Do with us, not to us – The strategic importance of collaboration

Published : 16 February 2026

Effective public services require more than just feedback; they require genuine collaboration. At Public Voice, we ensure that residents and the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) are central to the design and delivery of local services.

As a Community Interest Company (CIC), our work is built on a single core principle: ensuring service delivery is transparent, properly resourced, and rooted in the lived experience of the community.

Since joining us in 2022, Jano Goodchild, Participation and Co-production Director, has navigated a rapidly shifting landscape in health, housing and social care. As the neighbourhood model emerges as the new strategic frontier, our organisational stance is clear: for services to work, they must be built from the bottom up.

Our guiding principle is simple: “Do with us, not to us.”

Co-production is the start of the beginning. It’s about framing the problem alongside the residents before a single solution is designed. This ensures that services meet the community's needs from day one. It’s the difference between telling a community and asking them.

Jano Goodchild, Participation and Co-production Director at Public Voice

Jano Goodchild, Participation and Co-production Director at Public Voice, engages residents at meeting

A significant challenge in our sector is the misunderstanding of what co-production actually entails. In many professional circles, it is often reduced to a simple survey or feedback form. At Public Voice, we view participation as a ladder, moving away from ‘informing’ toward true ‘co-design’.

“Co-production is the start of the beginning”, Jano explains. “It’s about framing the problem alongside the residents before a single solution is designed. This ensures that services meet the community’s needs from day one. It’s the difference between telling a community and asking them.”

The term ‘neighbourhood’ is increasingly used by the NHS and local councils, but its practical application is often misunderstood. In the current strategic shift, it represents a movement to bring care closer to home.

With the government intending to deliver “one of the most seismic shifts in care in the history of the NHS”, moving care out of hospitals and into neighbourhood settings. Public Voice is advocating for a bottom-up approach that co-designs innovative services to reduce inequalities and improve outcomes for the community. Our mission is to ensure that a neighbourhood isn’t just a clinical boundary on a map, but a functional reflection of the people who live there.

We have successfully led co-production workshops looking at improving people’s experience including diabetes management programmes where we made recommendations to be more culturally relevant. Through the ‘Age Well’ agenda, we have championed small interventions – yielding high social returns, such as advocating for increased public seating and accessible toilets. These are not just social wins; they are strategic improvements to local infrastructure.

Despite government uncertainty and shifting Integrated Care Board structures, Public Voice remains committed to integrity and measurable outcomes. We’re not just facilitators; we are advocates for engagement. We ensure that residents are compensated for their expertise and that the VCS is supported to do what it does best.

As we look toward the next 12 months, our goal is clear: bridging the gap between high-level strategy and the lived experience for communities across London.