Skip to main content

Co-production

Introduction

Listening to communities and understanding their needs and aspirations are at the heart of everything we do at The National Lottery Community Fund. One way we do this is by supporting, encouraging, and funding co-production.

Co-production brings people and stakeholders together to design and deliver services. It goes beyond simply consulting people about decisions, to actively including and empowering them to participate. For example, by sharing power to jointly decide how money is spent, and how services are designed.

Here, we share what we’ve learned over the years about co-production, along with ideas and inspiration drawn from the projects and organisations we fund.

Why this matters

In the past, many services and programmes were developed and delivered without meaningful input from the people they set out to help. But there has been a growing realisation across many different sectors that this can make services impersonal and inflexible.

When implemented well, co-production can bring many benefits, such as:

  • taking part can increase participants' self-worth and confidence while providing skills and experience

  • recognising personal experiences as a strength rather than a thing to be fixed

  • being motivational for staff running the services, and re-igniting their passion for the job

  • making services a better fit for the people that use them and making an otherwise institutional situation feel more human

And what’s significant is that co-production tends to show people that you are committed to working for them and with them, rather than ‘doing to’ them.

What we've learned

Community‑led insights

There is no blueprint for meaningful co-production. It’s an ongoing process, which means all individuals involved need to keep reflecting and working on it. But here are the key lessons we’ve learned over the years from our grant holders.

Co-production is hard work, but worth it

It takes time and resources. This isn’t just about the practical things, like finding a time when everyone can meet. It takes time to build up relationships of trust between the people involved.

It’s not just about money and time. It’s also about approaching co-production with the right mindset. It can mean working outside the established way of doing things and be willing to change what’s done and how it’s done.

Co‑production isn’t simply about handing over responsibility to participants. It’s about people and professionals working with each other’s strengths, and using evidence, to create better services.

Key messages

Co-production can improve services by making them more accessible, authentic, and responsive. It can provide a chance for staff and organisations to think differently and question established ways of working.

Co-production can increase self-worth and confidence of people taking part, and help practitioners to better understand the lives of people they support.

Co-production isn’t a one-off activity; successful co-production is built on strong relationships, openness, and flexibility. It often means working differently from established ways of working.

Find out more

We carried out the research for this in 2019. To learn more, read our full report. 

Visit our Evidence Library for other National Lottery funded studies on co-production.