This is one of many ways that we put Thera’s Vision into action:
- Thera will show that people with a learning disability can be leaders in society.
- Thera will be controlled by people with a learning disability.
“It was one of those obvious but “light-bulb” moments, that to run an organisation that supports people with a learning disability, we needed the knowledge of someone with that lived experience. The rest of the vision flows from this.”
The inclusion of a Director with a learning disability is a founding principle for Thera. We recruited our first Service Director in 1999, because we knew that in order to really meet the Thera Vision and give people the power to lead Thera and hold it to account, we didn’t want to just involve people informally through feedback and consultation, but wanted to ensure people were in positions where they could really have a voice and make changes happen.
Across Thera Group, we now have 13 paid leadership roles for people with a learning disability including 8 Service Quality Directors. The role of a Service Quality Director is important to the work that Thera does as they are able to bring their own insight, knowledge, and lived experience when reporting to the Board about the quality of people’s support, the impact the company is having on the lives of the people it supports and issues faced by people with a learning disability locally and nationally. Service Quality Directors regularly meet the people their company supports to check the quality of their support is aligned with what they’d like.
Service Quality Directors are also responsible for ensuring the implementation of Thera’s Being Heard strategy. This is Thera’s approach to enabling the people we support to speak up, both within their Thera company and externally, so they can advocate for themselves and the issues that matter to them.
Jordan, Service Quality Director for Thera (Scotland), has been using his role and lived experience to advocate for people with a learning disability and help people who might be in the same situation to feel like they’re not alone. Last year Jordan visited a school in Scotland to talk about his experiences as a whole and about bullying and advocating for yourself. He hopes going into schools and the community could help bullying to decrease over .
Reflecting on Jordan’s school visit and the impact of sharing his story he said:
By seeing my presentation and listening to his life experiences, it could help them feel less alone. Some pupils in the education system might not feel like they belong, or they may feel the loneliness that can come from exclusion.
Sam joined Thera South West in 2024 as a Service Quality Director and is already having a really positive impact. Sam has been documenting her journey here.