View Point

Our History

Viewpoint was formed around 2003 by a partnership between the local Mind organisations, with the remit of coordinating and amplifying the views of mental health service users to influence service delivery. It was funded by the Joint Commissioning Team on behalf of HCC and the PCTs.

The basic structure involved organising local forums for service users to attend, and then to feed these views back to various statutory services, meetings or projects. There was also additional work which looked at particular issues and often engaged service users in a workshop based model.

This structure has been largely unchanged (in terms of the involvement contract) over subsequent years, while the commissioning structure and statutory health and social care services are markedly different.

What we do

Viewpoint is a user involvement charity for people to share their personal experiences on drugs, alcohol and mental health in order to influence positive change.

We’re the only organisation of its kind in Hertfordshire that focuses on giving people a voice to influence change. Hearing firsthand from our users offers valuable advice that can help others. Through their expertise, this information can greatly help providers to make the biggest difference in peoples’ lives.

We achieve this by

• Representing our service users

• Holding 'Get Together' meetings with Guest Speakers from different services around the county

• Hosting specialist workshops

• Carrying out surveys and listening to user feedback

• Providing training and recovery focused courses

We offer training courses in many areas, for example, personality disorder, mental health first aid, impact of substance misuse and transgender awareness to name a few. This training is unique as it is provided by people with lived experience which makes it reflective and authentic.

We hold regular meetings and events for individuals who have used mental health services in Hertfordshire to provide and share their personal experiences and opinions, both good and bad, on the services in the area.

We can organise for service users to input ideas, plans and documents to be fully involved in the decision making processes.

Our mission

It’s our goal to ensure our members have a voice that is heard and responded to, so they can recommend the service providers on the best ways to learn from our service users.

We believe in working better for mental health in Hertfordshire.

Our goals

Improving service - We make sure people have the opportunity to plan, develop and deliver services by giving them the right information at the time to influence change.

Providing positive wellbeing - Through offering the necessary resources, we can support people to stay well.

Supporting choice - Our team help people to make informed choices about services and their own mental wellbeing.

Reducing inequality - Diversity is actively encouraged, and involving people from all backgrounds is essential to gain equality of support and treatment.

Upholding high standards - We use our organisational excellence to enhance quality and develop the right resources.

Staying true to our values - Our human approach allows us to support people to have control, make choices and have opportunities through a person-centered value base.