Photographs of individuals from The Haven Community Project, SAATHI House and The Blesst Centre

CREDiBLE

Hosted at The Exchange between September 2023 - February 2024, the CREDiBLE exhibition explored what happens when communities connect with university research.

About CREDiBLE

The University of Birmingham has a collaborative approach to working with communities. The Exchange building was acquired by the University as a place directly in the city where public and community engagement is a central feature.

This exhibition was about CREDiBLE, a collaborative project between The University of Birmingham (UoB) and four community groups in Birmingham. Generously funded by The Wellcome Trust, the project aimed to engage communities with current health research at UoB.

Black text on a white background, CREDiBLE What happens when communities connect with university research?
What happens when communities connect with university research?

Photographs of young people and staff from The Blesst Centre

Who was involved?

The Community Groups involved were SAATHI House an anchor organisation committed to supporting women, DOR Romanian Diaspora a volunteer run organisation that supports Romanian diaspora, Haven Community Project a volunteer-led charity in Quinton, The BLESST Centre a grassroots community organisation that specialises in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people and families.

All the researchers were working on impactful and groundbreaking health projects taking place at the University. These projects included immune responses to cancer, ADHD, cancer immunotherapy and gut health.

The researchers involved were Professor David Withers, Professor Ben Willcox and Professor Ole Jenson.

Connecting communities with university research

Running over a four month period the groups met with their research partners and learnt from each other through a variety of activities. Outcomes including trips to museums, creative responses from the groups a how to toolkit.

The CREDiBLE exhibition reflected on project outcomes and revealed the benefits from the project for everyone involved.

Photographs of individuals from The Haven Community Project
Photographs of individuals from SAATHI House

Collaborating together

“It feels like we can collaborate now. They understand us, we understand them, it’s not them and us anymore”

As well as improved communication channels with the University and deeper involvement in activities and initiatives the project has created a toolkit for future community engagement work.

CREDiBLE Project Partners

The logos of the Wellcome Trust, DOR Romanian Diaspora, The Blesst Centre, SAATHI House and The Haven Community Project
CREDiBLE was a collaborative project with University of Birmingham, the Wellcome Trust, DOR Romanian Diaspora, The Blesst Centre, SAATHI House and The Haven Community Project.