The Raising Voices in Research (RViR) partnership was formed when NHS England Research and Innovation asked for proposals to help underserved communities become more involved in research, as part of their ICS Research Engagement Network Development (REND) Programme. Their aim was to ensure research is fully representative.
Hampshire and IOW Integrated Care Board communications and engagement team collated the VCSE (Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise) insights into how researchers can communicate most effectively with them, and also put together the communications toolkit with lots of useful tips and tools for VCSE organisations.
We established a Research Collaborative of research-active organisations to share best practice and develop links between communities and researchers.
Follow this link to read the feedback from the groups
University of Winchester co-produce a training module
The University of Winchester have co-produced a training module with some of the participating VCSE organisations to share the work of RViR and improve research practice. Debra Gray from University of Winchester spoke about the evaluation and training
‘Our evaluation highlights the amazing impact that RViR has had on communities, VCSE organisations and researchers across Hampshire and Isle of Wight, providing spaces for conversations about research that didn’t exist before. We hope the training will continue to provide a bridge between the RViR communities and researchers through improving research experience and contribution.’
The training is currently being piloted and will be available to researchers later in 2024. The University of Winchester undertook a comprehensive evaluation of the project which will be shared with you all soon.
Big thank you!
Our thanks and huge respect to all the participating VCSE organisations:
Age UK Portsmouth / Bantaba4Change / Basingstoke Hindu Society / Disabled People’s Voice / GoLD / Recapture Life / Sight for Wight / Solent Mind / St Denys Activity Group / Yellow Door/ Breakout Youth / Bridge to Unity / Motiv8 South / Portsmouth City of Sanctuary / Portsmouth Pride / Step by Step Partnership / Work Better Innovations / Yellow Brick Road Projects/ Vision 4 Youth/ Cross-Culture CIC/ Autek CIC, NVR South Parent Practioners/ The Society of St James/ Mountbatten Hospice
A cause for celebration!
On Tuesday 26 March, we hosted our hybrid ‘That’s a RAP: Raising Voices in Research Celebration Event’ at Southampton Central Hall. The event brought together VCSE organisations, researchers, and community members to share their experiences of the project and celebrate the findings.
Follow this link to read more about the celebration event
We are now working on an interim project – Shaping the Conversation!
RViR has been funded to work with 12 VCSE organisations to find out what research topics matter to their community members. Much research activity originates with researchers and research organisations, who set the priorities for research. This means that communities are often less likely to get involved and can feel dis-empowered.
We want to find out what the research priorities for underserved communities are, and then design an equitable process for them to have their research priorities heard. The VCSE organisations taking part will learn about different types of research and how to help their communities identify research topics. At a Sandpit Event in September support will be given, by researchers, to develop these ideas further.
This project will conclude with a celebration event this Autumn.
Would you like to help shape research?
Are you a VCSE organisation, researcher, or do you work for an organisation that undertakes research? Would you like to be involved in Raising Voices in Research?
