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Being part of the conversation: reflections from the Capacity to Change roundtable at LSE

Thursday 28 May 2026

In this blog Khosru Miah, Recovery Community Mentor at The People’s Recovery Project reflects on a recent roundtable event at LSE, and draws on his lived experience of homelessness and recovery. In the second section, you can find out more about the event and ongoing collaboration between TPRP and CPEC.

On 15 April 2026, the Capacity to Change roundtable at the London School of Economics and Political Science brought together policymakers, service providers, researchers, technology experts, and people with lived experience of homelessness and addiction. Organised by The People’s Recovery Project (TPRP) and LSE’s Care Policy and Evaluation Centre (CPEC), the event focused on how evidence, evaluation, and lived experience can strengthen decision-making and support longer-term change in recovery services for people facing multiple disadvantages.

Reflections from Khosru

I wanted to share some reflections on the roundtable discussion that took place on 15 April 2026, delivered in partnership between the London School of Economics and Political Science and The People’s Recovery Project. The discussion explored how lived experience, evaluation, and evidence can better support decision-making, commissioning, and long-term change within drug and alcohol services for people facing multiple disadvantages. I felt it was a strong and meaningful discussion, bringing together people from across the sector and from many different levels of experience and responsibility.

I personally felt heard and was able to explain how my own lived experience has not only shaped my recovery journey, but also continues to influence the work I do every day when facilitating groups, having one-to-one conversations, and supporting individuals through difficult moments in their lives.

It was encouraging to see that many people at the roundtable understood how vital lived experience is in supporting individuals seeking sobriety and long-term recovery. Sharing personal experience with someone who may be contemplating change can be incredibly powerful, especially when they see someone who was once homeless and engulfed in addiction now working within the sector and helping others.

Attendees seated around tables in a meeting room, taking part in the group discussion. Khosru is sat at the top table, with other TPRP community and team members. Papers, laptops and drinks are on the tables, and a presentation slide is shown on a large screen at the front.

During the discussion, I reflected on how working with smaller groups and within communities often allows for more focused and meaningful support, where individuals can truly feel listened to and understood. Sometimes, within larger organisations, the focus on numbers and targets can unintentionally leave people feeling unheard, often because staff may not have the time to build the trust and connection that are needed. I strongly believe in providing quality support over quantity.

The conversation also explored how evidence, evaluation, and feedback can be used to engage commissioners and demonstrate how effective frameworks of support can create positive outcomes for individuals. Drawing from my own journey, I spoke about how compassion, empathy, and trust were the foundations that helped me begin my recovery. It was only when someone genuinely showed they were willing to listen to me without judgement that I slowly began to let my guard down, trust others, and believe that long-term recovery and stability were possible.

About the event

One of the strongest messages to come out of the discussion was that recovery is rarely straightforward or linear. Participants spoke about the need to look beyond short-term targets and to pay closer attention to the wider parts of people’s lives, including housing, health, relationships, and stability over time. There was also recognition that evaluation matters most when it is useful in practice, helping services learn, improve, and make the case for support without adding too much burden.

Khosru’s reflection is a reminder that policy conversations are strongest when they stay connected to real lives and real journeys. His contribution brought the discussion back to the importance of trust, dignity, and human connection, while also reinforcing a wider message from the roundtable: that services and systems work better when lived experience is not treated as an addition, but as a vital part of how support is designed, delivered, and understood.

Attendees included colleagues from The People’s Recovery Project and LSE (from TPRP: Ed Addison and Nathan Rosier, Khosru Miah, Lee Bozward; from LSE: Dr Michela Tinelli, Dr Raphael Wittenberg, Matt Hindhaugh and Jenevieve Treadwell), alongside invited guests including Professor Carol Black, Rachel Blake MP, David Eastwood, Iain Gray, Jess Harris, Will Haydock, James Herbert, Simone Hermida, Rob Robinson, Mihretab Melesse Salasibew, and Simon Young.

Further reading:

Contact: For further information about the event or the ongoing collaboration between the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre and The People’s Recovery Project, contact Dr Michela Tinelli, Care Policy and Evaluation Centre, m.tinelli@lse.ac.uk.