Even with the best intentions, harnessing lived experience can often mean asking people to ‘step into our world, speak our language’ says Jordon Field. Here she describes how her organisation is helping to redefine commissioning in Essex.
In 2017, Ben Hughes, head of public health at Essex County Council, recognised a critical gap in how drug and alcohol services were being shaped across the county. He believed local authorities needed to go beyond simply gathering feedback – they needed to meaningfully embed the voices of lived experience into every level of service design and delivery.
‘While I could sit in my office and make decisions about where to spend my budgets – and base them on the best knowledge available – it was never going to be based on actual experience,’ Ben reflected.
Determined to change the system, Ben proposed a bold new approach: a commissioning model built with lived experience at its core. With the support of Essex County Council, this radical vision became a reality – and the Essex Recovery Foundation was born.
PEOPLE POWER
Essex Recovery Foundation is a pioneering charity dedicated to building a visible recovery community in Essex. Our mission is to use the voices of those with lived experience to influence how services function and to change perceptions of addiction and recovery. Through this innovative approach, we’re aiming to make Essex a place where recovery is celebrated and supported.
‘The essence of Essex Recovery Foundation is simple: put the power to shape and commission drug and alcohol services into the hands of those who use them,’ said Nathan Marsh, our chair. ‘Too often, when we seek feedback from service users, we ask them to step into our world, speak our language, and then draw conclusions from small sample sizes. Even with the best intentions, this approach rarely cultivates meaningful change or community ownership. We believe there’s a better way – one that delivers better outcomes for everyone involved.’
This belief is already starting to influence real change. In partnership with Essex County Council, Essex Recovery Foundation has led a transformative shift in the commissioning of drug and alcohol services, and the Psychosocial Alcohol Intervention and Recovery Service (PAIRS) and Community Rehabilitation contracts became the first to be re-tendered using this lived experience-led model.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
The process began with a rigorous needs assessment carried out by our team of community researchers, all of whom have personal experience with addiction. Drawing on the voices of people affected by addiction across Essex, the assessment helped us shape and design new service specifications which directly reflected the needs and priorities of the recovery community.
Essex Recovery Foundation also played a direct role in evaluating the bids. Sitting alongside commissioners from Essex’s Drug and Alcohol Public Health team, our team had an equal voice in scoring applications against community-developed criteria.
Bethany Teague, one of Essex Recovery Foundation’s community researchers and a key voice in the process, shared her reflections: ‘The experience was both fascinating and inspiring. Sitting around that table, we weren’t just observers – we were equals. Our voices, shaped by our community insights and lived experiences, carried weight. It was empowering to see how our perspectives were not only heard but actively influenced the outcome. There were moments where I spotted things others had missed, and scores were adjusted based on our feedback. It showed just how valuable our input was.’
Bethany also noted how encouraging it was to see bidders directly incorporate insights from the community research into their proposals. For example, from the feedback we’d collected, the recovery community had highlighted the need for greater out-of-hours support. The chosen provider has responded by extending services into two weekday evenings and weekends, as well as launching a 24/7 online chat feature with AI-assisted support. Additionally, in response to calls for more inclusive access, especially for hard-to-reach groups, the provider has expanded to 28 outreach locations and introduced home visits for individuals unable to travel.
GROUNDBREAKING MODEL
This groundbreaking model marks a fundamental shift in how public services can – and should – be designed. By placing lived experience at the centre of commissioning, Essex Recovery Foundation is not only shaping more effective and relevant services but is also challenging the status quo of top-down decision-making.
Laurence Hickmott, chief executive officer of Essex Recovery Foundation, highlights the importance of creating safe spaces for people with experiences of addiction to feel comfortable to participate in this process: ‘It’s important that we recognise that these groundbreaking achievements are not possible without the courage of those people who shared their experiences and ultimately trusted us to turn that insight into action. So much of this success belongs to our incredible community engagement team, who’ve built meaningful relationships with people affected by addiction throughout Essex.’
BEYOND COMMISSIONING
Our commitment to community empowerment goes far beyond commissioning. We run weekly recovery spaces across the county: safe, welcoming environments where people can connect, share, and support one another. We’re also proud to host the annual Essex Recovery Festival, which is taking place from 8 to 10 August – a vibrant, sober celebration that brings together individuals in recovery and allies from all walks of life.
Most recently, we launched the Essex Recovery Fund, a unique, community-led grant programme that supports grassroots projects created by people in recovery, for people in recovery, and voted on by the recovery community itself. It’s yet another example of how we’re aiming to flip traditional models on their head and prove that lived experience is not just valuable – it’s vital.
We believe that what’s happening in Essex is more than a local success story – it’s a blueprint for how communities across the UK could rethink recovery, inclusion, and public health. As the results continue to speak for themselves, one thing is clear. When you give people with lived experience the power to lead, real change follows.
Jordon Field is head of strategy and communications at Essex Recovery Foundation