Are you aged 18–25 with personal experience of hearing voices? 
Would you like to help develop an app for young voice-hearers who might be struggling to cope with their experiences? 
The project so far …  
LIVV is a pilot smartphone app that is designed to help young people who hear distressing voices understand and cope with their experiences. It provides information about hearing voices and access to a moderated peer support forum. Users can also create their own coping strategy toolkit, based on tips and techniques that other young people who hear voices have found helpful.  
Young people who hear voices have been involved in the development of LIVV in every stage of the process. In 2022–23 we ran a series of co-design workshops with voice-hearers (aged 18–25) to find out what they would (and wouldn’t) want from an app. We developed a basic app based on some of their ideas and asked for their opinion on what we created. Lots of people said that the app would be easier to use if it included animations and audio clips that guide people through the coping strategies suggested by the app, so in 2024 we ran some more workshops to develop the multi-media resources that are on the app today.  
Now we’d like your help to design a research study exploring whether people think the app is useful, whether it is safe to use, and what they like and don’t like about it.
How can I get involved? 
We’re looking for a group of young people (aged 18–25) with first-hand experience of hearing voices who would like to work with us to make sure LIVV is safe and acceptable to use. Everyone who participates gets to download LIVV and experience the app first hand to better understand how it works. Activities in the workshops will focus on co-designing a research study to evaluate the app. We will also explore your thoughts about the data we collect through the app evaluation, and work together to develop a case study and recommendations for anyone who might want to develop a similar digital mental health tool.
You definitely don’t need any prior knowledge or experience of working in research or being involved with workshops to take part. We just want people who are interested in the idea and are keen to use their own lived experience to help us design the app evaluation.
When are the workshops on? 
The workshops will take place on Zoom or Teams (an online meeting platform) at the following dates and times: 
- Wednesday 9 April, 6:00pm – 7:30pm
- Tuesday 6 May, 6:00pm – 7:30pm
- Tuesday 27 May, 6:00pm – 7:30pm
- Tuesday 15 July, 6:00pm – 7:30pm
The workshops will be facilitated by a staff member from Voice Collective, Mary Robson (a creative facilitator), Ben Alderson-Day (a researcher) and Victoria Patton (a digital and communications specialist).  
Whether you are new to online meetings or an old hand at digital workshops, we’ll make sure that everyone is fully supported to take part.  
Do I need to go to all the workshops? 
No. Ideally, we’d like people involved in this project to come to all of the workshops, but we understand that life can get in the way sometimes so we ask that you attend as many as you feel able. If you think there are ways we can better support you in attending the workshops, please do let us know.  
Why should I take part? 
We hope you’ll take part because you’d like to help shape an app for young people who hear voices and make it as useful as possible. Our commitment to you is that we will listen to your ideas and suggestions and use them in a meaningful way. Everyone who participates will also receive a shopping voucher per online workshop as a token of appreciation for their time and expertise.  
Who is involved in this project? 
The Living with Voices app grew from work conducted by Hearing the Voice (2012–2022) – a 10-year interdisciplinary study of voice-hearing. It is a collaboration between the Institute for Medical Humanities (Durham University), Voice Collective (a London-based organisation that supports young people who hear, see or sense things others don’t), Rachel Waddingham (voice-hearer, mental health trainer) and Dr Sarah Parry (Manchester University). It has been funded by Durham University, Research England and Wellcome.
Do I need to live in the UK to be part of this? 
No. The workshops are open to any young person who hears voices and would like to get involved. The workshops will take place in English and all times are Greenwich Mean Time.  
How can we support you to participate? 
We’d like to hear from young people of different genders, sexual orientations, (dis)abilities, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. If there is anything we can do to help you to participate, please let us know.  
I’d like to take part. What do I do? 
To register an interest in taking part in the workshops, please email Victoria Patton telling us a bit about yourself and why you’d like to participate. We look forward to hearing from you! 
If you have any questions about this project, feel free to get in touch with Victoria.
