Debs Carter

Storytelling for Mental Wellbeing

The Speaker - Debs Carter, Founder of Touch Network

Debs is on a mission to enable people to tell and hear real life stories through her social enterprise Touch Network. Touch Network supports people to tell and hear stories of moving forward with life challenges. Run in relaxed environments such as coffee shops and bars, Touch network has enabled over 80 people to tell their personal stories, and over 1000 people to hear them, leading to a more hopeful and inspired community. Debs also works with the NHS and social care, to ensure patient stories are at the heart of health care provision. Debs regularly shares her own story of moving forward with severe depression.

Debs recently undertook a research project with Healthwatch Southampton, on behalf of Southampton Clinical Commissioning Group, called ‘Ideas for Wellbeing’, where she and her team worked with nearly 800 people in the Southampton community to find out what helps people to have better days. This question was set in the context of coproduction and peer support and is now helping to define this landscape within commissioning in Southampton.

Debs often acts as a sounding board to healthcare professionals who are developing coproduction approaches in their work. She also works with boards sharing her own story of overcoming and her experiences of NHS and social care, she sees this as a way of contributing to developing innovative and quality provision in her City.

Debs previously ran a third sector management consultancy business. She has a degree in Social Policy awarded from University of Southampton, is a fellow of the School for Social Entrepreneurs and completed the Leadership for Empowered and Health Communites programme two years ago.