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Service User Charter

Service User Charter

Service User Involvement Policy

My Time CIC is committed to service user involvement in all aspects of its work and operation. My Time is a community interest company and interprets community as meaning the people who use My Time’s services and products.  My Time’s aim is to establish counselling based services that have a socially inclusive and integration ethos that enables all sections of the community to access them whatever their culture, ethnicity, faith, gender, age, sexual orientation and disability. My Time aims to achieve this social inclusion and integration by active participation by service users and developing a team of management, staff and volunteers that truly represent the communities we work with and work in. This is achieved as follows:

• Decision-Making and Management – My Time CIC’s management board includes a service user director that is elected three yearly by a service group and forum. This provides service user involvement at senior level.
• Service User Group and Forum – All service users are notified by bi-monthly group meetings, which enables service users to discuss the service and their views, opinions, ideas and suggestions. There is a suggestion box in the reception area that enables service users to put forward views and ideas and these would initially go to the forum anonously. The forum evaluates all service feedback through evaluation forms and feedback sheets and again these are discussed. The Forum’s meetings are minuted and recommendations are presented to the service user director who is able to present them to the board and staff management team. 
• Working Together and Creative Consultation – My Time CIC has developed a system of consultation on developing the service, which involves service users within the consultation stages. My Time CIC has developed a form of community research techniques that enable service users to undertake the research and present it in a report. My Time CIC has developed a community researcher training programme with certification from Open College Network. Since 2002, 21 service users have carried out detailed research studies including the self-esteem and confidence of women living in rural areas, self-esteem of BME women and men living in South-East Birmingham, and the mental health needs of asylum seekers and refugees.
• Training, Employment, Volunteering & Support – My Time CIC has achieved Investors in People and Matrix Standard for Information, Advice and Guidance and has an active policy of enabling service users, who wish to explore opportunities within the health and social care sector and support in professional and personal development through volunteering and training. Service User volunteers have the opportunity to apply for job opportunities that arise. My Time CIC has enabled 15 service users to become volunteers and 3 have progressed to employment within the organisation. My Time CIC has actively worked with local colleges to enable service users to progress onto relevant courses. 
• Reward and Recognition – My Time CIC actively nominates services users for recognition of their progress including Adult Learners Week and other service user awards. My Time CIC has launched an annual service user awards programme from 2008 for service users that have contributed to community development and shown excellence in personal development. My Time CIC has taken over 200 service users on European Social Fund transnational programmes across Europe since 2002. My Time CIC won the 2008 Award for Innovation in psychotherapy from the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy for diversity and service user involvement and in 2006, a service user won the West Midlands Learner of the Year award.
• Peer Support – My Time CIC actively encourages service users to support each other and has developed gender and cultural specific peer support groups for men and women.
• Self-Assessment – My Time encourages all service users to undertake self-assessment and  has developed a computerised programme www.barrierbreaks.com in partnership with Jericho Foundation and Birmingham City University.
•  Resources – My Time has developed community based accessible resources including a centre, IT suite, Peace garden, horticulture area, kitchen, resource library that has disabled access. Service users are always welcome and have free access to services. Staff are able to communicate in over 15 languages.

This charter is reviewed annually and is actively used to promote service user involvement.