Making the Difference – Expert Link

Making the Difference is our follow on course for those who have attended the Being the Difference training.

The purpose of this course is to support groups to develop their own group purpose and values.

You will learn:

What values and purpose are and how they help us create the change we want.
Develop a purpose for the group and a set of values as a framework to work within.

Developing a group purpose will provide a destination for the group to work toward. Having a set of values will help to map out the route toward that destination.

To support the development of these for the group, it is important to explore what purpose and values mean to us as individuals. This will provide us with the experience and reference to support the development of the groups.

Values

Personal values are your central beliefs that guide you. They are the things that you believe are important in the way you live and work and inform your decision making and influence your behaviour.

When your decision making and actions match your values, life is usually feels good –when they don't align that's when things feel... well … wrong and can lead to stress ad unhappiness.

On this course we will explore values and learn how to define our own.

“I love the values and will implement them in my practice”

Purpose

Understanding who we are and having a purpose (or purposes) in life gives us a reason for being, it motivates us to get out of bed in the morning and gives meaning to everything that we do.

Having purpose has enabled people to overcome the most challenging of obstacles to bring fulfillment and happiness into their own lives and the lives of others.

Where our values guide us through the twists and turns of life’s journey, purpose gives us a destination.

“Thank you again for the wonderful training day. My mind was stretched and enlightened in so many different ways”

Previous attendees

To date over 1000 fantastic people have participated in Expert Link training. Individual participants have reported successes such as moving into employment, having books published, presenting their own local radio show, picking up recovery, setting up successful homelessness projects, inspired meaningful co-production within their service and creating local networks alongside others aiming to make a positive change to society.

About Expert Link

Expert Link is a peer led organisation championing the voice of people with lived experience of multiple disadvantages, including homelessness, mental health issues, substance misuse, offending and domestic violence and abuse. We advocate for a world where people with lived experience of multiple disadvantages are treated as equal partners in decisions made about our lives.

We have a national network of people with lived experience of multiple disadvantages, using their wisdom to influence local and national policy. Our network is diverse, brought together by a programme of strengths-based training which supports people with lived experience to be involved in service development and influencing national policy change.

About your trainer

David has experienced childhood trauma, substance addiction, mental illness and homelessness, as well as having been on active service while a member of the armed forces.

He is the founder and CEO of Expert Link. He has over ten years’ experience in coproduction - working at individual, community, organisational, local and national government levels.

He has trained hundreds of people in the art of co-production, including individuals accessing services, frontline workers, middle management, members of senior leadership teams, commissioners, local authority leads and national Government officials.

David has developed numerous groups around the country, is a member of several panels and committees, including the Governments Rough Sleeper Advisory Panel and has been recognised internationally for the work he does.