In our ever-changing world, knowledge and skills keep evolving. It can be tough to keep up all by yourself, that’s why a Community of Practice can help make this journey less frustrating and lonely and enable us to work collaboratively. Communities of Practice can particularly help leaders because they often carry a heavy load of responsibility. It offers a space for leaders to turn when they need support. It offers leaders an opportunity to find inspiration, a chance to grow personally and professionally, and boost their emotional well-being.

Communities of Practice typically have three main characteristics, ours includes these:

• They cover a shared interest/topic: we focus on the progression of the peer support and peer researcher roles and the development of peer leadership.

• They bring together a community of people: sharing your knowledge, experiences, and resources with one another. We talk, ask questions, and seek input from fellow members. There's no hierarchy, and everyone is encouraged to participate.

• They operate from a set of shared tools/practices: Communities of Practice thrive on regular engagement among its membership, we meet online once a month to connect and collaborate.

No matter how experienced you are in leadership, whether you’re at the beginning, not yet started, or have a number of years behind you, leaders must keep learning and growing. Communities of Practice help leaders to exchange best practices, learn new techniques, get feedback on their ideas, and gain insights from people in similar roles. They also spark creativity and innovation by exposing leaders to different perspectives and challenge their mindsets and behaviours.

Benefits of joining our Community of Practice

Leadership can be a lonely journey, but our international Community of Practice provides a safe space for peer leaders to share their challenges and learn from others who've been there. As well as being a space to gain new perspectives and ideas that can be applied to your own work, it’s a space where you can learn about what’s happening elsewhere. Ultimately its a supportive and safe space for you to share any doubts, questions, and challenges with others who have faced similar experiences, gain valuable insights and support you to navigate difficult situations and decisions.

Being international, it also offers a space to discuss challenges or opportunities that arise that may not be helpful or easy to discuss in your own community, team or organisation.

Each of our Community of Practice’s often end with a learning experience to grow your leadership skills and practice. Our Community of Practice helps to keep our learning alive by encouraging ongoing practice and reflection.

We are ultimately building a community, where we as practicing peer supporters and peer researchers believe that this is where the power lies. Everyone benefits from a space that feels safe enough to share, talk, and learn. It creates opportunities for working together, actively reaching out for help, and gets things done more quickly and easily.

Our Community of Practice provides: