Hammersmith & Fulham Council marked National Co-production Week 2025 with a lively celebration at the Irish Cultural Centre on 2 July, bringing together Disabled residents, councillors, council officers and community partners to highlight the borough's achievements in co-production and map the journey ahead.
The event, themed "Co-production and Independent Living," focused on the council's commitment to ensuring Disabled residents are central to shaping policies and services that affect their lives.
A standout moment came when the Action on Disability Youth Board premiered their powerful film about the experiences of young Disabled people. The film sparked enthusiastic discussions about supporting young people in education and employment, with attendees committing to finding ways to support the young Disabled people to promote their Youth Inclusion Charter and to make sure more people get to see the film.
Co-production Matters H&F resident Co-chair Donna Fenner outlined significant progress over the past year, including the implementation of a resident co-production payment policy. Other achievements include:
- The Civic Campus Disabled Residents team celebrated the installation of Sesame lifts and automated doors at the Town Hall, with the fully accessible building set to open in spring 2026.
- The Disabled People's Housing Strategy Implementation Group reported completing 23 of 31 actions from their strategy, with continued focus on allocations and assessments.
- The Inclusive Environments team shared their work on accessible transport and street design, collaborating with TfL on improvements.
- The Digital Accessibility Group is developing a Centre of Excellence for digital forms, setting new standards for accessible council communications.
- The Inclusive Design Review Panel has successfully reviewed over 20 development proposals, ensuring accessibility is built into the borough's future.
- Direct Payments Steering Group has had a busy year finding ways to increase and better support local residents to take up direct payments. Over 600 residents now using the service - an increase of 90 since April 2024.
- Independent Living Delivery Group is the newest of the resident led groups and has been working with council officers to realise the council's vision for Independent Living.
Mayor Sharon Holder, who previously served as Co-production Matters H&F co-chair before taking on her mayoral role, emphasised that Disabled people's needs must be "part of the journey, not an add-on." The council's integrated approach to adult services and independent living demonstrates this commitment.
The event concluded with commitments from Councillor Natalia Perez to continue strengthening co-production processes and ensure resident voices remain at the heart of decision-making.
As Councillor Perez noted in closing: "Independent living is not a destination but a journey we are on together. Through co-production, we are not just talking about change, we are actually making the change."
Hosts of the event, Co-production Matters H&F will start to plan for next years event later in the autumn but recognise that the increasing engagement with co-production in Hammersmith & Fulham, positioning the borough as a leader in this work means we will need to find a bigger venue for the celebrations in 2026!
To learn more about co-production opportunities in Hammersmith & Fulham, contact the Co-production Team on coproduction@lbhf.gov.uk