Enhancing skills and knowledge of social care staff when supporting LGBTQ+ residents of Newham

At the start of the project, much of the work focused on listening and bringing together lived experience, practitioner insight and community knowledge to understand what better LGBTQ+ inclusive support could look like in practice.

Alongside this, we co-developed a set of practice-focused resources, including staff personas, co-created stories with LGBTQ+ people from Newham and a short zine. These resources were designed to help staff feel more confident having conversations about sexuality and gender identity and to create space for reflection and learning.

Co-developing the toolkit with practitioners

The project established a multidisciplinary staff working group, bringing together operational staff from across Newham Council’s adult social care services. The group met weekly over a two-month period to test ideas, share experiences and co-develop the Inclusive Conversation Toolkit.

These sessions created a space for practitioners to reflect on the realities of everyday practice, including uncertainty around language, finding opportunities for inclusive conversations, and balancing organisational processes with person-centred care. Rather than focusing only on increasing knowledge, the discussions explored what would genuinely help staff feel more confident in practice.

Co-producing a zine with CAYA LGBTQ+ Youth Project Newham

The zine (below) was co-produced with Caya LGBTQ+ Youth Project Newham which works with LGBTQ+ young people, and those questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity, aged 9–25.

The aim of the zine was to use words and visuals to represent advice that young people wanted to share with social care staff who support LGBTQ+ people. Through the co-production process, participants highlighted the small actions, attitudes and approaches that can help people feel safe, respected and understood.

Co-creating illustrated stories with LGBTQ+ people from Newham

As the project developed, we worked with five LGBTQ+ people from Newham to co-create a series of first-person stories. Each story was developed collaboratively over two creative sessions, enabling participants to reflect on their own experiences of adult social care, health services or caring, and to shape how they wanted their stories to be told.

Together, the stories explore a wide range of experiences, including accessing services, caring for a partner, working in social care, disability, race, neurodivergence and ageing. Rather than presenting a single LGBTQ+ perspective, they reflect the diversity of people’s lives and experiences. The stories highlighted how assumptions, communication and organisational culture can influence trust, inclusion and experiences of care, encouraging practitioners to consider the impact of their everyday interactions