School of Health & Wellbeing

Our Hub Mondays are a chance for groups to come in and see the space. If you’re new to our Hub, or if you’re already familiar with us, come and pop in! There will be tea and coffee, an opportunity to chat to our Hub volunteers and network, and dedicated time to see the Byres Community Hub space and our public spaces in Clarice Pears.

 

10am: welcome with tea, coffee, and biscuits

10.30am: Tour of our Hub and Clarice Pears building

11am: Topic presented by a researcher or community partner and open discussion/networking

 

Join us every fortnight.  Dates below:

• 9th September: Evaluation Support Scotland: training and resources and the Third Sector Research Forum
• 23rd September: Planning for Impact & Theory of Change
• 7th October: The overlap of mental illness and obesity, diabetes, and heart disease
• 21st October: CONNECT: using digital devices to predict relapse in psychosis
• 4th November: Using the Law for Social Change: for Communities and Activists, with Lawmanity
• 18th November: Self-Care

 

In the community consultation to develop what became Byres Community Hub, ‘advice for community organisations undertaking own research’ was one of key things that respondents wanted to see provided through the hub.  Participants in our coproduction workshop wanted to see the space used to facilitate research collaborations between academics and community organisations and the Hub was envisaged as a platform to ‘bring people together with similar interests’ and for ‘mutual skill sharing’.

A focus group participant said:

‘We’re all in these little silos of research in the community, whereas the community should be at the centre. And if it has that kind of ethos, where the community can have their say, they can influence, and are the power then I think that would be the unique selling point.’ 

So our Hub Mondays are also a means to facilitate networking between community, between university and between community and university.  They help realise the goals within our consultation and bring more skills, knowledge and experience in our research.  So if you have something you would like to talk through or make connections, we hope you can join us at one soon. 

 

Please find below a list of forthcoming topics for discussion at Hub Mondays:

  

9th September: Evaluation Support Scotland: training and resources and the Third Sector Research Forum

Join Gary Walsh for an introduction to the work of Evaluation Support Scotland and how they can support your organisation.  Come along to find out more about their Basics of Self-Evaluation workshop which is going to be offered to Hub Community Groups for free in October.* Gary will also give an overview of the Third Sector Research Forum and how both community researchers and academics can get involved.

*Date and Time TBC but this is likely to be a half-day in person workshop in October in Byres Hub and for one space per organisation

 

23rd September: Planning for Impact & Theory of Change

Theory of change is a tool and a process of thinking through and documenting how a programme or intervention is supposed to work, why it will work, who it will benefit (and in what way), and the conditions required for success. This interactive session will give you a brief overview of using Theory of Change in your work.

Join researchers from the Social and Public Health Sciences unit to explore how to: 1) utilise theory of change to plan out the impact you want your project to have at the beginning; 2) Identify who your key stakeholders are, including those that might inform or co-produce the project theory of change with you; 3) Employ theory of change to work out how you will measure your impact.

 

7th October: The overlap of mental illness and obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. 

Mental illness is often associated with poor physical health, with obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease being more common in those with mental illness, than the general population. For a long time it was assumed that lifestyle factors (such as smoking, poor diet and sedentary lifestyle) and medications (anti-psychotics and anti-depressants) were the reason for this. Recent research suggests that the reality is more complex, with shared biological pathways being responsible for both mental and physical illness. Join us to share what you know about this area, what you’d like to know, and hear about some of the research that Dr Rona Strawbridge and her colleagues are working on. 

 

21st October: CONNECT: using digital devices to predict relapse in psychosis

Psychosis can involve a range of experiences from hearing voices, feeling suspicious around others or having confused thinking. Sometimes, these experiences can become distressing and get in the way of living a fulfilling life. In CONNECT, we provide participants with digital devices to see how changes in activity levels, thoughts, feelings and behaviours might relate to someone’s mental health getting better or worse. 

Join us to hear about the study, how we are helping digital inclusion in Glasgow and share your thoughts with us! 

 

4th November: Using the Law for Social Change: for Communities and Activists, with Lawmanity  

Jen Ang, Founding Director, of Lawmanity will lead a participatory workshop for community organisations and activists, on using the law as a tool for social change.  No prior experience of using or studying law is necessary!   Come along to hear about historical and present day examples of how people and movements have made impactful change in their communities using the law, and to talk about how we can tackle issues that matter to you, using legal thinking and to support your campaigning strategies.

 

18th November: Self-Care

At the start of National Self-Care Week 2024, Byres Community Hub and COPE Scotland invite you to join us for the launch of our ‘Seven Days of Self-Care’ tool.  Come and make up your pack, think about what self-care means to you, take part in some goal-setting and find out about more resources on self-care.

Thanks to support from the School of Health and Wellbeing, College of MVLS Public Engagement Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund.

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First published: 23 October 2023