A journal article we wrote has now been published in the Health Expectations journal.
You can read the article online through this link.
Author: Taru
Join us in Tewkesbury!
We’re holding our fourth and final community event of the series in Tewkesbury! Join us on Thursday 26th January for an afternoon with free activities.
You can join us for some or all of the activities:
- We will start at 11:00am with hot beverages which you can enjoy whilst socialising with others and meet the researchers.
- There will be a talk to share some findings of our research ‘What does vaccination mean to people aged 55+?‘ and a chance to ask us questions at 11:15am.
- This will be followed at 11:45am with a light exercise demonstration.
- There’s a further chance to socialise over sandwiches and top up your tea or coffee at 12:15pm
- We will continue with an activity where you can write (or draw!) us a postcard to share any thoughts if you like. We will then read out some postcards from our previous events and talk about opportunities to get involved in what we do or just provide feedback at 12:45pm.
- We’ll finish the activities by 1:30pm.
If you would like to join us, please sign up through our online form, send us an email or give us a call on 0117 455 7657. The event will take place at The Roses Theatre, Sun street, GL20 5NX. We hope to see you there!
Join us in Glasgow!
We’re holding our third community event of the series, this time in Glasgow! Join us on Wednesday 23rd November for a coffee morning with free activities.
You can join us for some or all of the activities:
- We will start at 10:30am with hot beverages, pastries and breakfast rolls which you can enjoy whilst socialising with others and meet the researchers.
- There will be a talk to share some findings of our research ‘What does vaccination mean to people aged 55+?‘ and a chance to ask us questions at 11am.
- This will be followed at 11:30am with an activity where you can write (or draw!) us a postcard to share any thoughts if you like.
- There’s a further chance to socialise and top up your tea or coffee at 12pm and
- hear about opportunities to get involved in what we do or just provide feedback at 12:30pm.
- There will be a light exercise demonstration at 1pm from the amazing ‘Move it or Lose it‘ instructor Fiona. You can sit back, relax and watch or join in! We’ll finish the activities by 1:30pm.
If you would like to join us, please sign up through our online form, send us an email or give us a call on 0117 455 7657. The event will take place at The Studio, 67 Hope street, G2 6AE. We hope to see you there!
Join us in Belfast!
We are holding a free community event in Belfast on Friday 11th November 2022 and would like to invite you along to talk about health research and public engagement. We will share some findings from our national research project ‘What does vaccination mean to people aged 55+?’ over short talks. There will also be a questions and answers session where you can ask us things about our work that might be puzzling you, and opportunities to socialise.
You can join us for some or all of the activities! We will be joining the Positive Ageing Month event in the morning and you can come and speak to us from 10:30am onwards at our stall. The afternoon will start at 12:30pm with a ‘meet the researchers’ session over some light refreshments which you can keep enjoying whilst listening to a short talk about our research project at 1pm. There will be plenty of time for you to ask your questions. You will then have the option to share your thoughts on vaccination and being involved in health research on a postcard in writing – or drawing if you prefer. We will collect the cards and read out some of these at the end of the afternoon at 1:50pm.
If you would like to join us, please sign up through our online form or give us a call on 0117 455 7657. The event will take place at Girdwood Community Hub, BT14 6EG. You can find us in the main hall in the morning and large meeting room in the afternoon. We hope to see you there!
Feedback from planning workshop in Northern Ireland
We held our third planning workshop in August – part of four workshops across the UK. We met online over Zoom video calling as this meant we could bring together people from Belfast as well as Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon.
Our online questionnaire asks whether people would prefer to meet online or in-person and while this has been live for a while now, we are still finding that many prefer online or hybrid meetings. This is why we also followed an online format for this planning workshop.
As with our previous two workshops, we asked what kind of activities people have enjoyed in the past and what kind of activities they might like to attend. We also discussed whether our community event should include an online aspect so that people who don’t live near the venue could also attend. The majority felt that it is important to hold in-person activities as these provide an opportunity to socialise. We also discussed if it was possible to hold a separate online event for those not living in Belfast.
We discussed how to hold activities and many felt that a talk would be a good way for us to share our work. The importance of opportunities to ask questions as well as share experiences was emphasised. It was suggested that we should try to do something innovative to get people interested. Having short activities that people could join and leave in a flexible way was again a popular approach.
We discussed venues as we have not been to Belfast before. It was suggested that we find a neutral venue that is accessible to as many as possible. Joining other activities or events was recommended to help get the word out. We have tried to take the suggestions on board and contacted Positive Ageing Month team to explore opportunities for collaboration.
Following the planning workshop, we now have a date set for our community event which will be held at the Girdwood Community Hub on Friday 11th of November. If you would like to sign up or hear more, please let us know. Please get in touch if you’re interested in taking part!
Join us in Cardiff – online option available!
