Lincolnshire Voluntary Engagement Team: It's all about people

In February 2025 we recorded a podcast with Paul Gutherson, Managing Director of the Lincolnshire Voluntary Engagement Team (LVET), and Caty Collier, who is both Senior Change Manager with the It’s All About People team, and Social Prescribing Development Lead for LVET.

Together, they explored what happens in the space between the “medical world” and the “real world”, and why personalised, community-led approaches matter more than ever.

What emerged was a powerful story about the quiet, often unseen work happening in communities, and how this transforms lives.

About Lincolnshire Voluntary Engagement Team (LVET)

Lincolnshire Voluntary Engagement Team (LVET) is a Community Interest Company (CIC), jointly funded by Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) and the Integrated Care System (ICS). LVET acts as a conduit between statutory services and the voluntary and community sector.

Lincolnshire is a large and diverse county, with different challenges and opportunities that shape people’s lives. LVET works alongside the voluntary sector to maximise those opportunities and to ensure that challenges are recognised, understood and addressed by those who can influence change.

LVET’s vision is for the voluntary and community sector in Lincolnshire to be a valued and equal partner in the design, delivery, monitoring, and evaluation of health, care, and wellbeing services across the county.

LVET's mission is to enable voluntary and community organisations, volunteers, and other community helpers to deliver a diverse range of health, care, and wellbeing services, working closely with statutory partners to make this happen.

Seeing the whole person, not just the condition

One of the strongest threads running through out conversation with Paul and Caty is the idea that people are more than a diagnosis or a ‘service user’ category.

Paul: “Our member organisations look at people as people, not as a medical problem to be fixed.”

This shift in perspective is fundamental. While statutory services are often shaped by time pressures, targets and pathways, voluntary and community organisations operate in a different space - one that allows them to see the “whole life” of a person.

Caty reflected on how personalised approaches focus not just on activity, but on impact:

“So what? You’ve got 50 people in a room… but actually, what difference did it make?”

Personalised care isn’t about ticking boxes. It’s about understanding whether someone feels more confident, less isolated, and more able to cope with what life may throw at them.

The power of small, local organisations

LVET represents around 170 voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise organisations across Lincolnshire. Many of them are small operations, with incomes under £20,000, but their impact can be enormous.

Paul: “Some of these really small organisations… arguably have a bigger impact on people because they are closer to them and can spend more time with them.”

These hyperlocal groups - village halls, men’s sheds, community cafés - often work with people who are least likely to engage with formal services. They don’t feel clinical or intimidating. They feel human.

Yet these organisations are rarely “at the table” when decisions are made. LVET’s role, Paul says, is often about simply reminding bigger systems that they exist:

“Sometimes it’s just reminding people… that the voluntary and community sector is there and can help.”

Personalisation depends on this kind of proximity - on being close enough to people’s lives to respond flexibly and creatively.

Measuring what really matters: Beyond counting numbers

A recurring frustration in the conversation was how success is often measured. Large systems tend to prioritise scale and throughput, but that can obscure meaningful change.

Caty: “It can be really tempting… to count the output in terms of numbers… but actually, what difference did it make?”

LVET has been exploring alternatives, including the Social Value Engine, which calculates the wider social impact of investment. In one example, £85,000 distributed to 18 organisations generated more than £3.50 of social value for every £1 spent.

Paul: “Three and a half times that investment. Some of those projects were with a very small group of people, but the impact on their lives was really significant.”

This is personalised care in action: depth over breadth, quality over quantity.

Community Reporting: Supporting people to tell their stories

One of the most exciting developments discussed was Community Reporting, an approach that gives people the skills and means to share their experiences in their own words, images, audio or video.

Caty: “It’s a way of enabling people to get their voices heard… empowering them to tell their own stories and share their own experiences.”

Unlike surveys or formal reports, community reporting values different forms of expression. A photograph, a poem, a short audio clip - all are seen as valid.

“Somebody that can take a photograph that sums up their feelings… is as valid as anything else.”

This matters deeply for personalisation. Many people, including those with learning disabilities or from marginalised communities, are under-represented in traditional feedback mechanisms. Community reporting meets people where they are, rather than expecting them to fit the system.

Creativity, freedom, and working differently

Another theme that ran quietly but persistently through the conversation was creativity. Paul talks about his habit of visual note-taking, sketching ideas rather than writing linear notes, because real life isn’t linear.

“A conversation isn’t linear… by drawing and making notes in circular ways, you can represent that a bit better.”

This spirit mirrors how many community organisations work. With limited funding but high levels of passion, they innovate out of necessity.

Paul: “You have to be creative about making the most of the money you’ve got, and the skills and assets of the people around you.”

Personalised care thrives in these “unshackled” environments, where trying something different isn’t just allowed, it’s essential.

Connection is the intervention

Perhaps the most profound insight is that often, the activity itself isn’t the point. It’s the connection that happens around it.

Paul shares examples like men’s sheds, gliding clubs, or youth projects:

“It’s not the activity… it’s the fact that you are stood by the side of somebody doing something that means you can talk about what’s going on in your life.”

He describes this as “accidental exercise” or incidental wellbeing - people improving their health without feeling like they’re being treated.

“What you’re delivering is connection. It’s incidental to the impact you have.”

This is where personalised care truly lives: in relationships, trust, and belonging.

Conclusion: Building care around people, not systems

Our conversation with Paul and Caty was ultimately a hopeful one. It acknowledged the pressures facing health and care systems, but it also shone a light on a different way of working - one already happening quietly in communities.

Personalised care isn’t a new policy or a shiny framework. It’s what happens when we see people as whole, complex humans; when we value stories as much as statistics; and when we trust communities to be part of the solution.

As Paul reminded us, it often comes down to something simple:

“Sometimes it’s just about connecting and relationships.”

And maybe that’s the most personalised approach of all.