Through the User and Stakeholder Involvement workstream of WTFA we have developed resources and training that will better enable advice agencies to involve the people they serve in the services they provide. This, in turn, enables service users and stakeholders to be empowered and have genuine influence on the advice services they use.
Over 1200 copies of our involvement toolkit Involve, Engage, Empower have been distributed through the advice networks to staff working with service users on the frontline. This resource contains practical tools, templates and methods to help advice agencies develop and deliver involvement opportunities for their service users that are appropriate, engaging and allow users to have a real impact.
We have also delivered involvement training sessions to 138 members of advice agency staff from across the country. These training sessions provide an opportunity for advice staff to think about involvement in the context of their own advice agency and to practice using some of the tools in the toolkit resource in this context. The training also uses practical tools to help advice agencies demonstrate the impact involvement has on the way their services are delivered, a vital tool when demonstrating the value of a service to potential funders.
The work has been independently evaluated – User and stakeholder workstream final evaluation report
