Co-production
Working together on what’s important.
At Buttle, we believe we should be answerable to the children, young people and families we support, and to the professionals who stand beside them.
Co-production is how we make that happen. It keeps us honest, transparent and sharply focused on real impact.
We work with two groups, who shape what we do:
Our Advisor Network
A network bringing together young people, parents, carers and frontline professionals.
Advisor NetworkTogether, they meet with our staff and trustees, take part in consultations, and lead projects that challenge us to do better. Their insight strengthens our grants, sharpens our decision-making and makes sure we’re delivering the things that truly matter to children and young people.
We’re learning as we go and sharing that journey openly here and on our blog. To find out more, get in touch with our Co-Production and Youth Engagement Manager, Charlotte Robey-Turner, at coproduction@buttleuk.org.
What does co-production at Buttle mean?
Put simply, co-production is a partnership.
A reciprocal, equitable way of working, where lived experience and professional insight guide how we grow, decide and act.
At Buttle, this means:
- Working alongside children, young people and families who have faced financial hardship, and the professionals who support them.
- Being open and transparent about how we learn, improve and make decisions.
- Making sure our grants, strategy and day-to-day work reflect what’s actually important to young people.
- Checking our thinking, changing our approach and inviting challenge when we need it.
We’ve developed a clear definition of co-production with our staff and trustees, and we expect it to evolve as our Youth Advisory Panel and Advisor Network shape it with us.
Why we do it.
Our ambition is simple:
Embed co-production across Buttle, so our work has the greatest possible impact.
By working in partnership at every level, we aim to:
- Strengthen and evolve our grant-making, so children and young people get the outcomes that truly matter to them.
- Improve every part of Buttle, from fundraising, communications, governance and more.
- Understand the wider issues that drive financial hardship, and respond to them responsibly.
- Amplify young people’s voices, making sure they’re heard across our sector and beyond.
- Stay accountable to the people we support, following through on their feedback and inviting them to scrutinise our decisions.
For us, accountability means being transparent about our impact, listening carefully, acting on what we hear and reporting back.
Looking to get involved? Contact coproduction@buttleuk.org.
Advisor network
Lived and learned experience guides our work.
At Buttle, lived and learned experiences shape everything we do.
Our Advisor Network brings together young people, parents, carers and professionals with direct experience of the challenges our grants address. Their vital insight keeps our work grounded, relevant and focused on real-world impact.
Network members share their experiences through surveys, focus groups, consultation sessions and project collaboration. Sometimes that means offering quick feedback; sometimes it means co-producing deeper pieces of work, including research and long-term projects.
We recruit Advisor Network members through our grant feedback surveys, and we keep them updated through a regular newsletter.
The Advisor Network isn’t a route for challenging individual grant decisions or making complaints — and taking part won’t affect the outcome of any applications.
Instead, it’s a space for honest, constructive partnerships.
Youth Advisory Panel
Young people shaping what matters in childhood.
Our Youth Advisory Panel is at the heart of our co-production work.
It brings together young people aged 16–25 who have benefited from our support, and who want to use their experience to make childhoods fairer.
In 2024, we worked with 12 young people who had received Buttle grants to co-design the Panel: its purpose, its goals, its recruitment and its induction.
That process shaped a clear aim:
to increase Buttle’s impact by making sure young people’s experiences guide our decisions, our ethics and our direction.
Our Youth Advisory Panel:
- Takes part in Buttle’s governance, scrutinising decisions and holding us accountable.
- Works with staff to strengthen and improve how we deliver grants.
- Helps our teams and trustees stay connected to what young people are really facing.
- Raises awareness of our work, helping more people access the support they need.
- Brings new perspectives on the issues affecting childhood today.
- Creates space for young people to have a genuine voice at every level of the organisation.
- Meets regularly to talk about priority issues, developing how we work.
Thanks to the Youth Advisory Panel’s work, we have become an organisation that has an even deeper understanding of the issues facing childhoods across the country.