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Asking the people of Lewisham to help shape local services

Sign up here BEFORE 14th June

What is all this about?

MutualGain is a community engagement organisation – we have been asked by Lewisham council to listen to the communities in Lewisham and learn more about how drugs and alcohol is affecting them.

We want to hear from you if you are affected by friends, family, your partner, or people in your community taking drugs or alcohol. We also want to hear from you if you are taking drugs and alcohol yourself, and it’s impacting on your life.

We know that both drugs and alcohol affect good people in negative ways, and we know you want us to guarantee your confidentiality so we WILL NOT  share any of your contact details outside of our research team in MutualGain.  We will share issues and ideas, but NOT your contact details.

What is this Citizens’ Panel?

The panel is a group of people who want to use their experience to make a positive difference to the people who live in the borough.  They live in the borough of Lewisham and they will have felt the impact of drugs or alcohol, either as an individual or as part of a family or community.  This panel will want to share their ideas for how different communities can be better supported to get help when they need it, and without any ‘shame’ that is often associated with the use of drugs and alcohol.

  • Is that you?
  • Have you felt the impact of drugs and alcohol?
  • Do you want to help others like you?
  • Do you have a day of your time to give to help make a positive difference?

We will bring your learning and ideas together into a report (no names or contact details) and share that with the Council so that they can use it when they are buying services for local people who are negatively impacted by drugs and alcohol.

When do I need to sign up to it?

The closing date for signing up is 14th June at 17:00 – use this form to register your interest.  We will call or email you on 15th June.  If we are oversubscribed we will try and select a group that reflects the population of Lewisham.

What happens when I sign up to be part of a panel?

  • We will look at the list of people who have signed up and invite the people who reflect the make up of the borough.  We would love to hear from people of all backgrounds so please do encourage people you know to sign up too!  Remind them it is completely confidential.
  • On 15th June we will call you on the number you have given on the form, have a quick chat with you about what to expect and confirm the venue (it will be in the Catford/Lewisham area).
  • On 17th June you will arrive at 09:45 ready for a 10:00 start.  We will give you lunch and we will finish at 16:00.
  • That evening we will transfer the £75 into a bank account of your choice. n.b..  we cannot give you cash in notes: we have to transfer it to your account, but it does go in straight away.

How can I share my experiences if I am not able to attend on 17th June?

If you can’t come and see us on 17th June, then please use this form [click here] to share whatever you think we should know.

How will we use the information you share?

We will bring all the learning together and share the information anonymously with the people who have responsibility for providing support services in Lewisham

If you would like more information please contact us at info@mutualgain.org