Last year people across Wales shared an incredible 473 stories with Measuring the Mountain.  Stories that highlighted the complex and very personal nature of being a carer and of using care and support services.  These stories, helped to paint a picture of what social care is really like for people.

We are hugely grateful to everyone who shared stories with us.  Even though not every story featured in the final report, every one of them was read, every one of them was analysed and every one of them contributed to the findings, conclusions and recommendations made by the project. 

MtM presented these findings to Welsh Government earlier this year.  You can find our full report, including our recommendations, on our website www.mtm.wales/resources. 

Welsh Government will be issuing a formal response to the findings of the first year of work this autumn.  We will share this response when we receive it and publish it on our website – you can follow us on Twitter @mtmwales to keep up to date with all the latest news and events.

Since then, we have received further funding for the project to continue its work until October 2020.

In September, MtM formed part of the agenda at the National Social Care Conference 2019.  This is an important event, especially for leaders from across the social care sector working to transform the provision of services in Wales.  On Day 2 of the conference, Katie Cooke shared MtM’s findings and recommendations from 2018.  Katie, outlined some of the factors that contributed to people’s experiences being positive or negative with around 130 social care professionals, local authority cabinet members and people from Welsh Government. 

This current phase of the project will focus on gathering further stories, hosting a second Citizens’ Jury in May 2020 and continuing to share the findings from the first phase.  To help further build the picture of what being a carer or of using care and support services is really like, we are asking you to share stories with us again.  You can do this by going online and clicking the link on our website – www.mtm.wales/share-my-story - or you can invite Katie (Katie.cooke@southwales.ac.uk) to visit a group you are part of to hear stories.

MtM would love to hear from people who contributed last time and from people who are new to contributing.  Every story is important, every story tells us something valuable and every story could help shape the future of social care and support service delivery.

For further information, to invite MtM to your group or if you have any questions visit www.mtm.wales, follow us on Twitter - @mtmwales or contact Katie - Katie.cooke@southwales.ac.uk / 07964 407 739.