Celebrating a milestone moment for our Birmingham and Kirklees teams
Huge congratulations to our teams in Birmingham and Kirklees who have been awarded Lived Experience Charter status – a Silver award for Birmingham, and a Gold for Kirklees!
Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to get ready for this moment. What an achievement.
Rooted in lived experience since the beginning
The Lived Experience Charter recognises organisations that don’t just value lived experience, they put it at the centre of everything they do. For Emerging Futures, this isn’t a new direction, it’s who we’ve been since day one.
Emerging Futures began in 2014 by providing coaching from a humble portacabin outside Strangeways Prison, born from a belief that recovery is possible for everyone, and that those who have walked that path should lead the way forward.
From those modest beginnings, we’ve expanded across the UK, to a team of over 270 staff and volunteers, many with lived experience themselves, supporting thousands through housing and therapeutic programmes.
Why this matters for the people we support
The Lived Experience Charter recognises something we see every day – real change happens when people can talk to someone who’s genuinely been there.
For many people arriving at our services, often scared, overwhelmed or unsure if recovery is even possible – meeting a worker or volunteer with lived experience is the moment hope starts to land.
As Lucy’s story shows, even day one of recovery feels different when you’re met by someone who understands the fear, the uncertainty, and the grief that can come with letting go of substances.
Coaching at the centre of our approach
Our Coaching Essentials programme plays a key role in why our services continue to be recognised nationally. Coaching is how we turn lived experience into purposeful action. It’s how we build confidence, strengthen recovery, and support people to take the next step.
The programme is CPD-accredited and designed to empower volunteers and staff with the tools to support behaviour change, communicate with skill, and create collaborative, values led goals with the people we support.
A reflection of who we are, and who we’re becoming
This Charter recognition shows the strength of our Birmingham and Kirklees teams, but it’s just the beginning. Our belief in people, in potential and in the power of lived experience continues to drive us forward as we work to build a world where everyone has somewhere to live, something to do and someone to love.
