We are a lived experience led business with strong social impact core. Founded and run by Lucy Watts MBE, a disabled woman (she/her) who lives with a life-limiting illness, we provide services to two main client bases.

Firstly, we support people with lived experience of health and care services, including people with disabilities, chronic illness, mental illness, learning disabilities and/or neurodiversity, and with family and informal carers, through advocacy, support brokerage, training, peer support and workshops and webinars.

Secondly, we work with professionals, services and organisations with training, education, facilitation services (for co-production, involvement and engagement activities) and consultancy.

We provide this on a one-to-one basis virtually or face-to-face, but are also developing an e-learning site (LucyLearn) which will include online courses and webinars. That is coming soon.

Lucy is also available for speaking engagements, workshops and webinars in her personal capacity to bring her lived experience and, if desired, combining this with some of her professional expertise, to meet the needs of your organisation or group. She also has experience as a peer supporter/peer mentor and has given inspirational talks and workshops for organisations supporting young people.

Lucy is a disabled woman (she/her) who lives with a life-limiting illness and extremely complex medical needs. Passionate about helping people to fulfil their rights and reach their full potential, Lucy founded the business to provide her skills, knowledge and expertise to ensure others have the things they need to live life to the fullest. She also is motivated to train up the next generation of professionals, independent advocates, support brokers, peer advocates, role models, peer support workers and peer mentors, and self-advocates. Lucy devotes her life to her work and is never more happy than watching her clients flourish because they have the right information, tools and confidence. She works across the health and care sector on a variety of topics and elements, as well as working on other aspects of disability, human rights and the voluntary and community sector. Lucy has particular expertise around NHS Continuing Healthcare and Personal Health Budgets, and other areas of expertise that are regular features of her work including national and global work on palliative care up to the UN level, even influencing the World Health Organisation, work on the transition to adulthood for young people (and parents), personalised care, co-production, quality improvement, self-directed support, patients’ rights (human and disability rights) in health and care, sexuality and disability, health policy, and more. Lucy is passionate about empowering people and enjoys working closely with her clients as an Independent Advocate and Support Broker, as well as enjoying the training and consultancy element of her business, taking great pride and joy in supporting services, providers and organisations to be the best they can be and get the best for their clients, and is a sought-after speaker for her honest, down to earth, inspirational and informative talks.

Having received an MBE at the tender age of 22 for services to young people with disabilities, to being awarded an honorary masters degree by the Open University, to being named 9th most influential disabled person in Britain in 2019, as well as giving a popular TEDx talk in 2019, and the rest of her achievements, Lucy is an accomplished individual. Driven, tenacious and a self-confessed ‘pathological overachiever’, Lucy is motivated by her tireless passion and commitment to make life better for others, to give back to society and to make a difference. She is also driven by her need to ensure she lives ‘a life worth living’.

Lucy lives in Essex with her mother and Assistance Dog Molly, supported by a team of registered nurses (RGNs) and carers (PAs) whom she employs and manages directly via her Personal Health Budget using NHS funds. Whilst her full title reads: Lucy Watts MBE, MUniv, FRSA, she’d far rather you just call her Lucy!

Lucy tries to be the person she needed when she was younger. Albeit born with her condition and struggling from birth, Lucy was undiagnosed through childhood as services and professionals worked in silos, inadvertently separating Lucy into her individual problems and never joining the dots. This only changed when, at age 14, her condition deteriorated to such an extent she became bed bound, reliant on 24/7 care and specialist interventions, and was not expected to reach her 18th birthday. Defying the odds, she is still here over a decade later and has created an incredible life for herself, not letting her illness, complex health needs nor the low expectations of others stand in her way. She runs her own business and has a second startup business in the wings, works with the NHS at every level from NHS England to local CCGs, works globally on palliative care with civil society and charitable organisations as well as directly influencing the World Health Organisation through her friendship with Dr Tedros, the WHO Director-General, and is highly respected for her expertise, knowledge and her ability to always bring meetings and decision-making back to having the experience of patients and carers at its core. She tries to be a role model for other disabled and chronically ill individuals, and especially enjoys it when she shatters low expectations of disabled people and challenges the core root of those beliefs.

Lucy is passionate about people having the information, tools and resources they need to have their rights fulfilled and to live a full life, as well as to be able to determine their own goals and outcomes for their life and how they wish to live so that they reach their full potential. She also recognises that information and resources are not the only components needed, but people being empowered and building confidence in themselves and their own ability is of equal importance. Health and care frequently disempowers the individual; whereas Lucy champions the individual being front and centre in their own life and having the power of self-determination.

Lucy recognises also that you cannot achieve the best for everyone by only working with the end user – a large amount of work needs to come from the professional, provider, management and policy side. As such, Lucy works directly with professionals and managers, empowering them to be the best they can be, to be enlightened and educated, and have confidence in their knowledge and abilities, and to know they can – and do – make a difference to the people they work with. Lucy also provides services to organisations to help them keep lived experience running through their work, management and decision-making, to be sustainable and efficient through using personalisation to commission and provide what is needed and not what is dictated, and to work hand in hand with their patients/service users and carers in true co-production.