About Us

No Barriers Here was established in 2019 through a partnership between The Mary Stevens Hospice, Dudley Voices for Choice, and an Arts Psychotherapist. The programme was co-produced with people with learning disabilities to improve advance care planning and increase equitable access to palliative and end of life care.

From the outset, the project embraced a public health approach to palliative care, recognising the importance of enabling people with learning disabilities to have meaningful opportunities to explore, discuss, and communicate their wishes for future care.

Using creative, arts-based methods, a series of workshops were co-designed and co-delivered in community settings, outside of the traditional clinical environment. These workshops supported participants to explore the key principles of advance care planning in an accessible and engaging way, culminating in the creation of a collaborative community advance care plan and an accompanying film.

The programme was funded by the Masonic Charitable Foundation and managed by Hospice UK. Its innovative, co-produced approach has received national recognition, including the Hospice UK Innovation in Tackling Inequalities Award in 2021. The project was also shortlisted for the National Learning Disabilities and Autism Awards 2021 and named a finalist in the NHS Improvement Awards in the Improving Co-production category.

Today, No Barriers Here continues to support organisations, communities, and professionals across the UK and internationally to reduce inequalities in palliative and end of life care through training, community engagement, and collaborative working.

In April 2021, The Mary Stevens Hospice was awarded funding from NHS Charities Together to deliver a research and education programme aimed at improving palliative and end of life care for ethnic diverse communities across the Black Country.

Working in partnership with The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, and co-producing the programme with people from diverse communities, the project adapted the No Barriers Here approach to ensure it was culturally relevant, inclusive, and accessible.

Through community-based advance care planning workshops, the programme sought to address the inequalities experienced by people who may face barriers to accessing palliative and end of life care because of their identity, culture, ethnicity, or race. By creating safer and inclusive spaces, the project empowered individuals and communities to explore their wishes, preferences, and values while helping health and care services better understand and respond to diverse needs.

Since its early development, No Barriers Here has continued to evolve, with further research funded to explore and extend its impact as an innovative methodology for advancing equity in palliative and end of life care.The programme has been successfully delivered across a wide range of settings, demonstrating its flexibility and ability to engage diverse communities. Workshops have taken place in hostels and homelessness support services, community health centres, paediatric palliative care services, hospices, care homes, acute hospital settings, and community venues, including at public festivals.

By adapting the programme to different environments and communities, No Barriers Here continues to support meaningful conversations about advance care planning, helping to reduce inequalities and ensure that people who are often underserved or excluded have opportunities to share what matters most to them.

Why do we use arts-based methods?

Arts-based methods have been used to amplify the voices of marginalised groups, people and communities throughout history. Art-making and creativity are both innately human instincts and can act as great levellers. In recent years, developments in neuroscience and understandings of the impact of trauma have highlighted the need for less verbal approaches for some groups and communities. When used with people and groups who experience similar exclusion, these methods have found to be an excellent way to have deeper, safer, broader, more meaningful conversations about care at the end of life.