Last year Action Hampshire, in collaboration with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, and The Engaging Communities Research Centre University of Winchester, delivered three RViR projects.
- REN 25/26 – we delivered two Research Collaborative Roadshow events, where researchers shared their current projects to encourage VCSEs and their community members to take part in health research.
- Mentoring – we brought together six VCSEs and six researchers to co-design research projects based on community interests and needs.
- Improving Black Health Outcomes –we supported three organisations that support Black communities to deliver workshops with their community members to discuss health research and how to join NIHR BioResource’s research resource.
The evaluation of all these projects found that RViR helped to increase understanding of research, which resulted in improved attitudes and behaviour towards research participation.
For example, 38 community members who attended a Research Collaborative Roadshow event shared their details with researchers and some have gone on to participate in their studies. Changes like this will help research to become accessible to more people, which can help ensure that research outcomes are reflective of more populations, particularly those who are under-served.
As well as these successes, VCSEs shared feedback regarding our online Research Collaborative page and provided suggestions to improve the accessibility of the events delivered. The RViR Team has used this learning to develop the next phases of the project, which we’re excited to tell you about and explain how you can get involved!
Upcoming RViR news!
The next phase of RViR, which is funded by NHS England, will focus on all the main parts of previous phases. We are looking to recruit 12 new VCSEs to work with at least 10 of their community members to increase their understanding and awareness of health research through two workshops.
Grants available
VCSEs will be given a grant of £1000 to support their delivery which will take place from July – September 2026. To apply, please complete the application form by Monday 22 June: Raising Voices in Research – Application Form – Fill in form
Interested in finding out more? Please email [email protected] or call us on 01962679340.
Join our Community Assets research project
Our second project this year is funded by NIHR RRDN South Central and will aim to support community assets to host research delivery in their settings. From previous phases of RViR, we know that community members prefer to access community settings, so we want to find out what researchers would need to be able to conduct research in these spaces and then create a directory of community assets that would like to support research. We will be hosting information workshops for this project in June, so watch this space! But if you’re keen to find out more now and would like to discuss this further, please contact us via [email protected]
What research is happening in your area? Join the Research Collaborative
Not sure if either of these opportunities are for you but want to know what research is happening in your area? Join the Research Collaborative for access to discussions on research inclusion and to find out about research opportunities that are relevant to your community! Complete the short sign-up form here: Research Collaborative Membership Application Form | Raising Voices in Research
A thank you from the team!
Thank you to all the VCSEs, community members, and researchers who have been involved in RViR throughout the years. We look forward to this next phase of delivery with you and all the new organisations who want to join the RViR journey. Jess, Claire, Emilia and Ivan.