Get Involved Awards 2022

1. James Daybell and Annie Winsland, Public Engagement Manager National Trust

This is a collaborative project between History and Heritage researchers at the University, Saltram House, Plymouth Pride and the LBGTQ+ Community Archive and community partners. The project will offer a series of training sessions at Saltram for volunteers, staff and guides on Plymouth’s LGBTQ+ past. The programme includes support around appropriate language use and trans-awareness with the aim of making the national ‘Treasure House’ property of Saltram relevant to diverse groups, including the LGBTQ+ community and asylum seekers.

2. Diego Zamora , Blair Graham and Tracey Swan, SkatetotheMAX

Skate to the Max is a community interest company that aims at raising awareness about the use of safety personal protective equipment (PPE) when practicing urban sports, specifically skateboarding. Working with the Trauma Audit and Research Network, this project will contribute to the national-scale analysis of traumatic injuries related to urban sports. In addition, it aims to challenge the existing culture around the use (or lack of use) of PPE to increase the safety of road users and recreational use of urban areas, thus helping to reduce the number of trauma incidents associated with these urban sports.

3. Alison Warren and Annie Charles, Blooming Well, Mustard Tree

This project supports people with cancer diagnosis by providing a community-based horticulture therapy group to aid recovery and wellbeing. Blooming Well will be a specialist-led, volunteer-assisted intervention programme. The research will devise a strategy for conducting future research to collect data that will measure the potential for the intervention to promote physical, psychological, emotional, and social wel-being, recovery and restoration following a cancer diagnosis and medical intervention/treatment.

4. Helen Lloyd and Emma Sprawson, Peggy Melmoth, Mindful Art Club

The aim of this project is to work with key stakeholders to design an action-based research project to better understand if and how Mindful Art Club activities benefit individuals and the wider community. By helping this organisation to grow, opportunities will increase for jobs and volunteering roles together with potential access to more funding which will improve the Club’s prospects of long-term sustainability and positive impact on the community and its users.

5. Miranda Cunningham and Lily Urbanska Take a Part CIO

Crazy Glue is a monthly after school art group for parents and children from underserved communities. It aims to connect with harder-to-reach families and develop links between schools and the community – there are currently four schools operating a Crazy Glue group in Plymouth. The project seeks to evidence how this programme supports its users and to share and advocate for the replication of this programme of socially engaged practice both locally and nationally.

6. Christopher Pac-Soo and Lavinia Porfir, Plymouth & Devon Racial Equality Council 

Since the pandemic, the Plymouth and Devon Racial Equality Council (PDREC) has recorded an increase in racist incidents within the postcode area of PL1. This Get Involved Award will seek to examine and explore the possible causes and social factors that inform the experiences of racism of minority ethnic communities. In addition, the project aims to examine the impact such experiences have had on the victims, links between hate incidents and areas of poverty and how this contributes to increased level of isolation, poor mental health and wellbeing.