The Round-Up – June 2021

Hello all and welcome back to the Round-Up for our third edition. As I write this the sun is beating down – perhaps the Great British Summer has finally arrived. The only thing which can dampen my spirits is the trending list on twitter – I shall have to do my best to resist the urge to get embroiled in arguments about the G7 and Euro 2020…at least until after work.

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Before we dive in, a huge welcome and congratulations to Jo Ward, the new network co-ordinator for the SMaRteN network. Great to have you on board Jo – the excellent eight are complete once again, just as the prophecy foretold. 


There has been a plethora of pan-network collaboration in recent weeks, with the most recent example being the workshop hosted by Loneliness & Social Isolation, TRIUMPH, Emerging Minds and SMaRteN looking at Loneliness in Emerging Adulthood. Cross network collaboration is such a fantastic opportunity within the network ecosystem, and it is so great to see everyone working together. If you were unable to attend, fear not – thanks to our zoom overlords, you can watch the recording here:

If you have been inspired and intrigued by this event, how about joining the Loneliness slack workspace here? They have also been busy compiling and curating – producing the below three resources to support future funding bids for research on loneliness in emerging adults:

Meanwhile, Emerging Minds are inviting applications from those interested in mental health research focussed on early years (2-5 years old) and young adults (18-25) outside of higher education to form Special Interest Research Groups, with up to £1500 available for each group to ensure that lived experience involvement can be a part of the group. Applications are open until the 1st of July – click here for more info.

And one of the researchers from SMaRteN’s first funding call, Joanne Worsley, has just had a paper published in the Journal of Mental Health, outlining her research exploring the effects of physical and social structures on university student mental health in the UK. ‘Accommodation environments and student mental health in the UK: the role of relational spaces’. Read it here.

Something to fill the void…

As the summer social season has been delayed a little by this week’s news, allow me to direct you to some fantastic upcoming events to add to your calendar…

  • Want to know more about co-producing work with Young People? Well, it’s your lucky month…. the TRIUMPH network are hosting four (yes, four!) sessions on co-production with young people in a couple of weeks. The first one kicks off at 3pm on the 21st of June, with the other 3 following at the same time on the next 3 days. Head to our events page to find out more
    • Bear in mind that if you want to attend all 4, you will have to individually register for each session!
  • Also on the 21st of June, MARCH bring you a webinar called Narratives of Disadvantage & Inequalities in Volunteering, exploring narratives of disadvantage and inequalities in volunteering during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here to sign up
  • VAMHN are hot on their heels with a webinar on trauma informed interventions taking place on the 22nd of July – make sure to earmark your calendar and keep an eye on their twitter feed for further information and the Eventbrite page. And if you are an ECR and missed the last in their great ECR lunchtime series on juggling commitments, you can watch below. Your author is not an ECR but juggling is not my strong suit so I may block out 90 minutes to try and pick up some tips…

And speaking of ECRs, VAMHN’s next round of ECR bursary awards are now open! Head to their website here to check out the details – you have until the 1st of November to apply.

Meanwhile, Emerging Minds continue their fantastic support of ECRs, offering a fantastic opportunity for ECRs to work in the public or third sectors on a 3-month placement. In a time when the application of mental health research has never been more important, this is a great opportunity to work with those from outside of the immediate research community. Visit their site for more info on how to apply.

Additionally, Loneliness and Social Isolation members have set up a loneliness research network for Masters, PhD, and early postdoctoral researchers to build a community, share ideas, and develop pathways to collaboration with other early career loneliness researchers. They would be thrilled to hear from anyone interested in attending or joining the Early Career Loneliness Research Network at: lonelinessresearchnetwork@outlook.com.

And eNurture have released their much awaited practical and handy list of resources for supporting youth and child mental health. Access them here! There are a number of fantastic assets here, and I highly recommend checking them out.

eNurture are also very happy to announce that another of the projects funded in their first funding round has completed! This project looked at care leaver relationships, mental health and social media and was led by Dr Autumn Roesch-March at the University of Edinburgh. The team have put together another one of their great infographics looking at some of the key findings —->

And Closing the Gap have a new research project kicking off this month. SPACES will aim to develop and test interventions to help people with SMI to become more active. Find out more here

WATCH / READ / ENJOY

ECRs from the MARCH network and the Arts Health Early Career Research Network have produced a series of wonderful blogs highlighting the network and research, including one from MARCH network co-ordinator Vas James! Read here!

I’ve always been fascinated by the positive psychophysiological responses to those magic moments of social, cultural and community engagement: the ‘chills’ from singing together with a choir; the collective euphoria of an amazing gig; the feelings of awe and wonder seeing a beautiful artwork

Vas James, MARCH network co-ordinator

TRIUMPH continues its video series Youth Mental Health: It’s Everyone’s Business. Building upon its premiere last month with a video from school radio programme Reprezent, the new episode looks at the STEP study – research on training in schools designed to enhance support for LGBTQ+ young adults. Keep checking the TRIUMPH website for more videos, and watch the STEP study video below:

Emerging Minds and their Co-Ray study have teamed up with BBC bitesize to produce a fantastic video to support young people who are feeling flat and unmotivated as a result of the pandemic and lockdown. The video offers some suggestions which are useful both for now and in the future once things open up. Unfortunately I can’t embed it but you can have a watch here! Your author particularly liked the comment on working out what is important to you and working to reduce negative self-talk. Both are so important.

Want to throw your hat in the ring?

As well as forming new Special Interest Research Groups, Emerging Minds are actively seeking people to get involved in a number of their ongoing SIGs. These groups could help to form a real legacy of the network so please do reach out if you are interested in any of them – the topics cover a wide range, and you can learn more about them all here.

And MARCH Network researchers are investigating “what works best” with respect to online arts activities that will support women who have experienced domestic abuse. They would like to invite women with lived experience to speak with a researcher about their ideas and preferences. To get involved, please contact Dr Alison McKinlay at a.mckinlay@ucl.ac.uk

And if you are a UK based parent of a child aged 4-10, I am thrilled to present an exciting opportunity to you! Emerging Minds are calling for volunteers to trial their new app. SPARKLE (Supporting Parents and Kids Through Lockdown Experiences) has been jointly developed by King’s College London and Oxford University, and aims to provide parenting advice and multimedia resources developed with experts and celebrity parents to support UK parents and children during the transition out of the COVID-19 pandemic and various local and national lockdowns. Head to this webpage to find out more and to sign up to the trial!


That is all for this month! Many thank for following along, and we will see you next month!

As usual, make sure you follow all of the networks on twitter to ensure you don’t miss anything. We have made this handy list for you here.