Feedback and Reflections

Words from our CollaborACTORs

To me CovenTRY means - "Piloting new ways of bringing people from different disciplines together to deliver impact for society."

"Before CollaborACTION had a name, its spirit was already growing — like the roots of a forest spreading beneath the surface, connecting trees to share nutrients. That’s how I think about community partnerships: unseen connections that nourish growth and resilience. CollaborACTION is a manifestation of this. It centres community engagement, honours local knowledge, mobilises shared resources, and sparks knowledge exchange in a way that truly matters."

Ade Johnson (aka 'Chief'), Business Development Manager, Coventry Central Hall - read Ade's full blog here -

What have you learnt via CovenTRY CollaborACTION?

"... the confidence to navigate red tape without losing sight of people’s lived experiences; the conviction that co-production is the engine of sustainable change; and the belief that small, messy workshops can spark big conversations and create ripples of impactful connections."

Marie Clews, Project Coordinator, Coventry CollaborAction December 2024 - October 2025*

*Please note that Marie's role was kindly and generously extended thanks to support from Coventry Health Determinants Research Collaboration, this enabled us to deliver 10 more research development workshops, provide partnerships with further support and collate the outcomes and outputs from the first phase of the project.

You can read Marie's full blog here -

Feedback from our Launch Event

EXCITED

Of all those who responded 100% rated 4 or 5 out of 5 with 5 being VERY MUCH when asked:

"How excited have you been by the things that you learnt and people you met today?"

INVOLVED

Using the same scale, 100% responded 4 or 5 when asked:

"How much do you see yourself wanting to get involved with CovenTRY CollaborACTION and Knowledge ExCHANGE over the next 6 months?"

CONNECTED

When asked what does knowledge exchange mean to you - people noted - 'sharing ideas', 'exchanging experiences', 'networking and sharing best resources/practice', 'finding a common ground for connection without ego'.

Themes and Vibes of the Day

"Really inspiring event, my brain is buzzing with ideas and possibilities."

Rhian Palmer, Coventry City Council Green Futures Strategic Lead.

"I particularly loved the animation and the poem and with a little note from the poem which links into both of these things, ‘those who plant the seed, don’t see the fruit on the tree’…"

Catherine Partridge, Coventry City Council, Digital Inclusion Project Officer.

"Thank you so much for inviting me to event, really enjoyed the networking and discussions. Very happy keep connected with the project and well done for an engaging event."

Senior Leader, Coventry City Council.

Our WEBPAGES

Our CollaborACTION webpages came into existence at the end of November 2024. Between then and today - 23.06.2025 - we have had over 14,000 visits to our pages with almost 13,000 of these being from distinct, different IP addresses. Over 96% of these hits were classed as off-campus, external - not logged in.

A key theme of the day was that attendees want to see real change - as one put it they see the project as -
"Hopefully a genuine attempt to collaborate across sectors to achieve genuine lasting change."

. One attendee summarised this by describing knowledge exchange as -

"Where information isn't just shared, but effects real change by organisations working together for the betterment of all."

Another captured a general feeling for the day was summarised well with an answer to the question "What are your views on dreaming big?"

"You must aim high - you'll learn new things and lessons on the way and may do things differently."