Safeguarding and trauma-informed involvement statement for Embedding lived experience in research funding decisions project
1. Purpose of this statement
This statement outlines our commitment to creating safer spaces in supportive, and trauma-informed environments for people with lived or living experience of suicidal distress or self-harm/self-injury who participate in our grant review processes.
We recognise the expertise, emotional labour and vulnerability that lived experience experts bring as well as the potential for re-traumatisation.
This statement outlines how we safeguard wellbeing, facilitate choice, and reinforce rights throughout the process. We are looking at how to provide this in accessible formats.
2. Foundational principles
2.1 Safety and wellbeing
We prioritise emotional and psychological safety for everyone involved and recognise this can look and feel different for everyone. Lived experience experts can pause, take breaks, or withdraw from the process at any time, without having to explain why.
2.2 Trauma-informed practice
Our practice is guided by trauma-informed principles of:
Choice and control over what and how an individual wishes to be involved
Trust and transparency in how we act and communicate
Collaboration with two-way dialogue
Feeling empowered/emboldened
Creating a fair and culturally respectful environment for everyone
2.3 Our commitment
We recognise lived experience as expertise in its own right, and will:
Provide clarity of expectations, roles, and responsibilities.
Share information in accessible ways, and ensure contributors know what they are (and are not) being asked to do.
Develop a culture of mutual kindness, respect, and trust where relationships are central and people are and feel valued.
Not allow exploitation of lived experience, by working relationally in partnership.
Acknowledge and address power dynamics by being transparent about the organisational decision-making boundaries and ensuring voices are heard and respected.
Adopt flexible and inclusive practices to meet different needs, recognising that people’s circumstances and triggers vary from one another, and day to day.
Ensure that all lived experience experts are treated with respect, paid fairly, and feel supported throughout.
3. Scope
This statement applies to all lived experience experts who participate in:
Reviewing grant applications
Providing feedback or reflections through written or verbal channels
Participating in panel discussions and interviews
Assessing proposals related to suicide, self-harm, lived experience, or mental ill-health
4. Safeguarding responsibilities
4.1 Our duty of care
We commit to:
Providing as safe an environment as possible for all lived experience experts
Responding sensitively and compassionately if lived experience experts are distressed
Having clear and transparent safeguarding processes for staff and people with lived experience
Ensuring staff and facilitators understand safeguarding and trauma-informed practice
4.2 Clarity and boundaries
We will always be explicit upfront and transparent about what the role involves, how decisions are made, what lived experience experts can expect from us, and what support is available externally.
This will be a two-way ongoing dialogue to ensure that everyone feels comfortable with the approach, support in place and individual as well as collective responsibilities. We will be clear about what can and can’t be changed about the project and listen to feedback about how this work could be improved for future funding rounds.
We will:
Provide written and verbal descriptions of the role
Explain the limits of contributors’ influence in grant review decisions
Not ask for personal stories (but listen with empathy and respect if shared)
Never pressure to disclose details of lived experience
5. Supporting emotional safety
5.1 Before involvement
To ensure that lived experience experts feel as safe and supported as possible, rather than imposing one-size-fits-all approaches, we will:
Understand from individuals what would be most helpful to them at that time
Offer a clear orientation to the working environment and the process (through 1:1 and/or group meeting)
Share materials as early as possible to avoid time pressure (at least 1 week in advance)
Seek to understand whether any topics may feel difficult, triggering, confusing or particularly emotive
Provide an optional wellbeing plan for each lived experience expert to consider; this will be encouraged and can be co-created or not shared at all
Discuss any privacy concerns and permissions relating to storing and/or sharing personal data, and agree options/actions to be taken to minimise harm and risks as far as possible
5.2 During involvement activities
To remain focussed on wellbeing and trauma-informed practice during sessions, we/facilitators will:
Make it as easy as possible for lived experience experts to step out of a meeting at any time
Monitor emotional tone in meetings and respond compassionately and take action to support as appropriate
We will avoid graphic content, handle sensitive material with care, and use appropriate trigger warnings/content notes as agreed in preliminary meetings (and wellbeing planning)
Ensure a named wellbeing/safeguarding contact will be available
Our work will involve reviewing offline, in which case we will:
Brief any offline reviewing starting with a trigger warning/content notes relating to content in the Guidance for reviewers
Plan to check in regularly (as agreed with individuals) by email and/or virtual catch-ups to support wellbeing and the process
5.3 After involvement activities
Nurturing ongoing supportive relationships, not just one-off transactions, we will offer:
A reflective debrief group session with an independent experienced clinical psychologist (optional)
Follow-up 1:1 check-ins will be available
Access to an independent clinical psychologist should difficult thoughts, feelings, or emotions arise that you think a one-off session could support your coping with
6. Support and supervision
Lived experience experts will have access to a supportive contact at Vocal Collective CIC who is independent from the grant decision-making structure
Staff will receive suicide-awareness and trauma-informed practice training
Workloads will be monitored to avoid overuse of individuals’ lived experience
Access to an independent clinical psychologist if counselling is needed
7. Handling distress and proportionate actions
Remember that distress and/or difficult thoughts, feelings, and emotions do not always equate to risk and that having a compassionate approach is an important part of being trauma-informed.
However, if someone becomes distressed or overwhelmed:
We pause the process
A private wellbeing check-in takes place
Lived experience experts choose how (or whether) they wish to continue
If immediate safety concerns arise, we follow safeguarding procedures
We review the incident and adjust processes if needed
A safeguarding protocol for online meetings will be shared and discussed with all lived experience experts and staff.
8. Compensation, consent, and recognition
8.1 Fair recognition
We will:
Value and pay reimbursement for time fairly and promptly
Compensate time for meetings, preparation and reading time
Signpost to advice and support about payment and benefits
8.2 Consent as ongoing and flexible
We view consent for lived experience experts in this project as an ongoing relational process – not a one-off form. Lived experience experts may revisit or revise their consent at any time.
8.3 Preventing exploitation of lived experience
We will monitor our involvement approaches, and ask for feedback, to avoid excessive emotional labour.
9. Equity, diversity, and intersectionality
We commit to inclusive, accessible, and anti-oppressive practice. We acknowledge that experiences of suicide and self-harm intersect with:
Race and racism, and other forms of discrimination
Disability and chronic illness
Gender identity
Sexuality
Socioeconomic status
Neurodivergence
Migration and marginalisation
We will:
Seriously address any reporting of discriminatory or exclusionary practices immediately with appropriate action
Make reasonable adjustments
Provide materials in accessible formats
Aim to actively recruit diverse lived experience experts
Aim to create culturally safer spaces
10. Confidentiality
Lived experience experts are not obliged to share details of their lived experience, but if they do these are treated with compassion and in confidence
Sharing personal details is always voluntary
Safeguarding limits to confidentiality will be explained
Information is used only for agreed purposes
11. Review, reflection, and continuous improvement
Safeguarding is a shared, evolving responsibility rooted in reflection and relationships, honouring the principle of being responsible to each other rather than taking responsibility for or over others
We will:
Review this approach on an ongoing basis, and at the end of this project, and share learning for future funding rounds
Invite and support feedback from lived experience experts
Adapt practices when issues arise
Learn from incidents and near misses
Acknowledgments and resources
This safeguarding statement draws on the following resources and has been created with lived experience involvement:
NSPA / SASP lived-experience involvement guidance
VMIAC trauma-informed research guidance
Wellcome lived-experience research principles