The Centenary Community Engagement Fund Working Paper: Partnership working, current community challenges and interdisciplinary research opportunities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29311/lwps.202264037Abstract
The University of Leicester’s centenary celebrations provide a timely opportunity for academics, staff and students to endorse our civic mission and engage anew with partners and stakeholders in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR). The University owes its existence to the foresight and commitment of local people, who in the aftermath of the First World War helped to champion and establish University College Leicester in 1921, in the belief that access to higher education would enable a better future for all in the city and counties. The College was awarded university status in 1957, and its history and fortune has been inextricably linked with the city and local communities in LLR. Over the years, we have worked together passionately, to reap new opportunities, face immense challenges and help to improve lives in communities locally across the UK and internationally. Community partnership and collaboration can readily be witnessed through the hundreds of academics, students and staff who are actively involved with mission driven charities and third sector organisations many of whom participated in the Centenary Community Engagement Fund Workshop in November. Our leading researchers also have very strong links with community facing organisations and major institutions such as the University Hospitals of Leicester Trust. The same is true of multi-disciplinary academic research teams collaborating proactively with charities, businesses, social enterprises and organisations in a wide range of sectors from social care to arts and culture. This paper is concerned with the Centenary Community Engagement Fund just one of the new civic initiatives launched during our Centenary year. This Fund will provide £125,000 in philanthropic funding for novel interdisciplinary research with partners and for more sought after internships for our talented students.References
Borkowska, M., Laurence, J. (2021) Coming together or coming apart? Changes in social cohesion during the Covid-19 pandemic in England, European Societies, 23:sup1, S618-S636, DOI: 10.1080/14616696.2020.1833067
Chan, O., Farrow, A., Martin, A., Mercadante, S., Montague, M., Walker, C., McGarvey, A., Young, R., Goodall, C. (2022) The Road Ahead 2022: Finding a new practicality through uncertain times.
https://beta.ncvo.org.uk/ncvo-publications/road-ahead-2022/ [Last accessed 22/1/2022]
Dayson, C., Woodward, A. (2021) Capacity through crisis The Role and Contribution of the VCSE Sector in Sheffield During the COVID-19 Pandemic http://shura.shu.ac.uk/28234/1/capacity-through-crisis-VCSEsheffield-covid.pdf [Last accessed 4/1/2022]
Earwaker, R., Bestwick, M. (2021) Dragged down by debt: Millions of low-income households pulled under by arrears while living costs rise https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/dragged-down-debt-millions-low-incomehouseholds-pulled-under-arrears-while-living-costs-rise [Last accessed: 27/1/2022]
Folke C. Resilience (Republished). E&S. 2016;21(4) :art44. doi:10.5751/ES-09088-210444
Gearhart, M.C., Joseph, M.L. (2019) Social cohesion, mutual efficacy, and informal social control: Enhancing the conceptualization of collective efficacy, Community Development, 50:1, 3-15, DOI:
1080/15575330.2018.1545793
Heatherington, G. (2021) Rising poverty among children and pensioners shows why Covid inquiry must consider its impact, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, https://www.jrf.org.uk/press/rising-child-and-pensioner-povertyshows-why-covid-inquiry-must-consider-its-impact [Last accessed 4/1/2022]
Lalot, F., Abrams, D., Broadwood, J., Davies Hayon, K., Platts-Dunn, I. (2021) The social cohesion investment: Communities that invested in integration programmes are showing greater social cohesion in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2522
Leicester.Shire.Rutland Statistics and Research. (2021) Socioeconomic summary https://www.lsr-online.org/
[Last accessed 4/1/2022]
Leicester and Leicestershire Local Enterprise Partnership. (2021) Economic Recovery Strategy: Evidence Review. https://llep.org.uk/app/uploads/2021/04/Economic-Recovery-Strategy-Draft-Evidence-Review.pdf [Last accessed 4/1/2022]
Leicester City Council. (2020) Living in Leicester Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Infographic Summary https://www.leicester.gov.uk/media/186425/living-in-leicester-infographic-summary-2020.pdf [Last accessed
/1/2022]
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust. (2017) Demographic Profile of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland,
https://www.leicspart.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/2017-MYEs-and-2011-Census-demographicprofiles-LLR-LAs-UAs-DCs-v7.pdf [Last accessed 4/1/2022]
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust. (2020) Living in Leicester JSNA, 2020. https://www.leicspart.nhs.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2019/11/2017-MYEs-and-2011-Census-demographic-profiles-LLR-LAs-UAs-DCs-v7.pdf [Last accessed 4/1/2022]
Masten A.S. (2014) Global Perspectives on Resilience in Children and Youth. Child Development. 2014;85(1):6-20. doi:10.1111/cdev.12205
Public Health England. (2021) Local Authority Health Profiles, https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/healthprofiles/data#page/1/gid/1938132696/pat/6/ati/202/are/E06000017/iid/90366/age/1/sex/1/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/3/cid/4/tbm/1 [Last accessed 4/1/2022]
Ungar, M., & Theron, L. (2020). Resilience and mental health: how multisystemic processes contribute to positive outcomes. The Lancet. Psychiatry, 7(5), 441–448. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30434-1