Supporting Adolescents' Digital Literacy

Michaela Gummerum (Psychology) , Pip Brown (Psychology) , Laura Waller (Coventry City Council) & Yaniv Hanoch (Coventry University)

Michaela and Pip are planning to work with Ramona McGarry and Laura Waller from #CovConnects (Coventry City Council) and Yaniv Hanoch (Coventry University).

They are partnering up to deliver four hands-on and co-created workshops for misinformation, fake news, and conspiracy theories in secondary schools and libraries across Coventry. These workshops will target adolescents and young adults and hope to support the development of digital literacy among the age group.

Conversation and Coffee Classes

Jane Bryan (School of Law) & Farida Butt (Milk and Mocha Coffee Shop, Education4All)

In November 2023, a Conversation and Coffee Class (CCC) was launched, specially designed for newly arrived communities who were experiencing difficulties with their English language skills.

The initiative was undertaken by Professor Jane Bryan from Warwick Law School and Farida Butt, the owner of Milk and Mocha Coffee Shop in Kenilworth, who is also the Managing Director of Education4All with the support of a student lead, Naveera Abhayawickrama.

This project aims to provide a relaxed environment where student volunteers and local community members can improve their English-speaking skills, connect and develop intercultural awareness while enjoying free coffee and cake. The class promotes a feeling of togetherness, fosters cultural exchange, helps to build connections and enhances student employability.

Every fourth week, the group visits the Warwick campus to enable them to experience other spaces for wellbeing and career-focused activities.

Since its inception, the class has been providing support to 25 newly arrived women from across the globe.

Connecting Vincentians to their History

Kate Astbury (Modern Languages and Cultures) & Jacqueline Roberts (St Vincent & Grenadine Second Generation Heritage group)

We are strengthening the partnership between Warwick and the heritage charity SV2G to create more extensive opportunities for members of the Vincentian community in Britain to engage with the history of the island of St. Vincent.

Having extensively researched the role of revolutionaries from St Vincent in the global revolutionary wars of the long 18th century over the last year, we now want to work together on disseminating what we have learnt on on deepening our knowledge of the warrior women of the Caribbean who resisted enslavement.

We will continue to develop our model of coproduction and look at how we can best share the co-produced research with inhabitants of St Vincent but also share the method of working with other groups.

Digital Resources Equity in Paediatric Cancer Services

Samantha Flynn (Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal & Research) & Kate Oulton (Great Ormond Street Hospital)

We are partnering to co-produce digital resources to improve equity in paediatric cancer services, primarily for children with intellectual disabilities and/or who are autistic.

We will work with children and young-people to co-design a workshop that will then be delivered with young cancer patients with the aim of co-producing digital resources using research evidence generated from our collaborative work. We will focus on inclusivity and accessibility throughout the co-design and co-production activities, thinking through every aspect of the process and what reasonable adjustments and resources are needed.

We want to push the boundaries on what is achievable, ensuring no child who wants to take part is left out. This might involve for example, adjustments in relation to mobility, communication, sensory, learning and behaviour needs, as well as any medical needs.

We will work with an artist to support the delivery of the workshop, a live illustrator who will capture the main concepts discussed during the workshop, and a film maker who will record elements of the workshop and film children and young people during the workshop, collating information about their experiences of co-designing the workshop and co-producing digital resources during the workshop. Both the outputs from the live illustration and the filming will be disseminated alongside the co-produced digital resource(s). Following the workshop, we will develop a set of guidelines for co-designing workshops and co-producing digital resources with children and young people.

Co-created Song Writers

Nadine Holdsworth (Theatre & Performance) & Beth Fiducia-Brookes (Underground Lights)

This project involves a collaboration with Underground Lights, a Coventry-based community theatre company working with adults experiencing homelessness, mental health distress and social isolation. With a focus on co-created song writing, members will explore songs that are meaningful to them, the themes they want to address in their songs; lyric writing, arrangement, use of instruments and recording techniques.

During this project we will document the significance and impact of the trauma-informed, participatory, inclusive and co-created methodologies central to the work Underground Lights undertakes. The project will culminate in a co-created exhibition on Warwick’s campus that captures the processes and outcomes of the creative workshop phase.

Positive Migration Strategies for the Outer Hebrides

Michael Gray (Applied Linguistics) & Christina Morrison (Western Isles Council)

This is a partnership between the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council)and the University of Warwick. It will enhance the impact on the Islands which both partners are seeking.

“The overarching aim and ambition of the Comhairle’s Corporate Strategy is to retain and increase the population of the Outer Hebrides” (Corporate Strategy, 2024 to 2027). This is a driving need as the population of the Islands is declining and ageing. Encouraging economically active people to move to the Islands, or to return from work or study elsewhere, are essential to strengthen the local economy and to promote caring and resilient communities which ensure a high quality of life for residents. Much successful work has already been done to achieve these aims.

Michael is passionate about research which has a positive impact on people. His career in further education was focused on helping young and older learners to return to education and training and to develop their vocational, academic and life skills. Following a theme from his recent Masters dissertation at Warwick, his PhD project focuses on the experiences of migrants from the UK to the Outer Hebrides, the archipelago lying to the west of Scotland and facing the Atlantic.

Therefore, there is considerable overlap and synergy in our work. Through a series of open meetings in 2024 and 2025 we both aim to learn from new residents and from those born on the islands, in order to create opportunities for future new residents to settle successfully on the Islands.

Health Check Pop-up for Underserved Communities

Kate Owen (WMS) and Inderjit Kaur (Coventry City Council)

Professor Kate Owen is working with Coventry City Council migration team to set up regular "pop-up" clinics from migration communities. Medical students will use their clinical skills to offer basic health checks and advice (under supervision) to groups of people who are less likely to access healthcare or who may have no recourse to funding.

They will also help visitors register with a local GP, if they wish. This project has the potential to benefit both students and local communities working in partnership together.