Page 5 - WCEN Dr Rochelle Burgess evaluation report\ Baloon

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Introduction
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Introductionn
I am pleased to introduce this evaluation and report on the work of the Wandsworth Community
Empowerment Network. Originally formed in 2001 to be part of the Boroughs Neighbourhood Renewal
Plans, they have continued to build their network of relationships and ideas, and have developed their
work from engagement and involvement in public services, to coproducing them. From developing a
theory on Coproduction, to putting it into practice.
As they started to bring together their many conversations and relationships into a shared space, they
invited me to Chair what became the Wandsworth Coproduction Reference Group. Over the past few
years leaders from across our public agencies and diverse communities have come together to get to
know each other and gain a shared understanding on our collective health and social care challenges.
And how by working together we may be able to address them in better and smarter ways.
Towards the end of last year, the Lankelly Chase Foundation, along with support from the public agency
members of the Reference Group, commissioned an evaluation of the Network, to seek to understand
the processes that have emerged from the series of coproduction projects that have been developed
– from the BME Mental Health Forum to Family Therapy and from IAPT to Self Management of Long
Term Conditions - and to present a series of recommendations around what the next steps for
Wandsworth Coproduction should be. This Report is a culmination of that work.
In the Forward to the Report, Alice Evans Director of System Change at Lankelly Chase sketches out
a context within which this work is developing. Dr Rochelle Burgess and Natasha Choudary, the
researchers, present their evaluation and findings, which have identified a new phase that engages
with issues of power, position and resources prior to the emergence of mutually beneficial coproduced
initiatives. The presence of this phase differentiates this work from other models and is a new
contribution to the literature on Coproduction. The Report concludes with an Afterword from Malik Gul,
Director of Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network, which suggests the possible future of this
work in Wandsworth, and beyond.

I hope you find this Report a useful and interesting read. We are living through changing and challenging
times which requires the many to contribute ideas and suggestions, their effort and capabilities, to
reimagine and build the relationships and services that we all need to survive and thrive. We invite
you to join us.

Councillor James Madden
Cabinet Member Adult Care and Health
Wandsworth Council