Carl: Making My Voice Heard From Norfolk to London and Beyond

The next Happy Healthy & Safe Day is being organised by Opening Doors, who Carkl

By Carl Bygrave, Expert by Experience at IC Works

Hard to believe, but I’ve been working with Opening Doors for 15 years now.

I recently sat down for a catch-up with John Hersov, who sometimes serves as a facilitator for our project meetings and is a longtime ally in the self-advocacy movement.

If you haven't heard of Opening Doors, they are a user-led organisation run by and for people with learning disabilities in Norfolk that focuses on self-advocacy which is a big word for making sure people have a voice and are treated fairly.

These days, my week usually starts with my volunteer work for the Northern Learning Disability Team across Norfolk.

Between 9:00am and 12:00pm, I’m on the phone checking in on people to see how their service visits from health professionals are going.

I use Easy Read documents during these calls to make sure we are communicating clearly - that means using simple words and pictures to support the conversation.

I talk to carers, parents, and day shift managers to get real feedback so we can improve the quality of those visits.

My supervisor, Louise, gave me some lovely feedback lately, which has really helped my confidence grow over the last five years. I just love being part of the team and getting out to our volunteer meetups in places like Holt and Alsham.

The Reality of Remote Work

Even though I love the work, it isn't always easy!

While it’s different from being in a room together, we’ve adapted to the format and keep connecting with new people.

John also mentioned how during the pandemic, he saw how well people with a learning disability could communicate over the phone, and how important it was for them to still get out for essential tasks.

Slowing Things Down?

One thing I’m really passionate about is making sure professionals actually listen to us.

When I work on training projects, we focus on Easy Read aspects and provide training to staff using ‘traffic light cards’.

What are Traffic Light Cards? They are a simple way to control the speed of a meeting.

You hold up a Red card if you want the speaker to stop because you're confused, Amber if they need to slow down or explain a word, and Green if everything is clear.

I’ve even had people thank me for helping them avoid jargon - those ‘big, confusing words’ - and giving them ‘time to think’.

You can even order sets of these cards from Ian Hubbard at Opening Doors.

We also play a ‘ladder game’ in our training sessions.

This is an exercise where we look at different scenarios of support; the ‘top of the ladder’ represents great, empowering support, while the ‘bottom’ shows bad support that takes away someone's choice.

It’s such a great way to show professionals what we actually need.

Looking Forward

There is just so much happening right now.

Opening Doors has just launched a brand-new, user-friendly website and we’ve secured National Lottery funding all the way through to 2029!

I’m also keen on the Happy Health Sofa event, which Ian from Opening Doors is helping us organise for our Being Happy Healthy & Safe Day on Wednesday 17 June 2026.

I really enjoyed catching up with John Hersov for this interview.

We even talked about a quote from his late father-in-law about addressing problems with determination.

It was great to hear about John's work receiving invitations to interview heads of health, SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities), and co-production for the London Boroughs Services Assessment Project.

This project involves all 33 boroughs and the NDTi (National Development Team for Inclusion) to see how children and young people’s services are progressing.

John always makes it easy to share my story.

What’s it all about?

Everything I do - whether it’s with Opening Doors or here with the IC Works Panel of Experts by Experience - is all about ‘co-production’.

That’s just a fancy way of saying that people with lived experience are actually in the room helping to create the training and documents that affect our lives, rather than just being told what to do.

If you or your organisation want to ensure your information is easy to understand, or if you want to learn how to ‘slow down’ and listen better, please get in touch and work with us.

We’re here to make sure every voice is heard, and we’d love to help you get it right!