In July, the ARC NWC Community Research and Engagement Network (CoREN) held a full day workshop at Society1 in Preston. Attendees including the CoREN Leadership group and ARC NWC public advisers identified how they can develop and utilise the CoREN’s growing network to implement real-world ideas to reduce health inequalities across the North West Coast.

The workshop which was facilitated by Claire Haigh of Collaborate Out Loud, consisted of activities based around collaborative efforts from the stakeholder group and utilised the collective intelligence in the room around health and care systems.

Claire Selby, Stakeholder Research and Engagement Network Manager for ARC NWC, said: “Today was a chance to bring together all those who have a stake in developing the CoREN as it moves forward. We have started to build a really great network full of those involved across the health and care system in the North West.

“Discussions were raised around how to include as wide a group of stakeholders as possible in the work moving forward, hence why understanding all the processes and networks involved was crucial.

There were some fantastic ideas shared looking at capacity building in the VCFSE sector around research, how to prioritise research ideas from communities and what resources we already have which we can utilise”.

Jan Campbell of Sefton Council for Voluntary Service said, “I really enjoyed yesterday, really good to meet the different team members. I feel that the members of CoREN are the keys and the CoREN is the vault which we have the potential to unlock. When the key turns and the mechanisms of the COREN align we unlock knowledge from experts by learning, experts by practice and experts by experience in combination”.

The next event hosted by the CoREN is a knowledge mobilisation event entitled ‘Trauma Informed Communities,’ find out more here.

Get involved with the CoREN by visiting their webpage here.