

Training for Trainers – this stage focuses on training and presentation skills.

We hope to get accreditation for the training programme, i.e. people who take part will get a recognised qualification at the end.

What’s in it for you?

Through taking part in the MAD SOLLES programme, you will have the chance to get together with other people with similar experiences and share with and learn from them.  You will have opportunities to build your confidence and self-esteem.  You will be able to think about the positive things that have come out of your experiences of mental health issues, and how you can share your experiences with people who want to find out more about mental health issues.

Sometimes thinking about and talking about our experiences can make us vulnerable, and so all participants will be offered support from the DIY Co-ordinator for their area.

Want to find out more?  Contact 

Derek Turner
11:34 on 5 July 2011