Book your place
To book a place please email events@imroc.org. This webinar is online on Zoom.
Join us for a webinar exploring the findings from our recent report: The State of Peer Support and Peer Leadership Roles in NHS Trusts in England.
The State of Peer Support, and Peer Leadership Roles in NHS Trusts in England — Imroc.
We'll present the key findings from the FOI requests we put to NHS mental health Trusts about their peer workforce, including what we learned about the current landscape of peer support and peer leadership roles, and the opportunities and challenges emerging across NHS Trusts. Alongside time for questions, discussion and reflection, the webinar will conclude with facilitated breakout conversations where we will collectively explore the wider implications of the findings for peer support, the NHS and our own practice. Whether you're a peer support worker, peer leader, clinician, manager, researcher or policymaker, this is an opportunity to engage with the evidence, share perspectives, and explore the future of peer support.
Date and Time: Thursday 6th August at 12-1.30pm (UK Time)
What to Expect:
The webinar will include:
An overview of the report’s findings and how the study was conducted.
Focus on the findings relating to peer worker numbers, senior peer worker numbers, how roles are positioned on NHS pay scales, and how Trusts accessed/used the NHS England training levy
Time for questions, discussion and shared reflection on the findings.
Facilitated breakout discussions exploring the wider implications for peer support, policy and practice.
Opportunities to connect with colleagues, share experiences and contribute ideas about the future of peer support.
Who is the webinar for?
This webinar is an open space, welcoming of anyone, but may be of specific interest to:
Peer support workers and peer leaders working in NHS services.
Anyone involved in developing, leading or supporting peer support within or beyond the NHS.
NHS managers, service leads and workforce development colleagues.
Commissioners, policymakers and colleagues from NHS England with an interest in lived experience roles.
Researchers and academics interested in peer support and peer leadership.
Anyone with an interest in the national picture of peer support and peer leadership roles, and what the findings mean for the future of lived experience roles in mental health services.
Benefits of attending:
Gain an overview of the current national picture of peer support and peer leadership roles in NHS trusts in England.
Understand the key findings from our FOI report and what they may mean for practice, policy and workforce development.
Reflect on the opportunities and challenges facing peer support and lived experience roles at this stage of their development.
Hear perspectives from others working in, leading or supporting peer support across different settings.
Contribute to discussion about the future direction of peer support in the NHS and beyond.
Take away ideas, questions and insights to inform your own role, service or organisation.
Speakers / Facilitators
Emma Watson
Emma Watson is the programme lead at Imroc for Research, Evaluation, Publications and Development, and, until recently, was the Peer Support Lead at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. As Peer Support Lead, she has led the strategic introduction of peer support workers into a range of clinical services, establishing training and supervision processes to support this development. Prior to this, Emma worked in a number of peer roles, including peer support worker, peer supervisor, peer trainer and peer researcher. Emma was among the first peer workers to be employed in Nottingham NHS Trust in 2010; an experience which transformed her own recovery, as well as her understanding of the power of lived experience.
As a programme lead at Imroc, Emma aspires to centre lived experience perspectives in research and publications, and offer accessible, creative ways for knowledge to be developed and shared. She is leading on the development of an MSc in Lived Experience Leadership as well as overseeing Imroc’s research and evaluation projects. Emma's commitment to advancing peer support is further demonstrated through her extensive research publications. She has authored numerous articles, as well as co-authoring the book "Peer Support in Mental Health," which provides an in-depth exploration of peer support concepts and practices. Her PhD explored peer support in the context of an NHS service, especially how this context changes or constrains peer support, and how individual peer workers resist this process.
Ashleigh Charles
Dr Ashleigh Charles is a consultant with Imroc and a researcher within the Recovery into Research Team (RRT), with extensive experience in mental health research, evaluation, and workforce policy. Her professional background spans roles as a peer support worker, support worker, registered mental health nurse, policy associate, and academic researcher, offering a distinctive blend of lived experience, clinical practice, and research expertise.
Ashleigh’s PhD explored the implementation of peer support roles within NHS services, with a focus on organisational culture. She has worked on both National Institute of Health and Social Care Research (NIHR), including Narrative Experience Online (NEON), and European-funded research projects, such as the multinational UPSIDES study (Using Peer Support in Developing Empowering Mental Health Services), contributing to research on peer support across diverse global contexts.
She has authored numerous publications on workforce development, peer support, organisational culture, and the transformation of mental health systems. Ashleigh continues to support national strategy and workforce policy, championing recovery-oriented, co-produced, and inclusive approaches to mental health care. She is committed to ensuring health and social care research is accessible, participatory, and drives real impact.
Simon Bradstreet
Simon Bradstreet works as a consultant with Imroc and brings over 20 years of experience mental health research, policy and improvement. His background includes roles in evaluation consultancy, academic research and teaching. As founding Director of the Scottish Recovery Network he helped introduce formalised peer working in the UK and developed a number of innovative programmes founded on valuing and building from lived experiences of recovery. Simon’s PhD focused on how stigma becomes internalised and has contributed to over 30 peer reviewed publications. Through Simon Bradstreet Consulting, he currently provides research and consultancy services to a number of clients, including the Mental Elf, Matter of Focus and Habitus Collective UK, and is a qualified Gestalt Coach, supporting peer leaders and others in helping roles.
Simon has a passion for communicating and demystifying research. His mission is to enable positive change and improvement in all aspects of health and social care through evidence-based and participatory methods.