Become a Community Reporter and put real life stories at the heart of health and care change

The time for stories is now!

Community Reporting is a framework through which people’s stories are transformed into real-world change.

The It’s All About People team and Lincolnshire Voluntary Engagement Team (LVET) are therefore working in partnership with the national charity, People’s Voice Media, to bring Community Reporting to Lincolnshire.

And we’re now looking to recruit Community Reporters to gather and mobilise stories from across Lincolnshire.

Are you…

• Passionate about helping people to get their voices heard?
• Keen to make sure people’s real experiences inform change?
• Ready to use and develop your skills and experience to train other people?

Then, Community Reporting could be for you!

What does a Community Reporter do?

Our Community Reporters will:

• Gather stories: Using a diverse range of insight storytelling techniques, People’s Voice Media will support Community Reporters to use digital devices and the internet to gather and share their own (and their peers') stories of lived experience.
• Curate stories: Working with People’s Voice Media, Community Reporters will analyse stories to identify insights and package them in a range of ways such as edited films, interactive reports, visualisations and much more.
• Mobilise stories: People’s Voice Media will work with Community Reporters to connect curated stories to decision and change-makers, who can use the insights to create positive change. This could include evaluating and improving services, supporting co-design, informing strategic development and much more.  

Community Reporting provides opportunities for people to use storytelling to:

• Find their voice: Through storytelling we can have our say on topics pertinent to our lives.
• Challenge perceptions: Through listening to different experiences than our own, our understandings of the world can widen.
• Be catalysts of change: Through taking responsibility to act on what we have learned from other people’s experiences we can be part of positive social change.

At the core of Community Reporting lies the belief that every voice holds value. 

Find out more about Community Reporting

Visit https://peoplesvoicemedia.co.uk/approach/ for more information about the Community Reporting approach.

Alternatively, watch the video below:

I'm interested! Can I join Lincolnshire’s new network of Community Reporters?

Yes!

We’re looking for people working in health, social care, or the voluntary / community sector who are keen to use Community Reporting techniques to enhance the work they already do, and be part of building a Lincolnshire-wide library of people’s experiences focused on health, care, and wellbeing.

Perhaps you work in a people-facing role, or engagement, co-production, community development, or with people from communities that are often marginalised or excluded?

Maybe you are in a setting where you work alongside people to develop skills and confidence?

Whatever your health, care or wellbeing background, we'd love to hear from you!

So, How do I apply to become a Community Reporter?

It's easy - simply complete the Expression of Interest form (see link to form below) and send it to lhnt.itsallaboutpeople@nhs.net

And don't forget to put the training dates in your diary!

Lincolnshire Community Reporting Project - Key dates

25 - 26 February 2025: Community Reporter training (in person) at Sleaford Rugby Club

This training covers:

• Community reporting methods / techniques
• Responsible storytelling
• Digital media skills
• Different types of storytelling – dialogue, monologue, journeys, snapshots

2 - 3 April 2025: Story Curation training (in person) at Sleaford Rugby Club

This training covers:

• Story review techniques
• Analysis and thematic grouping of insights
• Alanning and packaging key messages / outputs (e.g., a film, report, slides etc).

June 2025 (date to be confirmed): ‘Conversation of Change’ event

24 - 25 September 2025: Community Reporting Train the Trainer (in person) at Sleaford Rugby Club

This training covers:

• How to facilitate and deliver community reporter training
• Storytelling and sense-making workshops
• Conversation of Change events
• Plus, action planning/next steps

Want to know more?

View the project briefing session slide deck

Watch video clips from the project briefing session:

• Presentation covering the project background, aims/objectives, role of the Community Reporting Trainer, potential benefits for trainers/partners, key dates and activities for 2025 (20 mins)
• Georgia Davenport from People’s Voice Media talks about what the training programme covers (10 mins)

If you have any questions or need further information, contact Caty Collier at caty.collier@lvet.org or phone / text: 07888 321090