Hello everyone 👋
Welcome to the latest newsletter email from me at Involvement at the Institute. We’re now firmly into our summer months and I hope everyone is looking ahead to summer holidays, day trips, garden time or just catching up with your people now there is sunlight stretching well into the evenings.
As we are currently in the pre-election period (sometimes called purdah) we, as NHS staff must ensure we operate with sensitivity and transparency in our communications. The pre-election period is designed to avoid the actions of public bodies distracting from or having influence on election campaigns and as such my newsletter is a little light on content. However, whilst the pre-election period has implications for all NHS organisations, and you can read the full NHS England guidance online, I don’t want to miss this opportunity to stay in touch with you all. 

Involvement at the Institute updates:
IMH Research Day 2024 event

IMH Research Day 2024

The Institute of Mental Health has recently held the successful annual Research Day which is designed to give early career researchers positive professional experience in presenting their work, listening to speakers and networking with their peers. 

I wish to extend and publicise a big thank you to the members of our public Advisory Group who have attended and supported the event for a few years now and once again their presence, knowledge and involvement has helped early career researchers develop in their careers, learn to work with and alongside people with lived experiences. This all helps to make research topics and their work richer with valuable, important experienced voices being heard.
NIHR school's out for science event header

NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in Nottingham – summer school

The Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre here in Nottingham (which the IMH MINDTech is part of) will be opening up their research to young people who wish to go behind the scenes and see more about the work of the Biomedical Research Centre and their teams. This is an opportunity for young people aged between 16 – 18 years of age and in full time education. There are different topics and days to choose from and you can find out more about the agenda for the days, what subjects are involved and how to sign up through their Eventbrite channel. 

If you have connections with Nottingham based 16 - 18 year olds then do pass this on. Places will go fast so do share when you can!

National health and social care information and events:

Lived Experience Focus Group - Modernising support for independent living: the health and disability green paper (Expert Link)


Expert Link are a London based, peer led organisation championing the voice of people with lived experience of multiple disadvantage including: homelessness, mental health issues, substance misuse, offending, domestic violence and abuse. They are inviting people within their networks to take part in a response to the open consultation that the Department for Work and Pensions currently has open that is exploring Personalised Independent Payments. 

Expert Link will be facilitating online focus groups and 1-1's, to get your views on the proposed changes and the focus groups will be beginning on Wednesday 19th June at 1pm till 2pm, via Zoom, we will be posing the following questions:
 
If this is something you have direct experience and knowledge of and you would like to take part in a focus group or arrange a one to one with Expert Link, then please email shannon.johnstone@expertlink.org.uk to tell her you’re interested.

And finally...
It was great to see opinions and thoughts from Dhriti Sarkar, a lived experience advisor and therapist in New Delhi, featured in the recent Wellcome Trust newsletter. You can read their article and thoughts on their LinkedIn profile. 

Wellcome is an independent global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health through research and a major researcher funder here in the UK and globally. We have a number of Wellcome funded research projects and researchers here at the Institute of Mental Health and, alongside colleagues in Birmingham, we are also leading the Patient and Public Involvement in a large Wellcome funded Doctoral Training Programme. This means for us here, it is great (and important) to see their newsletter carrying stories, impact and thoughts from people with mental health lived experiences demonstrates their ongoing investment and encouragement of lived experience input into research globally. I continue to find this encouraging and seeing the embedding of experience into research will only continue to bring the research carried out, to life. 
Until next time,

Kate