Curating the narrative history and value of CAPITAL, with your help.
Since 1997, CAPITAL has been a pioneering, user-led organisation amplifying the voices of people with lived experience of mental challenges in West Sussex. From peer support on mental health wards to co-producing training, CAPITAL has been at the forefront of lived experience leadership, but its full story has never been documented and that’s about to change!
We’re launching CAPITAL: Lived Experience Stories, a powerful new project to capture the organisation’s history, impact, and ongoing role in the lives of people connected to it. Led by survivor researcher Alison Faulkner, this work will bring together personal stories, collective memories, and new insights into what it means to be part of a lived experience-led community, and we want you to be part of it.
Every mental health challenge and experience matters
For over 25 years, CAPITAL has been quietly but powerfully supporting the West Sussex community. Now, we’re creating space to listen, reflect, and share the experiences that make CAPITAL what it is.
Through interviews, creative writing, and collaborative conversations, we aim to:
- Tell the collective story of CAPITAL as a lived experience-led organisation
- Share individual stories from members, staff, trustees, volunteers and others
- Reflect on the meaning of peer support and lived experience leadership
- Engage the wider lived experience community across Sussex
- Explore new ideas, networks and partnerships for the future
Whether you’ve been part of CAPITAL for years or just recently got involved, your voice belongs in this story.
How you can take part
There are several ways to get involved, depending on what suits you best:
One-to-one interviews
Share your personal journey and experiences of being involved with CAPITAL.
Group conversations
Take part in themed discussions with others about peer support, language, leadership, and more.
Postcards
Write a short message about what CAPITAL means to you. These will be gathered into a collection that reflects the heart of the organisation.
Read the postcard brief here: Lived Experience Stories Postcard Brief
Film clips
If you’re comfortable, we’d love to include short video interviews as part of our storytelling.
Themes we’re exploring
To guide our work, we’ll be focusing on three broad themes:
Looking in
What is CAPITAL today? What value does it bring? How does lived experience leadership shape the organisation?
Looking back
What is CAPITAL’s history? How has the language and landscape of mental health changed over time? What has made CAPITAL resilient and relevant for over two decades?
Looking out
What’s next? How can CAPITAL engage new members, strengthen community ties, and build new partnerships?
When and where
This is an ongoing project taking place over the next few months. We’re flexible about how and when you participate. Conversations can happen in person, by phone, or online depending on your preference.
Contacting us
To take part or find out more, please get in touch:
[email protected] or 01243 869662
No preparation is needed! Just your willingness to share and reflect. We will support you every step of the way.
Telling the CAPITAL story together
This is more than a documentation project; it’s an opportunity to honour the past, reflect on the present and imagine the future of lived experience based work. Your voice is part of that future and let’s make sure it’s heard.
Led by Alison Faulkner, in partnership with CAPITAL
