From intention to action: two years of embedding lived experience at Breaking Barriers

In July 2023, Breaking Barriers formally launched its Lived Experience (LE) strategy, an ambitious and much-anticipated shift to ensure that people with lived experience of displacement are not just spoken about, but actively shaping how we work, lead, and advocate.  

This initiative didn’t begin with a project plan. It began with a belief. That individuals with lived experience must have meaningful power in the spaces designed to support them. Over the past two years, we’ve moved from intention to action, recruiting and compensating Lived Experience Panel (LEP) consultants, co-creating policies, training staff, and most importantly, building relationships that make shared power possible.  

We knew this couldn’t be about ticking boxes. It had to be a cultural shift.   

Where we started  

Breaking Barriers has always worked alongside refugees and people seeking asylum. But, we knew we could do more to involve them in the decisions that shaped our work. The lived experience strategy was created to change that, to ensure that people from the refugee community had a genuine influence on Breaking Barriers’ programmes, policies and decision-making.  

In April 2023, I stepped into the newly created role of Lived Experience Involvement Officer. One of my first priorities was to co-develop two foundational documents – the LE strategy and the LE Policy that includes a payment framework for Lived Experience Consultants. These weren’t written behind closed doors. They were shaped by the people they impact.  

By the summer of 2023, we had recruited our first cohort of LEP consultants, individuals with impressive professional skills and deep personal insight into the refugee experience. Their expertise has since influenced strategy, recruitment, board governance, fundraising, partnerships, service design, and beyond.  

As part of onboarding, we provided tailored training to panel members, recognising their dual role as expert consultants and individuals with the potential to grow further through support and development. This investment reflected our commitment to making the experience enriching – offering panel members the same learning and growth opportunities available to other staff and nurturing one-to-one exchange within the group.  

What the LEP has achieved  

Broad involvement across the charity  

Over the past two years, LEP members have contributed more than 850 hours of paid consultancy. These hours were spent reviewing policies, supporting strategies, influencing communications, mentoring leaders, contributing to programme design, and joining crucial organisational conversations.  

Policy development  

The LEP supported the development of strategies and policies that centre lived experience, accessibility, and equity. The consultants’ input ensures that lived experience isn’t treated as an “add-on,” but is embedded from the very start of our thinking.  

Fundraising and relationships  

LEP members have engaged directly with Breaking Barriers’ partners, sharing their perspectives at external events and supporting the narrative shift around refugee experiences. This has strengthened partner relationships and added depth to fundraising proposals. It’s also been a learning opportunity for panel members, giving them insight into how we work with external stakeholders.  

Shaping the Theory of Change  

In early 2025, LEP consultants played a key role in reviewing our organisational Theory of Change, helping ensure our mission, values, and outcomes reflect the real-life journeys and barriers faced by our clients.  

Public engagement and communications  

LEP consultants have supported our external communications, offering insight into language, tone, and audience. Their involvement has helped ensure our public messages are not only inclusive, but authentic and empowering.  

Feedback loops  

The LEP has helped transform how we use client and consultant feedback. Together, we introduced two-way systems to ensure consultants know how their input is used, and staff are accountable for acting on it. Updates are now routinely shared, and decisions are explained transparently.  

What the data tells us  

Last year, we launched our first internal LE survey to understand how staff with lived experience were navigating their roles, and how we could better support them. With a 94% response rate, we gained valuable insight. Since then, we continue to closely monitor the results and share the findings with our Senior Leadership Team. Our survey showed:  

• 18% of staff at Breaking Barriers identified as having lived experience of displacement (direct or generational)  

• Well-being support scored 4.18/5  

• Comfort sharing challenges with managers: 4.09/5  

• Understanding of lived experience within the organisation: 3.36/5  

• LE could be a barrier to progression: 2.8/5 (over half of staff with LE think so)  

These numbers tell a mixed story. While well-being and communication are strong, barriers to growth and recognition persist.  

Staff with lived experience told us they need:  

• Clear career progression pathways  

• Targeted mentorship and leadership training  

• Recognition of lived experience as a strength  

• Transparent and constructive feedback  

What we’ve learned  

This journey hasn’t been smooth. We could have done things better – inviting people in earlier, focusing on feedback, and having a better understanding of the emotional labour this work demands. But those mistakes became lessons.  

Embedding lived experience is not about inviting someone into a room and hoping for magic to happen. It’s about power. Who holds it, who shares it, and how willing we are to be changed by what we hear.  

What’s next  

As we get started with the second cohort of the Lived Experience Panel, we hope to:   

• Expand the number of LE consultants involved in strategic decision-making.  

• Offer more opportunities for our clients to share their feedback with us.  

• Offer more development opportunities to our LE colleagues.  

• Work more closely with our charity partners to embed lived experience in their own work and create positive social change through the sector.  

• Work more closely with our business partners to continue to bring our clients’ perspective to them in an authentic way.  

• Explore ways to involve the wider community we support, such as through volunteering opportunities, so that we continue to value and channel their insight and energy.  

The LE Strategy is no longer a ‘nice to have’. It’s an intrinsic part of who we are and how we work.  

A final word  

As someone with lived experience myself, I don’t just see this as a job. I see it as a responsibility to make sure the doors we’ve opened stay open. That the next generation of refugees and migrants don’t just participate, but lead.  

Because lived experience should not be a tick box. It should be a compass.