Helping charities unite lived and learnt experience to inspire action

In early 2024, Forster managed media around Grenfell Testimony Week. We put claimants at the heart of all activity, helping them to share their stories while balancing this with the sensitivity required. It was powerful work, reinforcing the value of listening to those closest to the issues to inspire real change. Driven to go further, we launched our pioneering Lived and Learnt Experience programme.

Drawing insights from a series of events with leaders in international development, climate action and refugee rights, we intentionally integrate experts’ learnt experience with the lived experience and expertise of those directly affected into the campaigns we develop.

Two examples stand out:

1) Our #BePartOfTheAnswer campaign for health charity SRUK took a ‘citizen science’ approach, mobilising over 40,000 people – quadruple our initial target – to advance scientific research into Raynaud’s and more serious auto-immune conditions.

2) For UK-based NGO Clean Air Fund, we created a global narrative and campaign strategy that is driving increased awareness and commitment to tackling super pollutants globally. To do this, we conducted qualitative research, gathering first-hand insights from 50 scientific researchers and policymakers with lived experience on what narratives will or will not resonate for audiences in different regions.