About Us

As one of the first user / survivor-led organisations in the UK, CAPITAL was established to bring West Sussex services, workers, and people experiencing mental health issues together to improve services and train staff, from a lived experience perspective.

About CAPITAL

Lived experience is at the heart of everything we do

Over 300 people are current members of CAPITAL, who are offered shared learning, training, workshops and community meetings – where people with lived experience lead our work.

Since 1997, we have been supporting people with lived and living experience of mental health challenges to connect with others, access peer support, share their experiences and have a voice in the services and communities around them.

We believe that people with lived experience are not simply recipients of services. They are experts in their own lives, communities and experiences, and should have meaningful opportunities to influence the decisions that affect them.

That belief runs through everything we do, from our peer support groups and community activities to our co-production work, volunteering, service improvement and partnerships with local organisations.

Our work continues to evolve in response to what our members and communities tell us they need.

Today, CAPITAL brings together a wide range of activities and opportunities across West Sussex.

 

Peer support and community connection

Our regular groups and community activities provide welcoming spaces where people can meet others, build connections and spend time with people who understand.

These include:

• Community support hubs and local peer-led activities
• CAPITAL Connections in Bognor Regis
• Our weekly Creative Group
• Art and craft activities
• Our monthly online members meeting
• Community activities and outings
• Peer-led groups and activities developed in response to local need

We also run activities in different parts of West Sussex, including Bognor Regis, Crawley, East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill, alongside our work in and around inpatient settings.

Our groups are shaped by our members and volunteers, and the programme continues to grow and change as new opportunities and funding become available.

 

Bringing lived experience into inpatient services

From September 2026, CAPITAL is expanding our work within inpatient mental health services through new Lived Experience Recovery Worker (LERW) roles, continuing from our previous Peer Support Workers which were on the inpatient wards for many years but sadly defunded, meaning the wards were left with no lived experience support for patients.

Working in partnership with Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, our Lived Experience Recovery Workers bring their own lived experience into inpatient settings, offering a different perspective and helping to strengthen the connection between patients, peer support and service improvement.

The roles are based across West Sussex inpatient services, including Langley Green in Crawley, Meadowfield in Worthing and Oaklands in Chichester.

This work sits alongside CAPITAL’s Independent Patient Viewpoint service, where volunteers listen to patients about their experiences and ensure that what matters to them is captured and used to inform service improvement.

Together, these roles create more opportunities for people in hospital to have their voices heard and for lived experience to contribute to learning and change within services.

 

West Sussex Lived Experience Advisory Group

CAPITAL is proud to host the West Sussex Lived Experience Advisory Group (WSX LEAG).

The WSX LEAG is an independent network of people with lived or living experience of mental health challenges and carers, working together to challenge, influence and improve mental health services across West Sussex.

The group has become an important part of the local mental health support system, with members contributing to service development, co-production, strategic meetings, training, research and improvement work.

In November 2025, WSX LEAG moved into a new phase of its work, supported through funding from BHT Sussex as part of the wider Pathfinder and Mental Health Support Services arrangements.

This funding has enabled the group to continue its work and develop its next stage, including growing and diversifying membership, strengthening communications and visibility, and continuing to develop the group’s independence.

The current programme runs through to November 2026 and builds on several years of work by WSX LEAG members to ensure that lived experience remains central to the development of mental health services in West Sussex.

 

Funding and partnerships

A significant part of CAPITAL’s work is made possible through grants, partnerships and project funding.

This support allows us to respond to needs identified by our members and communities and develop new opportunities that might not otherwise exist.

Recent and current funding has supported a growing range of peer-led and community projects, including:

• Men’s peer support, creating dedicated opportunities for men to connect, talk and support one another.
• Walking With Wheels, a new accessible, peer-led outdoor group designed to make it easier for people with mobility aids, or those who benefit from a slower pace, to enjoy outdoor activities and connection.
• Eating disorder support, creating opportunities for people affected by eating disorders to connect with others and access peer-led support.
• Other community activities and projects.

We are grateful to funders including the Sussex Community Foundation and other charitable trusts and foundations whose support helps us continue developing this work.

Funding does more than allow us to deliver individual projects. It gives people the opportunity to shape activities around what matters to them and creates space for new ideas, peer leadership and community connection.

 

Growing as a volunteer-led organisation

Volunteers have always played an important role in CAPITAL, but volunteering has become an increasingly significant part of how our organisation works.

Our volunteers bring skills, creativity, lived experience, ideas and energy to all areas of our work.

Today, volunteers support peer groups and community activities, communications, membership, events, Patient Viewpoint and our growing programme of creative projects.

In 2026, we also introduced new opportunities for volunteers to shape how CAPITAL communicates and tells its story.

 

CAPITAL Connections

One of the most exciting examples is CAPITAL Connections, our volunteer-supported podcast.

CAPITAL Connections brings together people with lived experience, community organisations, professionals and others working to create change in mental health.

The podcast gives people space to have honest conversations about mental health, peer support, co-production, stigma, services and lived experience, while also helping to share the work and ideas happening across our communities.

The podcast was developed with support from a dedicated volunteer team, reflecting our belief that volunteers should not simply support our work but have opportunities to shape and create it.

Since launching in 2026, CAPITAL Connections has featured conversations with people including Tim Fooks (High Sherriff), Fiona Palmer (Alcohol Change UK), and Dan Barritt (Public Health Lead for Substance Use at West Sussex County Council) and community organisations across West Sussex.

The podcast is just one example of how CAPITAL is finding new ways to amplify lived experience and connect people through stories and conversation.

CAPITAL members shape what we do

CAPITAL membership is free and open to people across West Sussex with lived or living experience of mental health challenges, as well as people who share our values and want to support lived experience-led work.

Being a member does not mean you have to attend everything or share your story. People can get involved in whatever way feels right for them.

Members can:

• Meet and connect with others
• Attend groups, events and activities
• Share experiences and influence services
• Get involved in co-production
• Volunteer with CAPITAL
• Develop new skills and confidence
• Contribute creative work, stories and ideas
• Help shape the future of the organisation

Over the years, CAPITAL members have become volunteers, facilitators, peer workers, trainers, trustees and leaders in their communities.

We believe that creating opportunities for people to develop and take on new roles is an important part of lived experience-led work.

 

Looking back, while building the future

CAPITAL has a long history, and the organisation you see today has been shaped by many people over many years.

During 2026, Alison Faulkner has been bringing together CAPITAL’s story, speaking with staff and former staff, trustees, members and volunteers and gathering memories, experiences and reflections from across the organisation’s history.

This work is helping us piece together a fuller picture of where CAPITAL has come from, the people who have shaped it, the challenges we have faced and the changes that have taken place along the way.

We are really excited to share more of this work soon.

It will offer a unique look into CAPITAL’s history, told through the experiences and memories of the people who have been part of it.

For an organisation built around lived experience, we think it is important that our own history is also told through the voices of the people who have lived it.

 

What comes next?

CAPITAL continues to change and grow.

We are developing new peer support opportunities, strengthening our volunteer network, expanding our work within inpatient services, supporting lived experience to influence local mental health services and finding new ways to bring people together.

We don’t have all the answers, and we don’t want to work in isolation.

Our future will continue to be shaped by our members, volunteers, partners and communities.

At the heart of it all is the same principle that has guided CAPITAL for many years:

People with lived experience should have the opportunity to be heard, to connect with others, to influence change and to lead the way in creating better mental health support.

 

Join us!

Whether you are looking for peer support, want to become a CAPITAL member, are interested in volunteering, want to work with us, or simply want to find out more about what we do, we’d love to hear from you.