Volunteer as a Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) member

As a charity, we highlight the needs of people in later life living on a low income in our work to change laws and government policy. It is important to us that our work is informed by the personal experiences of people in later life who have experienced financial insecurity or are living on a low income. Our Lived Experience Panel is a way to hear these personal experiences, which we refer to as ‘lived’ experience.  

If you join us as a LEAP member, we will get in touch when there are opportunities to inform our work. Some might be one-off sessions or tasks, while others might be longer-term projects. You can pick and choose what tasks you get involved with, depending on your interests and the time you have to spare when the request comes out.

Opportunities may include:

• Reviewing information that we create to ensure it is easy to understand and makes our points powerfully enough;
• Joining group discussions to share your experiences and thoughts on topics such as the cost of living;
• Sharing your views on ideas we have for engaging events and stunts.

You can get involved from anywhere in the UK and do not need to travel to volunteer. We hold our group discussions online via video call, and we'll share tasks and activities via email.

If you have any queries or need support take a look at our frequently asked questions.

As a LEAP member, you’ll have the opportunity to share your personal experiences and views to help make positive changes for people experiencing financial hardship in later life. You’ll meet new people who are also keen to support our policy and campaigning work, develop new skills and experience, and gain a deeper understanding of policy and influencing work at Independent Age, including the issues we cover and the activities we do.

Becoming a member of LEAP provides a unique opportunity to share your valuable experiences and insights in a supportive environment, where they will be handled with the utmost care, sensitivity and respect. 

We're looking for volunteers who are State Pension age and have personal experience with financial hardship. Your unique perspective will be invaluable in helping us support others facing similar challenges in later life. You don’t need any previous experience in policy or campaigning, just an interest in helping us. You'll need to be able to join group discussions and training sessions over the phone or video calls, be happy to listen to others and give helpful feedback, and handle personal information sensitively and keep it private.

You can check if you've reached State Pension age on Gov.uk.

If you’re already volunteering with us, thank you! Here’s a bit more information to help with your role or refresh your memory if you’ve taken a break. And if you haven’t joined us yet but want more of an idea about what’s involved, have a look at the frequently asked questions below.

Email LEAP@independentage.org or call us on 020 7605 4255 or call us on if you need support at any time. 

You don't need any training for this role. If there is something specific you want to achieve while you’re volunteering with us, tell us and we’ll do our best to support you.

Becoming a member of LEAP provides a unique opportunity to share your valuable experiences and insights in a supportive environment. During group discussions, we'll encourage participants to share their personal stories and experiences. 

We expect all volunteers to keep information shared in the group private and respect everyone’s confidentiality. Your experiences will be handled with the utmost care, sensitivity and respect. For more information about how Independent Age will use your information, please see our Privacy policy or contact LEAP@independentage.org.

We would welcome your thoughts about the role, and your ideas for how it could be developed and improved in the future. Just email us and we’ll be in touch.

As you’ll normally be volunteering online we wouldn’t expect you to have any additional costs. If there are exceptional circumstances, we could consider requests but you would need to contact us in advance.

We understand that circumstances change, so if you need to stop volunteering just email us and we will update our records.