Raising Voices in Research (RViR) is a collaboration between Action Hampshire, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, and The Engaging Communities Research Centre University of Winchester with the goal of increasing under-served communities participation in health research.
Including more Black people in health research
In July 2025, RViR was awarded an NIHR South Central Regional Research Delivery Network Strategic Funding Grant to work alongside NIHR BioResource to support engagement with their Improving Black Health Outcomes (IBHO) research initiative. IBHO aims to invite people to take part in research that looks at different health problems and how they affect Black communities. Representation is crucial, as research findings may not always be applicable to groups outside of those included in studies, meaning that the development of new assessment tools, treatments and services might not necessarily benefit everyone. The IBHO BioResource aims to address this gap and improve Black health outcomes by including more Black people in health research.
We will co-deliver workshops within the community
RViR will support IBHO BioResource by funding 5 Black-led Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations to co-deliver a workshop with their community members to inform, involve and empower people from Black communities to be involved in health research. These workshops will involve ‘demystifying’ health research and facilitating discussions to understand community members perceptions of health research. Research nurses from University Hospital Southampton will support the workshops by providing free health checks for participants and being on hand to answer any questions about IBHO and wider health research.
Work has already begun!
So far RViR has begun recruitment of these VCSE organisations, receiving a variety of expressions of interest from across the South-Central region. Those organisations were invited to an online information workshop in early September, for the purpose of increasing VCSEs understanding of the organisations involved and project delivery. They have since been provided with a IBHO X RViR project information booklet to support their workshop delivery. The partnership will now continue to collaborate with the participating organisations to select a date for their workshops and prepare the relevant support for each VCSE-led workshop.
Interested in learning more about RViR or how you can get involved? Please get in touch with the team via enquiries@rvir.co.uk
Want to find out more?
Follow this link for more information on Raising Voices in Research
To get in touch, contact us on enquiries@rvir.co.uk
