Our First Ever Advisory Group Away Day

What an exciting and busy time at MFT for Co-production: our first ever Advisory Group (AG) Away Day took place on Tuesday 24 October at Bourne Hall, Ewell. The session was to give a big thank you to all of our Advisory Group members for their dedication and commitment to MFT and Co-production, to reflect and celebrate all of the AG’s work over the last few years and to look at the future of Co-production within our organisation.

The session ran between 9.30am and 3.30pm and eight of the nine AG members attended. The day started with high energy and was buzzing with conversation over breakfast – it helped that we had a fun bingo ice breaker where we learned more things about each other (still trying to find someone who has a birthday this month!). We then looked at all our achievements over the past three years. It was an exhausting list! AG Members also thought about their personal achievements along with how we can continue to improve.

We were delighted to welcome our speaker, Fi, from the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) who spoke about how to truly embed Co-Production within organisations and gave many examples of where it had been hugely successful.

After the workshop a lovely lunch was provided, and the AG members got to know each other face-to-face and enjoyed it very much!

The afternoon began with Patrick Wolter, CEO at MFT, delivering a presentation on how MFT plans to prioritise Co-Production at MFT for the next three years and re-iterated the importance of the AG members within the strategy.

At the end of the afternoon the groups explored what would need to happen to ensure Co-Production was truly embedded throughout MFT.

A fun, productive and yet exhausting day was had by all. Every AG member received a MFT tote bag with some goodies as a thank you for their years of work and commitment. Everyone worked so hard throughout the day and had such amazing ideas on how Co-Production can truly be implemented across MFT. Now the work begins!

This is what the Advisory Group members said about the day:

“Worthwhile, enjoyable and confidence building”

“Good Productive day”

“Loved it”

Would you like to join our Advisory Group?

We will be looking to recruit new Advisory Group members to help us shape Mary Frances Trust and the services we provide. Have you got lived experience of mental health services and want to make a difference to the services in your community? Have a look at our Co-production pages and see if volunteering as an Advisory Group member could be for you!

Share