On Monday 2 September 2024, we held the final in person session for the three Community Panels who have supported and challenged SIPHER’s work over the last four years. We brought all Panel members who were able to attend to spend the day in the Clarice Pears Building at Glasgow University. 

When we planned this strand of SIPHER’s activities, we originally expected that our three Panels, located in Fife (Scotland), Bury and Rochdale (Greater Manchester), and Manor & Castle (Sheffield), would meet separately throughout our time in SIPHER. But the Panels have really enjoyed meeting together in the last year, and the conversation was as lively as ever.  

This was the 12th workshop topic (and 32nd workshop) that Ellen Stewart has facilitated for SIPHER’s Community Panels since late 2020.  SIPHER Director, Petra Meier, joined to welcome everyone to Glasgow.

We spent some time reflecting on key Panel contributions to the research, sharing some personal highlights and lowlights of our work together over the last four years. Then, given that Panel members have always been very focused on how SIPHER can make a change to inequalities in their communities, Julian Cox and Jo Winterbottom shared a helpful update about how SIPHER tools and expertise have been taken up by our policy partners.  

A key goal for the day was to thank our Panellists for sticking with the research since we started meeting online at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for the openness and insights they have brought to our discussions throughout. 

Special thanks to our three partner organisations (Fife Voluntary Action, the Elephants’ Trail, and Manor & Castle Development Trust) for recruiting and supporting our Panel members and to Helen Thompson who worked tirelessly to ensure as many Panellists as possible were able to travel to Glasgow for this final workshop.

We have published an article on Panellists experience in SIPHER’s Community Panels and others based on our Layered Systems Map: Evidence & Experiences, are under review. Most significantly, learning from SIPHER’s community engagement work is actively informing the ‘Democratising Modelling’ Theme of a new PHI UK Policy Modelling for Health Consortium funded by UKRI.

First published: 3 September 2024

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Attendees facing presenter - Julian Cox and screen showing SIPHER logo and text   

Julian Cox, SIPHER Co-Director and Greater Manchester Combined Authority Partner Lead, presents to final Community Panel meeting  - September 2024