Mike Brooks

Hi everyone, my name is Mike and I live in Alsager, North Staffordshire. I first became involved as a public contributor to health research after I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I was approached by the Research User Group (RUG) and the Impact Accelerator Unit (IAU) based at Keele University to contribute as a lay member. Since then, I have sought opportunities to lend my experience and skills to the development, delivery, and dissemination (knowledge sharing) of health research. I joined the ARC WM as a public contributor as this provided further opportunities for me to become involved in a wide range of activities relating to health-research.

In my spare time I am heavily involved, with my Wife, Margaret, in cultivating a large allotment plot close to home. Another passion of mine is rugby union, and I am a season ticket holder and avid fan of Sale Sharks.

Graham Brown

Hi, I’m Graham and I have always been interested in health, science and researching things that interest me. Health research in particular has helped me better manage a couple of serious health conditions and led me to want to help others do the same. They say in helping others you also help yourself. As I have Parkinson’s Disease this is may hopefully come true as as I have

been involved in helping set up two potentially ground breaking research studies (both delayed for a year due to COVID). Retiring a few years ago from running my own small successful IT business I now keep busy with volunteer work for Parkinson’s and Headway, cooking, (I was a chef in an earlier existence), researching, walking and looking after my wife and family. Our three grandchildren keep me on my toes, while my 50+ year home brewing hobby helps me relax and lubricates my brain and joints (in strict moderation obviously).

Richard Grant

Hi, I’m Richard and I live in Nuneaton. I applied to be a public contributor for the ARC West Midlands because I believe that collaboration between the public, researchers and health practitioners is key to medical research having an effective impact on patient care and wellbeing. Having previously been involved in Public and Patient Involvement activity on projects led by Warwick Medical School, Oxford University and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, I wanted to lend my experience and skills to support the activity of the ARC WM.

A combination of my professional experiences as a secondary school teacher and elected councillor and personal experiences have led to me having a good understanding of issues relating to family and community health, LGBT, care and social issues.

In my spare time I like to travel, read about different life experiences in a range of times and locations and drink real ale.

Jennifer Leech

I`m Jennifer Ruth and i like to think, after more than fifty years here, I’m an adopted Brummie.

I’ve been involved In Health and Social Care activities for a long time now. My background is in working with sick children in a family situation and caring for family with health needs. Having a number of health conditions myself, led me to be interested in how decisions are made and put into practise. Alongside caring , I've been a volunteer with several charities and enjoy singing, walking, crosswords and chatting with friends. My reading choice is detective novels because I enjoy the puzzle elements. My children work in computers, but I like to think of myself as one of the low-tech dinosaurs.

Anne Phillips

Hi everyone, my name is Anne and I am from Stourbridge. Having been diagnosed with a liver condition when I was ten years old, I am a long-term user of NHS services. Throughout my career, I worked in the nursing field across a range of settings including general practice, acute services, community care, public health, management, and research. With this personal and professional experience of the health services, I want to share my experience to help the ARC WM produce high-quality research which aims to improve healthcare services for the public.

In my spare time you will find me out walking with my springer spaniel, gardening, doing the school run with my grandchildren, reading and crafting.…

My specialist research interests are the effects of long term illness on patients, their carers and family, how health services are provided and how they could be improved to provide a more efficient and effective service.

Tony Russell-Pattison

Hello, my name’s Tony and I am from Worcester. I believe that the actively involving patients in healthcare and related research is essential. Having lived through the HIV pandemic and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, I have witnessed first-hand the positive impact that meaningful involvement of members of the public has on the development and governance of healthcare-related services and research.

My specialist interests are men’s health, sexual health (HIV), LGBT issues and Christianity.

Samantha Russell

Hello, I’m Samantha and I’m a mother of three from Birmingham. I was keen to become involved with the ARC WM as a result of my experiences of having used maternity care services, provided care to family members, and worked in health services as a physiotherapist. As a public contributor, I want to ensure that patient and public voices are ingrained in the ARC WM’s activity. I believe that meaningful involvement of public members increases the relevance of research which, in turn, produces outcomes that can be readily adopted into practice to improve services received by the public.

In my spare time I like to meet up with my friends and go for long, relaxing walks.

Ian Soady

Hi, my name is Ian and I live in Redditch. I have been actively involved in public and patient involvement (PPI) for several years now and continue to be involved as I believe that involving members of the public adds a significant amount of value to the design and delivery of research. I want to contribute to the work of the NIHR ARC WM by sharing knowledge/skills that I developed in my career as a business/systems analyst for the NHS Information Authority and my personal experience as a user of healthcare services.

In my spare time, you’ll find me rebuilding and riding elderly British motorcycles or playing Chicago and Delta blues on the guitar