I’m Liz and I work for United Response at The Old Eight Bells, which is a purpose developed property featuring some co-designed Supported Living apartments and an amazing community hub space where we can bring people together for things like our United Voices choir, exercise sessions, celebration days and basically anything we want! 

One of the ideas our team and the people we support had was to create our own podcast based at The Old Eight Bells, telling real stories in a dynamic way. Together this led to the creation of ‘Our Voice, Our Journey.’ 

‘Our Voice, Our Journey’ began with one simple but powerful question: 

How can we truly unite across our services and our area – not just in name, but in action, purpose, and community? 

We wanted to create something that would: 

  • Bring people together 
  • Encourage the individuals we support to share their stories 
  • Amplify their voices 
  • Give them a platform to talk about the topics that inspire and interest them 

We were all complete novices. None of us had ever created a podcast before. We reached out for advice, learned on the go, and faced our fair share of hurdles along the way. 

But, in true United Response style, we always find a way to make things happen, and we always work to turn the dreams and aspirations of the people we support into reality. 

How it happened 

We enlisted the help of our Senior Fundraising Manager, the amazing Maxine Spry, who jumped straight in, as she always does. She applied for funding, which was successfully secured from the Learning Disabilities and Autism Programme at NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board, on behalf of their Voices of Experience: Learning Disabilities & Autism Group. We were able to use this funding to purchase the equipment we needed to make the podcast a reality and start sharing people’s stories far and wide.  

Helen Brocklebank, Senior Co-production Development Officer from NHS Nottinghamshire said:  

“It is wonderful to see the innovative and unique way in which United Response have used their small grant. We are excited to listen to the life experiences captured on the podcast, and keen to continue working and learning from United Response, an organisation committed to putting the people they support at the heart of what they do”.  

We’re going live every Tuesday! 

We’re thrilled to announce that our podcast will now be going live every Tuesday. 

You can check it out on YouTube here: Our Voice Our Journey Episode 1 

It’s also available on Mixcloud: Episode one Our voice our journey by Our voice our journey | Mixcloud 

This is only the beginning – and we can’t wait to share more voices, more stories, and more journeys with you all. 

More about episode 1 

In the first episode of Our Voice, Our Journey Podcast, we hear from David as he shares his powerful story of perseverance, growth, and achievement.  

David has recently reached a life-changing milestone, becoming a homeowner, and he talks about the journey that led him there. From the challenges he faced to the determination that carried him forward, his story is one of resilience, hope, and possibility.  

Tune in for an inspiring conversation that reminds us that every step forward matters, and that big dreams are within reach.