London Research Engagement Network Event

MILESTONES

Read the achievements to be highlighted from across the network.

NCL achievements include:

A partnership that includes 11 VCSE partners
This is reflected through the over 1,000 people engaged in total across over 40 community engagement events and outreach sessions this year alone.
Alongside, 20 researchers being trained to become ‘community ready’, including a session on cultural humility, and, reciprocally, Research Delivery Network (RDN) and Integrated Care Board (ICB) staff trained 12 community champions to be ‘research ready’ with a programme of youth research champions starting up.
We have held 4 dedicated community research events with over 200 people actively involved in research conversations;
Over 100 people recruited to our partner research studies.
Community Research Champions are continuing to signpost residents to: Be Part of Research and our partner studies via paper leaflets, WhatsApp groups, community networks and social media.
Built trust by delivering culturally and linguistically tailored health messages
Provided holistic support, including screenings and referrals for better health outcomes, by working with NHS partners
- 500+ blood sugar checks (20% advised to book GP appointment)
- 1000+ blood pressure checks (15% referred to GP for further checks)
90% of respondents felt that it was important to take part in health research, 61% reported willingness to take part in health research, and 50% reported that attending the roadshows changed their perception of speaking to health care professionals.
We have been building researcher relationships and have partnered with two genomics studies, a diabetes study and are co-partners on two grant applications (one now successful), alongside more broadly raising awareness of research studies & our research partners (e.g. NoCLOR, BPoR).

NWL achievements to-date include:

A partnership that includes more than 60 VCSE partners, charities, community organisations, research entities and academic units.
This is reflected through the over 500 people engaged in total across over 20 community engagement events and outreach sessions.
Alongside 62 Community Research Champions (CRCs), including 16 Youth CRCs, have been trained in 25/26.
Building trust by delivering culturally and linguistically tailored health messages by engaging communities in their own settings.
Co-developed a research bid on Prostate Cancer among Somali and African Caribbean communities in NWL.
Provided holistic support, including screenings and referrals for better health outcomes, by working with NHS partners
- 1200 health checks
- 258 attendees registered to participate in an NIHR CRN NWL health research study
- Potentially translating into £2.3 and £1.5million in revenue and in medication cost savings, respectively.
- 95% of respondents value the importance of health research, 92% understand health research, 75% reported willingness to take part in health research, and only 55% reported that they knew where to look for research findings.
Our Youth CRCs supported the recruitment into health studies, including the nation-wide CARE-UK study, a randomised controlled trials on Asthma.
Youth CRCs have supported the redesign of the CARE-UK participant information study(PIS) sheet information to make it more accessible to the communities that are less represented in health research. Whilst we are awaiting final figures, the CARE-UK study’s participants’ registration will allow us to trace the study subjects back to the youth CRC recruitment model to directly measure the impact of the youth CRC project.

SWL achievements include:

Who we are:

Our core REN team is a partnership between South West London Integrated Care Board, Croydon Voluntary Action (formerly host of the South West London VCSE Alliance), Healthwatch, Health Innovation Network South London, (formerly) South London Allied Research Collaborative, Big South (an initiative run by South London Partnership, the collective of local authorities) and local public health teams.
All team members are also member of our Health Research Collaborative which is a larger partnership group that meets every month
Our REN programme aims to increase trust and diversity in public participation and involvement in health research, making research more visible and increase public understanding

To achieve this:

We took a two-prong approach:
- To improve public involvement from our communities, we set up the SWL Health Research Support Network to empower local communities and voluntary organisations to better understand and co-produce research through learning from researchers and from each other. This consists of monthly network cafes covering topics such as bid writing, co-production and research permeability. Cafés are held in venues that councils or communities have repurposed, thereby supporting local economy and caterers.
- To improve public participation and build trust in research, we developed a research café model as a mechanism to increase the diversity of participation in research and to make research more accessible reaching people and organisations often excluded from traditional research spaces and growing public participation in open studies. We developed an off the peg and freely available toolkit

Our impact:

Since 2023, 18 research cafes have been undertaken. In 2025-2026, 6 VCSEs and 2 Trusts hosted 8 cafes reaching more than 200 participants
One of the cafes won a nursing award on connecting Afro-Caribbean communities with dementia research
In 2025-2026, we organised 8 research network cafes with on average 20 people attending each café
We hosted our first South West London Research Summit with 400 people in attendance
In 2026-2027, we will continue Planning to work with community health workers linked to primary care networks to further public participation in research

South East London Research Engagement Network Partnership (2022-26):

Who we are:

A partnership between Mabadiliko CIC (VCSE lead), working with South East London Integrated Care Board, King’s Health Partners, NIHR South London Regional Research Delivery Network, and NIHR South London Applied Research Collaboration, to transform how marginalised and minoritised communities shape and take part in health research in South East London

What we’ve done:

Started by understanding barriers to and opportunities for community participation in research: Workshops with communities surfaced issues of trust, capability, perceived institutional commitment and equitable partnership as key barriers to research participation. Devolved power and leadership through VCSEs as trusted brokers identified as a key enabler.
Co-designed a community-led approach to research with VCSEs in Lewisham: upskilling local organisations to build networks and deliver focus groups with residents experiencing health inequalities.
Expanded through training and capacity-building: Brought community leaders and institutional researchers together to co-design an equitable model for research prioritisation; co-developed and piloted two training academies – one building community capability to influence research decisions, the other equipping researchers with cultural humility to share power.
Established community-research partnerships as the mechanism for change: Created structured opportunities for communities and research teams to work together across key decision points in the research lifecycle, setting priorities, design, delivery, and dissemination.
Scaled the model beyond South East London: Extended our approach through partnerships with NIHR Lambeth Health Determinants Research and Evaluation Network and Voluntary Sector North West, demonstrating the model’s replicability and sustainability.

What it has achieved:

339 individuals engaged from initial expressions of interest (275 community, 64 researcher), progressing to 73 participants in co-design workshops (35 community, 38 researcher), 154 people completing capacity-building training (88 community, 66 researcher), and 148 people actively participating in community co-led research activities or partnerships (114 community, 34 researcher).
Transformed community confidence and agency: Community members shifted from seeing themselves as passive research subjects to active co-creators – progressing to becoming named co-applicants on national funding bids, and influencing how research is designed and delivered
Changed researcher attitudes and practice: Researchers described the work as “a step-change deeper than highest calibre EDI training,” reporting increased motivation to work equitably; institutional partners acknowledged need to address power imbalances, evolve funding models, and overcome systemic barriers – moving from raised awareness to intentions to change how research is communicated, resourced, and governed
Built sustainable infrastructure for equitable research: Created documented models, scalable training programmes, and partnership frameworks now being adopted beyond South East London; community and institutional partners report sustained commitment to collaboration, with partnerships demonstrating “fundamentally transformed relationships” and communities feeling “safe to express themselves” and genuinely valued. SEL REN model demonstrates progress towards democratising research through equitable relationships with VCSOs and communities.