Welcome to the Shared Learning Group on Involvement and Charities Research Involvement Group
We aim to encourage shared learning about service user and carer involvement between voluntary sector organisations working in the UK. Our main Shared Learning Group looks at involvement across all areas. We also have a Charities Research Involvement Group.
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Most of the resources on this website are password protected and accessible to members only. For more information about membership please visit How to join.
How to JoinLatest Meeting Summaries
Shared Learning Group on Involvement
Our main focus for discussion was how we can support involvement within the context of the pandemic – we looked at what’s changed and how we are planning involvement activities in the future. Phoebe Green gave an excellent talk about involvement at Pause, and how they are trying to adapt involvement in the new environment.
In response to the discussions we had after Phoebe’s talk, we’ll be setting up a working group to think about how we can involve people who currently find it hard to be involved digitally. We’ll also re-establish our working group to look at how we can influence senior leaders about the value of involvement.
Members had lots of questions for each other – including about involving young people as trustees; useful ways to involve people that aren’t online or by phone; where involvement sits in our organisations and whether that feels like the right place, and how to keep encouraging staff to involve people.
Charities Research Involvement Group
Lots of really useful information and experience shared at this meeting.
We previewed our report about how PPI in research adds value for charities. (Scroll down to the news section for a link to this report.
We heard about some of the amazing work done by Egality Health. This includes some focus groups they have been running with underrepresented community organisations.
We had a presentation on PPI in the re-starting of clinical research. And we talked about a Wellcome Trust project to develop PPI support for Wellcome researchers
News & Featured Documents
How does involvement in research add value for charities?
There’s growing evidence that involvement adds value to research. But does it add value for the charities that fund and/or support research? Here’s our report. Note to members – there’s a more detailed version of this report in the Resource Centre. Involvement adds value FINAL REPORT PUBLIC VERSION
16th September 2020
Toolkit for research charities starting a PPI relationship
How do we begin the conversation about research involvement with patients and the public? This new PPI Toolkit, published by our member organisation Health Research Charities Ireland, helps health research charities and others starting on the journey to tackle this challenge. It offers particular guidance on facilitating a first workshop with PPI contributors.
3rd July 2020
Involving people when you can’t involve them face-to-face
During this pandemic, it’s more important than ever to listen to the voices of people we seek to support.
Most charities have little experience of involving people virtually on a regular or large scale basis – until the last few weeks, much of their involvement activity has been face-to-face, because this is what many people prefer. We all need to move fast to respond to the changing situation. So members to share their experience to date and to come up with some tips and ideas. The write-up of our discussion is here: Online involvement-public
15th April 2020
Running a big interactive meeting using Zoom
The most recent meeting of the Charities Research Involvement Group took place via Zoom. Here are our notes on how we planned for and ran this meeting – hope these will be useful for anyone who is planning a big interactive virtual meeting for the 1st (or 2nd or 3rd) time: CRIG zoom meeting
20th March 2020
A form and guidance to use to ask the right questions of researchers who want to involve people
Members of the Charities Research Involvement Group are often approached by researchers who want to find PPI contributors to actively involve in their work. Many of our members ask researchers to complete an application form to help them to decide whether to share this request with their networks, and if so what information to share. We have produced this guidance to help our members to produce or improve such a form. We’re making it more widely available so that other charities can use it if they wish. View the guidance here: Template and guidance for researchers-public
11th December 2019
Supporting involvement in industry-led research: new guidance
This guidance has been developed by the Charities Research Involvement Group in collaboration with the Health Research Charities Ireland. It’s to help charities in the UK and the Republic of Ireland to promote and support involvement in industry-led research. Supporting PPI in industry-led research
25th September 2019
Community Fund report on co-production
Report from the Community Fund on how co-production adds value. Co-pro report-public
25th September 2019
Involvement and volunteering
Involvement and volunteering – what are the key differences and similarities? When is it important to pay attention to this? See our latest paper here: Service users and volunteers
10th June 2019
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