Each year, World Mental Health Day provides an opportunity to reflect on the importance of good mental health, listen to people’s experiences and create positive change in our communities. This year’s campaign theme ‘Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change’ reflects the core of how We Are Undefeatable works across the country by amplifying the voices of people living with long-term health conditions.
At the heart of the national We Are Undefeatable campaign is the belief that people living with long-term health conditions are experts in their own experiences. Listening to these voices help us understand not only the real barriers which are faced when trying to be active but also help to identify the opportunities and necessary support that can help make movement possible.
Our Lived Experience Network (LEN) ensures that lived experience is not just an occasional consideration, but our members are able to hold us accountable and ensure that their involvement runs through everything we do. From their involvement in every campaign, to contributions in our influencing and engagement work, the LEN members help shape our programme, so it truly reflects the realities of living with long-term health conditions.
This week, in alignment with World Mental Health Day, we're celebrating and recognising the meaningful contributions of the people behind the network and the impact they have across our programme, and identifying why lived experience continues to be one of the most valuable insights we can listen to.
What our Lived Experience Network members are saying
We asked some our members to reflect on the importance of having their voices heard and the role that lived experience can play in creating change:
What has it meant to you to have your voice as someone living with a health or mental health condition heard as part of this network?
Hannah: It feels empowering to be able to use my lived experience in a really positive, meaningful way. Living with long-term health conditions often means you’ve experienced challenges and difficulties over the years, to be able to share these to help make change is very valuable.
Stephen: Being part of the LEN makes me feel listened to and understood.
Kathy: Being part of the network makes me feel part of a community and this makes me feel important.
How would you describe the power of lived experience involvement to someone who has never heard of it before?
Stephen: The power of our group is a collection of experiences (not always good) but approaching things from many different angles with different outlooks and objectives to achieve the same goal of better understanding.
Hannah: Without lived experience involvement companies, charities & organisations are going in blind and making (hopefully!) well-meaning judgements & decisions based on what they think it is like to live with health conditions. Add lived experience individuals to the mix then you instantly include real life voices, experts in their own right, who know exactly what is helpful and what isn’t because they live through it on a daily basis!
Above are just a few of the voices from our Lived Experience Network. Every member has played a vital role in co-designing a new lived experience resource for system leaders contributing through brainstorming workshops, content reviews, ultimately the design itself.
What’s next?
To discover more about World Mental Health Day 2026, access campaign resources and read featured stories, visit the WHO World Mental Health Day 2026 page.
If you're interested in bringing lived experience voices into your own work, access our Lived experience dashboard to view some of our key insights and data from people living from long-term health conditions.
You can also email us at weareundefeatable@ageuk.org.uk if you have any questions about working with people with lived experience.
Lived experience dashboard
View key insights and data from people living with long term health conditions. This data covers physical activity influences, attitudes and behaviours, health and wellbeing measures, and response to the We Are Undefeatable campaign.