Hello my name is Willow Holloway I am really pleased to be a part of the advisory group.
I bring both lived experience and a strong commitment to co-production in research and practice. I have been a lived experience advisor for a decade working with equality focused organisations including Autistic UK, Disability Wales and Fair Treatment for the Women of Wales.
I joined the advisory group because I care deeply about how we understand and respond to distress and want to help ensure that research reflects the realities of people’s lives. Too often, the voices of those most affected particularly disabled, autistic, and neurodivergent people are missing or only included in limited ways. Being part of this work gives me an opportunity to help change that.
My work is rooted in making sure people who are often unheard are meaningfully included in conversations that affect them. Although I don’t come from a traditional academic background, I have contributed to co-produced research at a national level and am currently advising on a number of co-produced projects. These experiences have reinforced my belief in the value of lived experience as a form of expertise.
I’m especially interested in the intersection of mental health, trauma, and neurodivergence, and in systemic barriers that can deepen distress, such as stigma, shame, and misunderstanding. I support the design of research and consultation so that it is genuinely collaborative rather than tokenistic.
In the long term, I want to help shape systems and research that move beyond crisis response and towards prevention, understanding, and genuine inclusion. I hope to see services and policies that are built with people, not for them, where lived experience is valued equally, and where dignity, compassion, safety, and belonging are at the centre of everything we do.