Why we do what we do

Put simply, our own lived experience brought us here. It’s who we are and what we do.

We recognise that people who’ve had a life-altering experience often want their experience to count; they want to use what they’ve learnt for the benefit of others. We’ve experienced this ourselves and we’ve seen it many times – people driving policy change, building strong peer networks, and advocating for others.

'Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny’. C S Lewis

We also draw on our experience of embedding lived experience in national programmes at NHS England and across the wider health and care sector. We use our facilitation and collaboration skills to provide a bridge between Peer Leaders and organisations so they can confidently, ethically and meaningfully collaborate. This enables new insights, better decisions, improved services and better outcomes.

Peer Leaders

A Peer Leader is a person with lived experience who is committed to working collaboratively with others to make a positive difference.

What’s in our name?

This brings us to the story behind m-powered. The ‘m’ represents Mitchell and Malcom, two close family members, who were the catalysts for our own personal growth and shaped the values and beliefs that underpin our work today. Mitchell pioneered the use of personal health budgets in England and Malcolm was an early adopter. Here’s Mitchell’s story [link]

Our Values

Empowerment is one of our core values; it’s the process of helping people connect with their own strength and resources after a life-altering experience. Authenticity, collaboration, and inclusion are also at our heart.