My Citizens Story
Jonathan Bygroves - Neuromodulation Co-ordinator
My story so far...
“I work an 8am - 4pm shift and my bus would be constantly late by at least 20 minutes or cancelled 5 minutes before it was due. I would have to stay late in work to make the time up, and as well as paying £68 for a monthly bus pass, I would have to fund private taxis to get to and from work due to the bus delays and cancelations.
"Through the staff communications, I discovered Liverpool Citizens were coming to The Walton Centre to do a listening campaign on public transport. This gave me the opportunity to tell my story.
"After sharing my story, I was asked to speak at their Founding Assembly at St George's Hall, which I did in front of 600 people with Arriva listening and agreeing to work with us to provide a better transport service. Within 3 months, all our initial asks had been actioned including providing more buses on the morning and ev
ening timetable.
"Through further listening and meeting with Walton Centre staff, issues were highlighted with the 4-6pm service and Arriva worked with us to improve the service by adding more buses on and making changes to the timetable.
"Through being a member of the Trust's Core Group, I've attended Citizens UK community organising and leadership training which has enabled me to gain new skills such as leadership management, how to run listening campaigns, organising and running community campaign meetings with those affected and key decision-makers.
"Arriva attended our Accountability Assembly last November to discuss the actions taken throughout the year and the hard work that had been done together to make the change for a better and more reliable service. Arriva also agreed to continue to work with us on future asks.
"Our next steps are to work to address abuse and racism on the buses and developing the new Arriva App for an accurate, live App with a live reporting system."
To find out more, email Jonathan at jonathan.bygroves@nhs.net.
Lorraine Marshall - Medical Secretary
My story so far...
“Through the staff communications, I discovered Liverpool Citizens were holding its Founding Assembly in St George's Hall on the 18 November 2024 and they were talking about living, working, housing and transport for Liverpool citizens, which I thought sounded interesting as it effects every citizen in Liverpool so worth turning up for. It was cold and snowing on the night, but I still turned up, as I had committed to it and over 12 months on, I am still committed to it.
"I have attended the local community organising training and represented The Walton Centre as part of the Transport Action Group at regional Citizen events in Preston, as well as at the Delegates and Accountability assemblies in and around Liverpool. At the assemblies, all citizens of Liverpool come together from all walks of life; teachers and children from schools, parish church congregations, Liverpool mosque, universities, hospitals, and social housing who proudly announce the progress they have achieved so far and the wins and successes they have accomplished in demanding changes to the status quo.
"I think it is the only place I know where people like us can have a voice and say things are not good enough and we demand changes. We all tell our stories of the struggles we have in living standards from housing to the cost of living, inadequate dental services, inadequate or intermittent train and bus services that let people down trying to get to work and back home again. We invite senior representatives to attend and hold them accountable for the services they offer and ask them to commit to working with us to make change, and it makes a big difference.
"Let's stand together and make changes to improve the lives and livelihoods of the Citizens of Liverpool."
To find out more, email me at Lorraine.marshall11@nhs.net.
