Expert Reference Group
INTERESTED IN JOINING OUR ERG?
Right now, the ERG are hosting open discussions on survivorship experiences such as Young Peoples, Prisons, LGBTQIA+, Disability & Accessibility and Equality & Diversity.
You can find full details of the role of our Expert Reference Group below. For anyone interested in contributing to our ERG relating to the experiences mentioned above, or if you would like to attend one of our ERG engagement events held every three months for any survivor, get in touch by emailing [email protected]
Whilst We Are Survivors has many stakeholders, those male survivors that use or have used our services are one of the key stakeholders we count on.
How do we know what we’re doing is right? What about when we get it wrong? How do we keep meeting the needs of our beneficiaries?
Well, we do it through our Expert Reference Group (ERG), which is a common way that many health organisations or change makers ensure that those that are affected by it’s output are front of centre of decisions.

Originally, we developed an Expert Advisory Panel to ensure our CEO and Board of Trustees had a way of learning what male survivors want. Whilst this was a great success and the panel really made a positive impact on the development of services and the direction of travel the organisation took, it involved a great commitment from those on the panel and day-to-day life could easily get in the way.
So with support and insight by some of the founder panel members, we decided to take the panel in a slightly different direction and use an established ERG model.
The ERG members are drawn from past and present service users, representing the widest possible spread of demographics, the broadest lived experience of sexual abuse trauma, and vast of experiences of engaging in our services; all to give the Executive Leadership, Leadership Team and Trustees the best possible understanding of how effective we are in meeting the needs of those we serve.
ERG members serve a term of one year, with both co-chair’s serving a term of two years, but can be re-elected by the council for no more than three terms of office.
The ERG meets bi-monthly to discuss the organisation, it’s services, the environment it exists in, and the current opinions by ERG members on the needs of male survivors in Greater Manchester and beyond. The Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer take it in turns, on an alternating basis, to join the meeting to provide information to the council on the numbers of survivors using the services and any key developments or events/campaigns from the organisation.
The purpose of the ERG meetings is to share knowledge and create a feedback loop between the two parties to create one bigger plan.
An engagement event is held every 3 months, hosted by the ERG members, open to any individual accessing the services as a way to ensure that we share all our knowledge widely.