The annual HDRC webinar, held on 22 September 2025, focused on meaningful public involvement and the theme of 'Stronger together: our communities shaping research'.
A total of 150 people from across the country registered to attend, including residents, public contributors, university representatives, National Health Service (NHS) staff, local authority representatives, Voluntary Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs), other HDRCs, and the West Midlands Combined Authority.
The webinar was chaired by Professor Sir Michael Marmot, who reflected on Coventry's status as the first Marmot city and the benefits of evidence-based practice for the population.
Professor Sophie Staniszewska, Lead of the Public Patient Involvement (PPI) and Patient Experiences Programme at the University of Warwick's Warwick Medical School, gave an overview of the Coventry HDRC's public involvement and the importance of co-production. She posed the question of why the public should be involved in academic research and explained that, rather than being subjects of research, Coventry residents contribute as partners or collaborators to the design, conduct and sharing of research.
Richard Grant, one of the PVG's public contributors, spoke about his professional experience as a secondary school teacher and elected councillor, and how his personal experience has given him a good understanding of issues relating to family and community health, LGBT issues, and care and social issues. He talked about his observations as a PPI member and his previous experience of being involved in research activity as a public contributor. He stressed the importance of listening to communities. He emphasised that an unsuccessful bid does not mean that knowledge from lived experience is wasted.
Jessica Weeks, Public Involvement Officer, founder of the Hannah's House charity, and Maternity Service User Voice Representative for the Midlands at NHS England, shared her reflections on the first year of the Public Voice Group (PVG), which has focused on building trust since its establishment. She presented alongside PVG member Connor Morgan, a parent champion within the family hubs network. Connor shared his perspective as a group member and provided an overview of his experience, including how contributing to research activities has benefited him.
Doctor Sinead Ouillon, Programme Leader at the Coventry City-University Initiative 'Research Centre for Peace and Security', and Lead on the HDRC Citizen Social Science course, elaborated on the term 'community researchers'. This was demonstrated through a presentation by Blanaid Aslanyan, a community researcher who participated in the first cohort of the HDRC citizen science course. Blanaid focused on her project, titled 'Baby-wearing: experiences, barriers and enablers', and provided an overview of the first phase of the course, as well as talking about her experiences of being involved in research.
The last joint presentation was given by Dr Tara Mulqueen and Claire Stern. Tara is the Co-Director of Warwick Law in the Community (LinC), a Warwick Law School programme focusing on experiential teaching and research in the field of social justice. Her recent research focuses specifically on legal need and public legal education. Claire is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the Central England Law Centre in Coventry. She has worked for the law centre since 2015 and is particularly interested in how the legal sector communicates and collaborates with the public to enhance legal literacy in society.
The two researchers discussed the importance of understanding legal need and both their studies provide fresh evidence to inform early intervention and public legal education strategies that support access to justice for marginalised communities. These studies have been co-produced with the third sector and individuals with lived experience.
Professor Sir Michael Marmot opened a question-and-answer session at the end of the webinar, in which the entire panel and the audience participated. During this session, attendees could submit questions either live or via the chat function. Professor Marmot then closed the event by summarising the session.
The webinar was a success, and we are looking forward to the journey ahead as we continue to work towards improving the lives of all Coventry residents.
Did you miss the webinar? You can watch it again on our YouTube channel.