Welfare Experiences Newsletter – Summer 2025 Update

As summer begins, we want to thank you for being part of the Welfare Experiences project over the past year. Your thoughts and stories during the group discussions have played a key role in shaping this international research. We’re excited to share some updates with you—and invite you to take part in the next stage of the project.

London Meeting: Working Together Across Borders

In April, research teams from five countries came together in London to look at what we’ve learned so far from the group discussions you were part of. These meetings helped us understand the common struggles people face with welfare systems in different countries—and how things also vary from place to place.

During the London meeting, researchers and partner organisations worked together to plan the next phase of the project and develop a framework to study welfare experiences across different countries. Each team shared updates on the topics they’re focusing on talked about how to keep people with lived experience involved in the research.

Our New Website is Live!

We’re happy to share our brand-new website: https://welfare-experiences.org/

Here, you’ll find information about the project, the team. Please sign up on the email list for updates on the research and upcoming events.

Coming Soon – Ways to Get Involved

Welfare Experience Interviews: We’ll be inviting people to join the next round of research, where we follow your experiences with the welfare system over six months.

Reference Group: We’re putting together a small group of six people who have experience applying and receiving benefits. This group will meet online 3-4 times a year to help guide the research.

Report & Launch Event: We’ll soon publish a short report based on group discussions held with APLE Collective, Inclusion Scotland and our international partners. We’re planning a small event to launch it and share the findings. Stay tuned for more details!

We’ll send the next newsletter after summer, with more details about these opportunities and how to take part. We’d love to include contributions from you or your community. If you have an article, event, training, or opportunity to share, please email us at santiago.leyva_del_rio@kcl.ac.uk

Thanks again for being part of Welfare Experiences. We’re really grateful for your support and look forward to continuing this important work together.

Warm wishes,
The Welfare Experiences Team