Using alliance contracting to put co-production at the heart of transforming substance use services in South Wales

We have been working alongside some pioneering commissioners and partners in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot as they transform the substance use services in their area. Here are our highlights from the co-design process.
Celebrating 7 Years: milestone moments and looking forward

2024 marks 7 years of Ideas Alliance. Over that time we’ve grown from a small story sharing platform to a social consultancy on a mission to make co-production and collaboration the norm across the country. Co-founder Helen Sharp starts our celebrations by looking back at how it all started and what’s coming next.
2.8 Million Minds: Collective Power Awards

This blog features the 2.8 Million Minds project. Between November 2021 and May 2022, over 120 people contributed to A Manifesto for 2.8 Million Minds, a youth-led, artist-centred, and Disability Justice-informed approach to how young Londoners want to use art to begin to radically reimagine mental health support, justice and pride.
North West London Suicide Prevention Programme: Collective Power Award

This blog features the North West London Suicide Prevention Project, which connects organisations across North West London Integrated Care System, including the voluntary sector, local authorities and the NHS. Using the principles of generous leadership, this programme is based on alliance building and a social response to suicide prevention.
Alliancing in Health and Social Care Symposium

Key takeaways from the first UK Alliancing in Health and Social Care Symposium we hosted in Birmingham earlier this month where we discussed how have conversations about how far alliancing has come in the past ten years, how to bring others to the table, and what we need to do next.
Looking Back, Moving Forward: Stories From Covid Times

In autumn 2021, Dudley Council commissioned the Ideas Alliance to help them get a better understanding of how the pandemic had impacted on people’s lives, in order to inform priorities for the future. The brief included the use of storytelling and one requested outcome was a visual representation of the experiences of the people of Dudley.
Spread the Word – West Midlands next for Not Another Co-Production Project!

Following a brilliant first year full of ups, downs and lots of learning together in Manchester, we are ready to begin year two of our lottery funded three-year Not Another Co-Production project in partnership with People’s Voice Media. We are on the hunt for at least 12 organisations across the West Midlands to partner with from autumn 2022 to summer 2023.
Clarissa on tour: A film created to improve the health of people affected by homelessness

Find out about the health-inclusion issues raised in the Clarissa film to consider how small changes in practice or policy could create healthcare systems and experiences that work better for everyone.
We need to talk about “lived experience”

Lived experience is essential to co-production, but do we treat those who share their stories with us ethically? True co-production needs long-term thinking, proper support and the creation of opportunities for people who have experienced multiple disadvantage, argues co-production advisor Isaac Samuels in this powerful guest blog.