The Round-Up – July 2021

Hello and welcome back to The Round-Up – albeit a slightly delayed edition. For those who were hastily awaiting the updates from across the 8 UKRI mental health networks this month, I can only apologise for my tardiness. Let’s not waste any more time…

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Headlines and highlights

TRIUMPH have announced the dates for their ECR Forum in September – make sure that you block them out of your calendars! You don’t want to miss it. More info can be found here.

And another date to be saved! With the MARCH network coming to an end within the next few months, they are hosting a Showcase Festival on Wednesday the 13th of October. Keep an eye on their twitter feed and website for upcoming information about that.

Brand new research is coming out of the SMaRteN network this month. Dr Joanne Worsley, based at the University of Liverpool, is a researcher who responded to the networks first ever network funding call and her project is now nearing its end. Dr Worsley has recently published some new research entitled ‘Accommodation environments and student mental health in the UK: the role of relational spaces’ in the Journal of Mental Health, based around her work aiming to explore the effects of physical and social structures on university student mental health in the UK. Read it here!

And as one project comes to a close from one network, more projects spring up in others – the fantastic work is never ending. VAMHN have recently announced the winners of their 2020 funding round on Understanding Violence, Abuse and Mental Health. This is the 2nd of 3 themes which the network are exploring, and through this call 4 projects have been funded. Read more about them here

The 4th episode of the fantastic MARCH networks Creative Lives, hosted by Early Career Researcher Lorna Collins, has been released and is on the topic of ‘Older people: Healthcare provision and access in ageing societies’. Check it out here —>

Anyone who follows the twitter feed of Emerging Minds will know how active their Special Interest Research Groups (SIRGs) have been. Rethinking Education is a new SIRG which has just launched and aims to catalyse and conduct collaborative research, capturing learning from lived experience, to ensure wellbeing is an intrinsic part of all education provision within a system that enhances the life chances of all. You can follow them on twitter here and head to their website to sign up to the mailing list and for more info.

From past projects to present projects, and now into the future! Keep an eye on Closing the Gap’s social media channels and website for details regarding an upcoming open Impact Accelerator call.

Additionally, VAMHN’s ECR bursary winners have been writing blogs about what they did with their awards –have a read here

And on the 13th of October, in tandem with their showcase event, MARCH are launching an online course aimed at anyone interested in understanding how community assets including arts, culture and heritage activities, can improve our physical and mental health and wellbeing. You can express your interest in the course and find out more here.

Resources to keep you busy!

With the summer holidays upon us, eNurture have been sharing a variety of resources to keep the little ones occupied – head to ParentZone for some summer boredom busters! And don’t forget the networks list of fantastic resources for parents and carers, to aid in supporting children and young people’s mental health.

The Loneliness & Social Isolation network have shared some fantastic resources from their Loneliness in Emerging Adults event. If you missed it, make sure to catch the recording below:

VAMHN have launched their expert and network directories, and these can be found here. These pages are password protected so if you would like to gain access, please join the network and email the network coordinator.

And SMaRteN have launched a new online website – the SMaRteN Student Cohort website. Researchers at UK universities can now receive open access ‘Cohort Starter Kits’ and guidance to setup their own longitudinal student wellbeing studies. Check out their blog for more information.

Want to get involved?

I always find that when the sun is shining, motivation levels are high. If you feel the same way, and want to get involved with the networks, this month brings ample opportunity, ranging from participation to PhD opportunities.

  • Loneliness and Social Isolation network are encouraging those interested in forming collaborations for developing research grant applications to address loneliness in emerging adults to join their #young_people Slack channel
  • SMaRteN have funded the SWELS (Student Wellbeing and Experiential Learning Spaces) Survey 2021 – a collaboration between UCL, the University of Oxford and King’s College London. The team aim to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted learning and wellbeing, particularly how university’s cultural resources, such as museums, collections, libraries and green spaces, may have contributed to both. You can find more details and take the survey online.
  • Closing the Gap are sharing a new PhD scholarship opportunity, based at the University of Leeds, for research into Severe Mental Illness and smoking cessation. Click here to find out more.
  • And Closing the Gap’s recently funded project Co-Musicate is going full steam ahead with finding participants. Find more information here.

That’s all for this month’s updates! As always, make sure you follow all of the networks on twitter, and keep an eye on the Mental Health Research Matters website for further updates and content from the mental health research world.