With help from staff at over 20 hospital sites, Egality Health and our community partners, D-CYPHR (The DNA, Children + Young People’s Health Resource) have been working hard supporting the programme and raising awareness about health and genetics research throughout the summer months.
BHI summer programme
Across 4 weeks in August, 10 boys took part in the Black Health Initiative (BHI) summer programme. The programme included a focus on D-CYPHR where the boys learnt more about children's health research and why its important for all ethnicities to be included. We ran a workshop to highlight D-CYPHR's mission, and Bhuvan from Egality Health spoke about what we are doing to help tackle health inequalities. Social media agency Uprated, who have been supporting us to reach diverse communities, answered the boys’ questions on how to successfully connect with different audiences using social media.
After the workshop, they split into 2 groups and created a spoken word piece, and a ‘call to action’ video. The videos highlighted how different ways of communicating can portray the same messaging, which is to showcase the benefits of families signing up to D-CYPHR.
Community Organisation in-person day
At the end of August, Egality Health arranged a workshop day in Leicester with the D-CYPHR team and our community partners, BHI, SAHA, CAHN and Inclusive North. The day was full of insightful feedback, fun photoshoots and a chance to collaborate. It was important to hear from each community organisation about how we can expand our work to break down barriers and ensure that research is inclusive for all.
Leicester Gita Festival
South Asian Health Action (SAHA) attended the Leicester Gita Festival to speak to the South Asian community about the importance of representation in research. The festival brought the community together through spiritual talks, devotional music, a Shobha Yatra, cultural performances and shared meals, all centred around tradition, faith and wellbeing.
Cambridge Wellness Festival
D-CYPHR spent the day at Cambridge Wellness Festival on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. It was a busy event with different stalls ranging from reflexology taster sessions to art therapy; it was a day of relaxation and discovery. Many people were interested in learning more about D-CYPHR and were excited to take home our newest free gift: branded stress balls!
Windrush events in London and Manchester
We joined Egality Health and community partner, Caribbean and African Health Network (CAHN) at Windrush events in London and Manchester, coming together to raise awareness of D-CYPHR and the Improving Black Health Outcomes (IBHO) programme and the vital work being done to improve the health of Black, Caribbean and African communities.
Make a difference today
Most diseases start in childhood, but most health research is carried out in adults.
D-CYPHR, part of the NIHR BioResource and in partnership with the NHS is supporting health research for ages 0-15 in the UK by pioneering new treatments and creating better care for the future generation of children.
Don’t miss your chance to be included in research, it’s as simple as spitting into a tube. Visit our website to find out more information.