Hello everyone 👋
Welcome to the latest newsletter email from me at Involvement at the Institute. 

I have gathered together a whole host of different pieces of information, opportunities and activities so don’t hang around here – just dive straight in!
Feet surrounded by water, sticking out of the sea after diving in
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Involvement at the Institute updates:
Here at the Institute, we will soon be planning our activities for 2024 so if there is something you’d be keen to see or would like to make suggestions to things you have seen in other areas then please do get in touch. 
National health and social care information and events:
The Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust Research & Innovation team has re-instated the Community of Practice for Patient and Public Involvement in Research. The team are delighted to invite all interested people to join their first session on Wednesday 28th February from 2.00 – 3.30pm via Zoom. 

To book a space to attend (to help them understand interest and likely attendance) you can use the below link to their Eventbrite page.  

Public Involvement in Research Tickets, Wed 28 Feb 2024 at 14:00 | Eventbrite

The session will be joined by the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), who will be sharing information about the Research Engagement Network Programme which was awarded to the ICB by NHS England in 2023. 

The purpose of the programme is to bring together involvement initiatives and practitioners across the East Midlands with a shared ambition to create trusted relationships between health and care organisations and people within ethnically diverse communities to further enhance the benefits communities receive from involvement in research.
The Radford Care Group are hosting a Quiz Night at their space in Radford, Nottingham on Friday 1st March 2024. 

The Radford Care Group is a centre that offers daytime activities for older people in Nottingham, with extended facilities for the elderly. They are a registered charity that has provided a service to older people since 1968 and offer all sorts of activities such as exercise, arts and crafts, speakers, entertainment, trips out, as well as linking up with other services to offer even more. The Radford Care Group have been a supporter of IMH activities over the years including sharing our involvement opportunities and advising on advertising opportunities in the community as such, I’m delighted to be able to support their fundraising activities. 

The forthcoming Quiz Night will be to boost their funding to keep at their current activities and community members supported so if you can, please do find out more about their work and maybe even sign up to their quiz night. 

For more information contact them by telephone 0115 9786133 or email info@radfordcaregroup.org.uk 
Radford Care Group poster - can you spare a few hours a week to help us support older people in the community? We need you!
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Trent Dementia runs drop-in sessions in Nottingham City and these are now moving to a new venue.

From February, the sessions will run on the third Wednesday of the month, from 10.30am until 1.30pm at Cleaves Hall on Castle Gate. 

These sessions are for anyone affected by dementia and for more information about what you can expect at a session and anything else about Trent Dementia then please feel free to email Suzanne Osborne using her email address suzanne.osborne@trentdementia.org.uk
Dementia Drop In information in a poster format
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Opportunities to support research, services and research updates:
Invitation to joining the Mental Health Citizen Science network which includes both academics and public members and is associated with the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom. 

What is the network doing: We are exploring how to transform mental health services and how best to support recovery for people with lived experience of mental health. We want to get new ideas for what a better mental health system, or a more responsive mental health recovery society, can look like. We are helping people to become mental health citizen scientists.  

Who is funding the network: We are funded by the BBSRC and the NIHR (who are both UK government research funders). You can read a bit more about us here.
  
How you can help:
How you can learn more: Subscribe to our mailing list to hear about our work as it emerges including a planned public event to co-produce new mental health research ideas.
Transforming data for trials public advisory group with researchers from four universities (Oxford University, University College London, Cardiff University and Dundee University) and the Health Data Research (HDR) UK. 

The group of researchers are working with the HDR UK and are now seeking 10 – 15 members of the public from across the UK to make up a ‘public advisory group’ for a project running for the next three years. 

The first meeting will be in early 2024 and the group will then meet every six months, with the meetings lasting no more than two hours and they will meet online. 

For more information, follow the link in the button below which details their plans for the group and activities and includes things like payment and how to apply. If this interests you then please do take a look.
Click here for more information about the public advisory group meetings
Help the Health Research Authority (HRA) improve how the public involvement team works to deliver their strategy

​We're looking for six members of the public to take part in an online workshop on Wednesday 6 March 2024, from 10am to 12pm. 

​We're inviting feedback on our draft team plan. This will improve the way that we work from April 2024 to March 2025, and help us to decide what is helpful to share publicly about the way we work. 

​In line with our payments policy, we can offer £150 involvement fees to cover preparing for and taking part in the workshop, as well as an update and feedback meeting once the plan has been put in place.
 
If you are interested in applying for this opportunity to get involved with the HRA then please use this link and look at their website for more information.
And finally...
In the past I have shared blogs and work by many of our public contributors, whether it’s to do with their involvement with us here at the Institute or in their other activities. It’s wonderful to read, see and hear how people are using their experiences to help others, learn, develop, change outcomes and support charities. If you do have anything of your own that you would like to share then please do get in touch. I’m more than happy to support you and your involvement journey. 

Following on from this theme, I would like to share Michelle’s blog which has been published by the charity SameYou for brain injury recovery. I have shared Tim’s experience before and now Michelle has done the same, I wanted to share this with you too as I am sure the perspective of becoming the carer as well as a loved one is a familiar experience for many of you reading this too. If you’re interested to read more you can find Michelle’s experience here. It does have experiences of brain injury and becoming a carer rapidly within the blog so please take care of yourselves if this is a tender subject for you. 
Wishing you all slightly longer, brighter (and dryer) days ahead - until the next newsletter!  

Kate