Call for people with lived experience to shape new financial resilience project in North Northamptonshire
People across North Northamptonshire who have experienced difficulties with benefits, debt, or accessing support are being invited to take part in a new project aimed at improving financial resilience in the area.
The project is being led by local charity Accommodation Concern and is funded by North Northamptonshire Council. Its purpose is to better understand what genuinely helps people stay financially stable, and what barriers prevent support systems from working as intended. The focus is on learning directly from lived experience, rather than relying on assumptions or purely organisational perspectives.
Financial resilience is about more than budgeting or income. It includes how people navigate the benefits system, manage debt, find and sustain work, access advice, and cope with life events such as illness, family breakdown, or housing problems. For many people, these systems can feel complex, inaccessible, or disconnected from real life.
Earlier this month, the project held its first workshop, bringing together voluntary organisations, public sector partners, and people with lived experience. That session marked the start of developing a “Theory of Change”, a shared framework that looks at what needs to change in the short, medium and long term to improve financial resilience across the area.
Importantly, this framework is not fixed. It is intended to evolve and will only be meaningful if it continues to be shaped by people who have direct experience of debt, benefits, low income, or barriers to support.
John Perry, Managing Director of Accommodation Concern, said: “Too often services are designed around how systems think people should behave, rather than how life actually works. This project is about listening properly to people who have had to navigate debt, benefits and financial insecurity, and using that experience to shape support that genuinely works.”
The project is now actively looking for more people with lived experience to get involved. This could include attending workshops, taking part in smaller discussion sessions, sharing views informally, or helping test whether ideas and proposals make sense in practice. There is no expectation to attend every session. People can choose how and when they want to take part.
Travel and transport costs will be covered for people with lived experience who participate.
Anyone interested can register their interest via this link https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=AGA5NjGkfUWX1ESsX7bNmFH-ryqeoVhAteQfpw-uuvtUQVdKOEw0TTlDVUdTN1pFUkQ0TFEzQlhNVy4u. Registering will allow people to receive information about upcoming opportunities planned for January and February.
Taking part is completely voluntary, and all contributions will be treated with respect. The aim of the project is simple: to listen, learn, and design better systems based on real experiences of life in North Northamptonshire.