A project update!

	In February Sue, Dawn, Chris, and Francesca visited the four self-advocacy organisations we are working with.
	Each organisation took part in an ‘analysis workshop’ for the project.
	The workshops were co-hosted by Nathan (Nemo) Rawcliffe (Manchester People First); Matty Prothero (Sunderland People First); and Mark O’Farrell (People First Independent Advocacy); and the whole team at Speak Up in Rotherham.
	The workshops gave us a chance to talk to self-advocates about our research and see what they thought about what we have found out so far.
	At the workshops we spent some time in small groups looking at storyboards like the one in the picture opposite. The storyboards showed us what participants have said so far in interviews.
	We then spent some time talking about what questions we should ask participants in the next part of the project.   We were reminded to avoid jargon in the questions!
	Everyone also enjoyed a ‘bits and bobs’ activity where people sorted out different objects and beads into groups. Everyone sorted the objects differently.
	This activity showed us that people think differently. Sometimes there is no right or wrong way to do things. The different ways people think, and the different opinions people have are really useful in research. The workshops were about listening to the different things self-advocates had to say.
	We really enjoyed the workshops and we want to say thank you to everyone who took part. We also want to say thank you to the self-advocacy organisations for inviting us to visit them.