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Centre for Public Engagement response to COVID-19
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At the moment, many of us are facing unprecedented challenges within our personal and professional lives. We are living in a situation that requires us to adapt and respond almost constantly, which means that many of our priorities are rapidly changing. Between this and the current guidance for social distancing, the landscape of engagement is having to evolve, presenting us with new opportunities and challenges that we're having to navigate.
The Centre for Public Engagement remain on hand to offer a suite of advice and support services (in a revised format) for those who are involved in-- or thinking about-- engagement at the present time. Below we've outlined all the support currently on offer, but we would encourage you to let us know if there's anything additional that the CPE can do to help by dropping us an email.
We hope you all keep safe and well over the forthcoming weeks.
Emily, Sarah B, Sarah G and Natt
The Centre for Public Engagement
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Cancellation: Festival of Communities 2020
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Sadly, the fifth edition of the Festival of Communities due to take place in June has been cancelled.
We have made this decision based on the advice from Public Health England for the health, safety and well-being of our local residents, community groups and projects, and Queen Mary staff and students—all of whom are integral to the Festival success.
Whilst this is incredibly disappointing, we sincerely thank all those who came to talk to us about the Festival and had spent time developing activities for the event. The CPE are currently exploring how we can support future community engagement activity for those who had planned to be part of the Festival this year. Once these opportunities have been confirmed, they will be advertised here in the newsletter.
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Remote: Being Human Festival Advice and Applications
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We are continuing to coordinate the Queen Mary submission to Being Human Festival in a remote format over the forthcoming weeks.
Being Human Festival is the UK’s only event celebrating the humanities, bringing together diverse communities to explore humanities research through fun, engaging events in November. For a taste of the Festival, you can watch our video on the events that happened in 2019 during our collaborative hub with KCL here.
If you are interested in taking part, drop the team an email and we will arrange a chat and send you out the relevant information packs.
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Our regular fortnightly Advice Surgery will continue to run in a remote format over the forthcoming weeks in the usual dates and times listed here on our website.
The Advice Surgery allows you to book 30 minutes of 1-2-1 support from a member of the CPE team where you can talk about all things engagement—from project ideas through to logistics and funding. We'll be running the sessions both online and over the phone (whichever is easiest).
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Rescheduled and Remote: Training
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We are currently in the process of adapting our training courses to run in a remote format that still offers attendees the same experience as our face-to-face training sessions.
In the interim, we have taken the decision to reschedule our early April training dates to later in the academic year. From 22 April, training will recommence online with our 'Introduction to Patient and Public Involvement' course.
Check out our website for the adjusted dates and information how to book.
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The monthly Small Grants are still open for applications for the April and May rounds with minor revisions to the offer.
The scheme invites applications of up to £500 (PPI and Community Engagement strand) or £1,000 (Public Engagement strand) of funding to support the development and delivery of small-scale engagement projects. In addition to the criteria listed in our guidance document, projects in April and May rounds must:
- Definitely be able to complete their proposed engagement by July 31
- Should show viable routes of engaging individuals in compliance with social distancing measures (i.e. not be reliant on face-to-face engagement)
We are also keen to support engagement activities which respond to the ongoing COVID-19 situation-- such as projects seeking to understand community needs or patient panels in medical research.
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Supporting the Local Community
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The COVID-19 outbreak is putting immense pressure on vital services in our communities across east London. There are many opportunities for Queen Mary staff and students to help and support these communities in the forthcoming months and so we have put together a list with recommendations on how to get involved here on the main QM website. We will be updating this list as the situation develops.
If you are able to provide support, it is extremely important to keep yourself safe and follow government advice to help stop the spread of coronavirus. Please do not put yourself or others at risk if you are vulnerable or feeling unwell.
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