Beat created SPOT, the Eating Disorder Hub for Education Professionals, in direct response to the Covid-19 pandemic. When all face-to-face training was paused, it remained vital that education professionals could continue to access high-quality clinical training and guidance around eating disorders.
Launched in 2021, the platform hosts over 20 modules based on our full-day training for professionals. Focus groups with educators helped shape the content from the outset, ensuring that SPOT was grounded in the real needs, challenges, and questions raised by teachers.
Since then, over 7239 education professionals have created an account, and it remains essential that the platform stays up to date, relevant, and reflective of current best practice.
Although SPOT continues to see strong engagement from education professionals, it is essential that the platform remains current, practical, and effective in helping teachers understand the severity of eating disorders and how best to support their students.
To strengthen the relevance and impact of SPOT, we are seeking meaningful and diverse input from people with lived experience of eating disorders. While the platform has previously been reviewed by educators and clinicians, it has not yet been shaped by the voices of those who have personally experienced an eating disorder during their school years. Gaining this insight is vital in helping us understand what young people wish their teachers had known, what would have supported them, and what information could make the biggest difference for future students.
Through this project, we hope to learn:
Whether SPOT gives teachers a clear and accurate understanding of eating disorders.
Which areas of the platform could be improved or clarified.
What additional content or features would make the platform more impactful from a lived experience perspective.
The feedback gathered will directly influence updates to the platform, contribute to the creation of new content, and support future funding applications aimed at enhancing SPOT for the thousands of educators who rely on it.
We are looking for 10 people with lived experience of having an eating disorder. All participants must meet our wellbeing criteria below:
We want to make sure that our advisory boards are fully representative of the diverse communities across the U.K., and so we are particularly keen to hear from people from people who identify with any of the following:
As with all our work, we are also committed to representing the full range of eating disorders, including the ‘lesser known’ ones. This includes anyone who may not have a formal diagnosis, and inclusive of both long- and short-term eating disorder experiences.
As part of the advisory board, you would meet with fellow members as part of a group of up to 10 people. There will be 6 two-hour board meetings between March and August 2026. All meetings will be held from 5.30-7.30pm and conducted via Zoom.
Beat staff will facilitate meetings and there will also be dedicated staff available to provide any support needed. Beat and clinical staff will also be available for support before and after meetings.
Beat want to acknowledge the valuable expertise those with lived experience will bring to this project, so all board members will be paid for the time they contribute. Payment for participation in sessions will be £25 per hour in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) benchmark: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/documents/payment-guidance-for-members-of-the-public-considering-involvement-in-research/27372#citizens-advice-bureau-cab
If you would like to become a member on the advisory board for the SPOT project, we would like to invite you to join us at an online information session.
Our information session will be a chance for you to find out more about the advisory board, what will be involved, support available, meeting staff members you would be working with and asking any questions you may have!
We will be having our online information session on:
To register for an information session please complete our sign-up form: Beat & SPOT – Fill in form
If you cannot attend an information session but would like to know more about the project, please contact Beat’s Co-Production team at coproduction@beateatingdisorders.org.uk.