Want to Have a Say?

posted: 11/10/2010

George House Trust wants four people to join our SMART group to have a say about our services. The deadline for applying is Monday 1 November.

We believe involving people with HIV in our services is really important. As part of our Service User Involvement Strategy, our SMART group, the Service Monitoring and Review Team, is a key way for people to have a real say in our services.

African and gay men wanted especially

SMART is a team of 16 people who use George House Trust services. SMART reports directly to the Board of George House Trust. We want 4 people to join SMART and we particularly want HIV positive African and gay men to apply, as both of these are under-represented on SMART.

SMART group meets every 2 - 3 months. You will be sent copies of papers to read and think about before the meeting. SMART meetings discuss all aspects of our services. SMART agrees a work plan for what we will discuss each year.

What does SMART do?
SMART involves people with HIV who use services to examine how we deliver services and suggests ways to develop and improve services.

Why get involved?
SMART is one way to be more involved in George House Trust and put something back. Involvement informs you about service delivery and developments as well as how we monitor and evaluate services. Becoming involved in SMART builds your skills and experiences.

What skills and experience do I need to join SMART?

Here are the things we expect of people in the SMART:

• Ability to maintain confidentiality and keep our ground rules at all times
• Being committed to service user involvement and providing feedback
• Making the time to read all the papers before the meetings
• Interested in all services George House Trust provides
• Being committed to working together as part of the SMART team
• To broadly support the work of George House Trust

Deadline: applications must be returned to Lynda by Monday 1st November .

SMART application pack

1. Information and what we are looking for
2. SMART Terms of Reference
3. Application form

Information from and applications to Lynda Shentall, Director of Services by email or phone 0161 274 4499 

SMART - Helping Us Review

posted: 12/11/2008

The SMART group (Service Monitoring and Review Team) met in mid October.

The first meeting of the 2008 /2009 SMART group took place at George House Trust Offices on the 18 October.

13 came on the day and there were a number of apologies.

The group is a combination of some people who were involved last year as well as quite a few new faces.

The main focus of the meeting was for people to get to know one another a bit better as well as understand the function of the SMART group and their responsibility as a SMART group attendee.

The group will meet every month over the next 12 months. Next month the group will discuss it's workplan as well as access to services.