We are holding a free community event in Cardiff on the afternoon of Wednesday 24th August and would like to invite you along to talk about health research and public engagement. We will share some findings from our national research project ‘What does vaccination mean to people aged 55+?’ over short talks. There will also be a questions and answers session where you can ask us things about our work that might be puzzling you, and opportunities to socialise.
You can join us for some or all of the activities! The afternoon will start at 1:30pm with a ‘meet the researchers’ session with a short walk around the Grange Gardens. We will then have some light refreshments which you can keep enjoying whilst listening to a short talk about our research project at 2:15pm, with time for you to ask your questions. During the break at 3pm you can socialise with the researchers and the attendees, as well as having the option to share your thoughts on vaccination and being involved in health research on a postcard in writing – or drawing if you prefer. We will collect the cards and read out some of these at the end of the afternoon at 3:30pm. We are planning on holding part of this event also online and people joining us virtually can also share their views and virtual postcards with us.
If you would like to join us, please sign up through our online form, send us an email or give us a call on 0117 455 7657. The event will take place at the Grange Pavilion and Grange Gardens, CF11 7LJ. We hope to see you there – or online!
Feedback from our planning workshop in Cardiff
We held our second planning workshop in April – part of four workshops across the UK. We met online over Zoom video as this was the preferred means of holding the workshop at the time.
Our online questionnaire asks whether people would prefer to meet online or in-person. While the questionnaire has been live for some months now, we are still finding that most people prefer online or hybrid meetings. This is why we have decided to follow an online format also for our Glasgow workshop.
As with our workshop in England, we asked what kind of activities people have enjoyed in the past and what kind of activities they might like to attend. We also discussed whether our community event should include an online aspect so that people who don’t live near the venue could also attend. The 6 people who joined us all agreed that holding an event with some hybrid element online would be a good option.
We discussed how to hold activities and many felt that having a selection of short activities would be best to keep things interesting. Having opportunities for those who might not want to speak out or who prefer creative ways to share their thoughts was discussed. Many felt that the social aspect of the event was important and it was suggested that we collaborate with existing groups or other events, forming a day of activities. We hope that our events are opportunities for making new connections – not just for us but for everyone!
Following the planning workshop, we now have a date set for our community event which will be held in Cardiff, the Grange Gardens and Pavilion on Wednesday 24th of August. We are still working on how to make this accessible also online so if you would like to sign up or hear more, please let us know. There are also opportunities to help us co-deliver the event. Please get in touch if you’re interested in taking part!
Writing opportunities
One part of our community activities is to write about the planning workshops and events we’ve held together with some of the people who took part in them. Writing about what we do is an important part of research as this is a way for us to look back and share our findings with others.
We’re looking for two people aged 55+ to help us write about our community involvement project. If you attended one of our planning workshops and community events, we invite you to share your experiences of working with us.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to do the writing – we can have an informal meeting where you tell us your views and we can do the writing for you. You could then read what we have written to make sure you’re happy with it.
We want to be as flexible as possible about how we do this. The only goal is that we can come up with something that is written down and tells the story of what we’ve done together – both in your words and in ours. It would be great to have our story published and we would credit you as a co-author with your permission.
If this is something that you would like to take part in, please get in touch so that we can find a way to work together.
Co-delivery of community events
The final step of our community activities is the four community events that we’ll hold in Tewkesbury, Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast. These four community events will be open for the public to attend and we expect there to be some in-person as well as online activities available.
There’s also an opportunity to join us and help coordinate your local event. This is to help us hold the events in the most friendly way. It’s up to you what role you would like to hold at your local event: this could be helping with introductions, helping people find their place, or setting up group discussions and giving turns to speak to the people attending.
We’re open to suggestions if you think there’s a way that you would like to take part in the delivery of our community events. As a thank you for your time, we will offer you high street shopping vouchers for the value of £20 per hour, up to a £60 for joining the 2h event and preparation time.
Get in touch with us now to tell us what you think!
Feedback from planning workshop in England
We held our first planning workshop in February 2022. The informal meeting took place over Zoom video calling which made it possible for us to bring together people from the South West, Midlands and North East of England.
Our online questionnaire asks whether people would prefer to meet online or in-person and we found that most people still prefer online meetings. This is why we have decided to follow an online format also for our Cardiff workshop.
In the meeting we asked what kind of activities people have enjoyed in the past and what kind of activities they might like to attend. We also discussed whether our community event could be a hybrid event so people who don’t live near the venue could also attend. The 8 people who joined us all agreed that a hybrid event would be a good option.
Combining a talk, group discussion and a Q&A with something active like a local walk was also suggested. While many wanted the session to be informative, it was also thought that those who are attending should be able to share their thoughts and experiences. We hope that our community events will be friendly and social events – potentially even the beginnings of many new connections!
The planning workshop was a great first step towards setting up our community event in Tewkesbury, which is due to be held later this spring. This will be a hybrid event so if you would like to sign up or hear more, please let us know. There are also opportunities to help us co-deliver the event. Please get in touch if you’re interested in taking part!