In this blog, one of our Touchstone Service User Consultants shares what his role at Touchstone means to him…
I’m speaking from the heart in talking about what it means to me to be a Service User (SU) consultant at Touchstone.
As having lived experience of Mental Health (MH) and having been through the system with services since I was a kid, I want to influence positive change and help to make a level playing field for all service users, no matter what diagnosis they have. I want to help take away the current barriers I’ve faced from services, due to my own MH diagnosis.
Being a SU consultant influences me to be a role model for service users and encourage them to use their voices, as without service users there’s no service! In my journey I’ve had to endure people telling me I wouldn’t be able to achieve things and wouldn’t be able to live a decent lifestyle. Having the opportunity to represent Touchstone shows how much I’ve progressed but also ‘proved the doubters wrong’. Even with life throwing difficult challenges at me, I’ve always had the strength to keep on battling through. As many people know with how passionate I am about Leeds – and football as a whole – I relate to the verse of marching on together and we’ve had our ups and downs! Yes, I do use music as one of my coping strategies when things do get difficult!
I do say to myself ‘sometimes I don’t know where I’d be not only without amazing colleagues at Touchstone but also without my peers being in my corner’ when I’ve needed support or advice, especially when it’s helped me push on with my own personal development and contribute more within my role of a SU consultant.
The best thing about being involved at Touchstone is how everyone looks out for one another, as we are all a family, who can relate to each other with our lived experience of living with mental health. Receiving amazing feedback also gives me that uplifted boost in confidence and makes it more valuable and an honour to be involved in an organisation that goes the extra mile for you.
