Our main piece of work this year involved hosting a local research group focused on the concepts of recovery and mental health, as one of a number of Networks organised by Improving Adult Care Together (IMPACT). This involved working with many local and national organisations and individuals with lived experience of mental distress and/or working in mental health settings. We were also in direct communication with other stakeholders as well as liaising more widely through social media. Local/Regional - Keep Our NHS Public Oxfordshire - Makespace Oxford - Rose Hill and Iffley Low Carbon - Oxford City Council - Oxford City Larder - Oxfordshire County Council - Oxfordshire Family Support Network (OxFSN) - Oxfordshire Social Entrepreneurship Partnership (OSEP) - OVADA - The Nature Effect - Unlimited Oxfordshire - West Oxford Community Association (WOCA) National/Regional - Berks, Oxon, Bucks VCSE Alliance - Community Catalysts - Co-operative Futures - IMPACT - In Control - Men’s Sheds - Recovery Research Network - Social Care Future - Think Local Act Personal - When I Get Old (WIGO).

1. Working with service users (or people eligible to use services or their representatives) to develop resources that meet their needs more exactly than services that may be available now. Activities, Impact, and Stakeholder Engagement relating to this aim a. Self-Directed Support We did not carry out any direct work in this field locally. We are in regular communication with local organisations that are taking this work forwards, occasionally providing advice and information. We remain active in national networks giving a voice to people who draw on care and support (e.g. Social Care Future). The IMPACT Network prioritised participation by people with lived experience of mental distress. The recovery approach embraces the idea of people managing their own mental health treatment and wider needs, and so is compatible with self-directed support. There are still many people experiencing mental distress who have not come across the concept of personal recovery, and who may benefit from a greater awareness. Recovery may be enhanced where people can be linked to recovery resources, and part of the remit of the network we are starting is to do this (see 3b below). b. Campaigning and Grass Roots Activism With the ongoing cuts to budgets, we continued to be more involved in supporting services under threat of reduction or closure, and providing information on the impact of the cuts. We have contributed to the debates around a future national strategy for social care in person and on social media. 2. Working with charities that may not have the staff capacity to develop new projects or services, but may have the capacity to sustain them. Activities, Impact, and Stakeholder Engagement relating to this aim a. Self-Directed Support Following our work on the Community Insight Profile for Central Oxford last year, we have communicated and met with many local organisations and groups who were keen to develop supports for people living in the area. Some of these have been funded, and are providing support for people eligible for adult social care. b. Social Enterprise Together with colleagues from Community Catalysts, Oxfordshire Social Enterprise Partnership, The Nature Effect, Co-operative Futures and others we are part of a strong local ‘offer’ to individuals and groups that need to establish a formal organisational structure and establish working procedures. We are, as ever, grateful for the continuing support of WOCA, which has provided us with an affordable base for many of our own projects over the past decade. 3. Working with NHS and local authority commissioners to develop the market for personal health and social care services. Activities, Impact, and Stakeholder Engagement relating to this aim a. Self-Directed Support We were keen to involve local NHS managers in the Local IMPACT Network (see 3b), and representatives were able to attend some of the sessions. b. General Local IMPACT Network Having had an interest and involvement in ideas around ‘recovery’ in mental health support over several years, this year we worked with IMPACT and the Universities of Birmingham and Sheffield to develop a Local IMPACT Network in Oxfordshire. https://impact.bham.ac.uk/delivery-models/networks/recovery-based-approaches-to-mental-health/#more-4911 The was our main piece of work in 2024-25, and involved recruiting a small group of people with lived experience of mental distress, people working in the mental health voluntary and statutory sectors, and local commissioners, to explore recovery-based approaches to mental health, and how they could change how people are supported locally. A series of 4 meetings were held, focused on what ‘recovery’ means, and what would be useful to support it locally, leading to recommendations for change, and an action plan to implement initiatives locally. The national IMPACT team’s approach provided excellent support to our team, along with a flexible approach that encouraged the local network to set the parameters of how it would respond to its brief. We were particularly keen to explore ways that non-specialist grassroots local organisations, who were increasingly encountering people in mental distress, might best support them. We wanted to recruit to the group in a way that ensured the views of people with lived experience were to the fore, whilst taking into account the challenges faced by local services and agencies, particularly around scant resources. We were very fortunate to be able to employ Rebecca Regler, a local expert on recovery and lived experience with many local and national contacts, to help recruit to and manage the Network. The Network’s Action Plan was formulated in April 2025, so just beyond the scope of this report, but Community Glue will continue to be involved in its implementation through 2025-2026. Other We were also able to contribute in other minor ways, for example attending the insight-gathering workshops on community wealth-building hosted by Annie Davy and Makena Lohr, and the initial workshop launching Oxfordshire’s Marmot Place workstream.

No remuneration was received

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration