Customer Voice is our framework to ensure we are actively seeking and listening to our customers to shape our services.

We recognise our customers as ‘hidden voices’ – people who are marginalised by society and feel their opinions and goals are not ‘worth’ listening to.

So, we understand that meaningful Customer Voice doesn’t come easily and due to the nature of our customers and their diverse needs, we must first create an environment where confidence is built, trust is earned, and customers feel their opinions matter.

We build this around our framework from engagement, to involvement, to scrutiny.

Engagement is the first stage of our Customer Voice Framework. It helps us build rapport, strengthen relationships, and show we’re responsive to customers’ needs. We offer a range of fun and informal activities to help you get involved at your own pace. These include:

• Friendly, light-touch conversations
• Trips and outings
• Group activities
• Community events

By shifting to a casual, supportive environment with other customers and wider colleagues, we encourage customers to feel comfortable within a safe space and therefore use their voices without being judged. If you tell us you’re passionate about something like gardening, we’ll work with you to make it happen.

Once we’ve built trust through engagement, we invite customers to get more involved. This is where they can play an active role in shaping our services help us to make meaningful improvements.

This stage is all about two-way communication, we listen to feedback, act on it, and work together to create positive change. When you’re ready to take a more hands-on role, there are lots of ways to get involved.

• Sharing views on new policies, procedures, or communications
• Taking part in service design or improvement projects
• Becoming a Void Inspector, Mystery Shopper, or Event Co-producer
• Giving feedback through quick transactional surveys after receiving a service (e.g. complaints, anti-social behaviour cases or moving home)

By working together, we can make sure our services reflect what matters most to you.

Scrutiny is a formal but empowering way for customers to help shape and improve how we do things. It gives customers the chance to play a key role in our governance, look at how well we’re performing, challenge decisions, and hold us to account. This not only helps us deliver better services, but also shows our commitment to being open, transparent, and accountable.

Some of those activities can include:

• Joining customer board or committees
• Reviewing how our services, policies, and performance are working
• Checking services are effective, transparent, and offer value for money.
• Analysing feedback and identifying common issues
• Making recommendations and helping us track improvements over time

While feedback gathered through Customer Voice might highlight areas for scrutiny, the scrutiny process won’t delay any complaint responses. It’s also not a way to bypass legal, regulatory, or health and safety requirements.

If you would like to get involved or some more information, please get in touch: engagement@brighter-futures.org.uk
Tel: 01782 406 000