Stigma is a major barrier to people being retained in opioid substitution treatment (OST) and recovering from opioid dependency; people who use OST are often stigmatised both for their drug use, as well as the medications they receive (for instance in healthcare settings). People who use crack cocaine and heroin are especially stigmatised and Bristol has a particularly high incidence of people who use both substances concurrently. (read more)

Women who have had female circumcision/female genital mutilation (FC/FGM) often experience life-long consequences in relation to health, wellbeing, and sexual functioning. However, current policy in the UK tends to ignore these needs in favour of policies which seek to protect potential future victims. (read more)

We seem to have reached an impasse, however, where the issues are well-known, but the citizen voice is largely missing from debates about how to re-balance the hardwired power asymmetry between ‘Big Other’ and individuals and communities. (read more)

This project supported the GGT’s target communities in creating and delivering new economic plans post COVID-19 and enabled the rolling out of the process, outcomes and learning across community hotspots in urban and rural Gloucestershire. The team held a range of activities with key stakeholders working across the above initiatives, which aimed to strengthen community-led economic strategies and showcase their role to policymakers involved in local and national pandemic recovery efforts. The artwork produced in their research workshops, which captured residents’ relationships with Robinswood Hill, was displayed to elicit collective reflection on local assets, such as greenspaces and community hubs. (read more)

PHASE had considerably developed in its 15 years since inception, and the organisations felt that the original ToC did not reflect the way in which programmes and projects are now carried out, nor the relation with the communities that have evolved. (read more)

A core outcome of that project was the development of a Diary Toolkit and the generation of data on its efficacy for improving teacher wellbeing in the UK. Lucy Kelly worked closely with local teachers through focus groups and workshops and Grace Huxford explored the history of diaries and examined the archival holdings of the Theatre Collection and Bristol Special Collection. (read more)

Constitutional Therapy tells the story of Chile’s Constitution as it undergoes psychological therapy, where through a series of regressions it eventually locates the origins of its trauma: in an authoritarian, dictatorial and exclusionary past, which it has to confront in order to be able to turn the page and begin a new life. (read more)

What is the perceived value of developing a set of guidelines for co-production co-designed by a group of disparate communities coming together to seek racial justice? The Research Action Coalition for Race Equality explores this in their work to overcome barriers to data access among race equality activists in the South West UK. (read more)

Citizens’ everyday actions in the community, which might be overlooked, constitute environmentally-positive behaviour that can provide an inspiration for other citizens to act and so further engagement in these issues. It is necessary to both explore the potential of these everyday stories and analyse the wide range of communication avenues available to enable these to catalyse further action. (read more)