What Being Recognised for a Lived Experience Award Really Means
- Jacob Hill
- Jan 21
- 2 min read
We’ve recently been recognised as the Outstanding Organisation with Lived Experience by the Criminal Justice Alliance. It’s a national award, which is huge, but the part that’s stayed with us most is who it came from.
It comes from people in the criminal justice sector who see the reality up close. People who understand the challenges, but also what’s possible when you do this work with care and conviction. That makes the recognition feel genuinely special.
When I spoke on the night, I said this wasn’t really about Offploy on our own. It was about the people who didn’t have lived experience, but still chose to back us, to offer trust, create opportunities, and make space.
The people who helped turn lived experience of the justice system into something that’s valued, not hidden.
Lived experience is a superpower
At Offploy, lived experience isn’t something we keep in the background. It helps shape our decisions, our services, and how we show up for people day to day.
Around 70% of our team have lived experience of criminal convictions, so the support we offer comes from that level of real understanding, not guesswork.
It means we can bring empathy, perspective, and a level of care that’s hard to teach, because many of us know what it’s like to be judged by the past, and what it means when someone chooses to back you anyway.
The Russian nesting doll effect
On the night, I described it as a ripple effect, one I sometimes call the Russian nesting doll effect. One person joins with lived experience, then moves to support and mentor someone else.
Then that person finds their feet, grows in confidence, and ends up doing the same for someone else. Little by little, opportunities stack up, created by people who were once overlooked.
What The Lived Experience Award Means
Being recognised for this has made us even more committed to doing what we know works: backing lived experience, widening access, and helping underutilised talent build long-term futures.
If you’re an employer who wants to work with an award-winning organisation, or you’re exploring how to put lived experience at the heart of your decisions, we’d love to talk.