Angela Morford has long-term experience of the psychiatric system and cared for her parents with various physical and sensory impairments while bringing up her children. Her involvement with social work education started after she completed a training course for service users as trainers. As well as teaching social work students, Angela has set up two service user–led organisations to recruit service users as volunteers to support other service users and to contribute to education, training and recruitment of staff. In 2015 she won the Psychology and Psychotherapy Service User Inclusion Award for the South London and Maudsley Mental Health Trust.

‘I never thought that the kind of story I had was something that people would want to listen to. The first time we did our talks (to BA social work students) it was about our experience and involvement with social workers. I wrote my story down because I was nervous that my voices that I hear would build up so I wouldn’t be able to speak.

My hands shook and my voice was tiny. It was so awful. The fact that I was invited back next year built my confidence up.

‘The second year I didn’t use the written notes, so different aspects of my story came out. Speaking without notes keeps it alive, though there are certain things that social workers did that I always talk about because they were powerful things. Doing this work has been really positive because I was riddled with guilt about my mum going into a home. The fact that someone applauded me, that someone said what a strong woman I am, that changed things. To get rid of guilt is a beautiful thing.

‘Then I started to research the need to recruit mental health service users to be trained as volunteers to support other service users. To give just two examples of the positive effects on both the service user and the volunteers. One service user wanted to go swimming. I didn’t think to ask the volunteer I matched her with whether she could swim but she couldn’t. The service user had wonderful patience and taught the volunteer how to swim. Another service user who had been attacked wouldn’t go out on her own. The volunteer went out with her to gradually build her confidence, and within seven months they had climbed Ben Nevis together.

‘I have also contributed to the management of the social work programmes and to assessing student role plays. I have always felt so valued by students and staff. I need that to be well’.