Projects

Informing Choices NI, together with their researcher, will co-design an educational programme that informs and supports women with learning disabilities through the menopause. They will review of existing evidence in this practice area, discuss how best to deliver a programme with stakeholders and then use this insight to co-design and pilot a programme for women in Derry & Strabane. They hope to end up with a tested programme that they can deliver across the region.

Londonderry YMCA ran a mentoring project for 15 girls aged 11-14 who access their services, pairing them with student mentors from Ulster University Social Work and Community Art department. The researchers facilitated some group sessions for the mentoring pairs to discuss issues which are important to them. YMCA provided training and support for the mentors and matched them with mentees. This project has now ended.

ARC Fitness will create gender-specific recovery groups, and understand the wellbeing benefits/outcomes based on participation in a gender-specific or mixed group. Researchers will help upskill “research champions” at ARC, and they will share their findings at a community/university dissemination event.

In Your Space Circus will run a programme of circus workshops for three different cohorts of older people in Derry, including two existing groups and one which will be specifically recruited for this project. They groups will help to shape the activity which takes place. The researcher will help capture the wellbeing benefits of participation in social circus projects, and work with group members to create different ways to capture and share their journey

Hive Cancer Support (formerly The Pink Ladies Breast Cancer Support Group) and their researcher will develop an interview schedule and interview cancer survivors about their experience of cancer surgery. They will then commission an artist to take the themes identified by the interviews and turn this into a city centre mural in Derry using non-toxic paint. They will form a steering group, including Pink Ladies members, to shape each step of the project.

By applying a LIFEMAPS mental wellbeing framework, this project supports young people to embed daily habits that support positive mental wellbeing including altruistic behaviours.
Working with a researcher, the project trains a group of young peer researchers to gather feedback from other young people and showcase examples of developing positive mental wellbeing. The project is responding to issues that young people in their community may face including challenges around race, disability, and sexuality.

Facilitated by Informing Choices NI (ICNI), this project is exploring how loss and bereavement is discussed and dealt with for people with learning disabilities, autistic people, and their families. A researcher from Ulster University is working alongside ICNI through a process of co-production with the community. Through meetings, workshops, focus groups and peer support groups, people with learning disabilities, autistic people, their families and support staff will be given the space to discuss and explore how loss and bereavement has impacted on their lives and what support was available, with the aim to produce tools that will help others across Northern Ireland and beyond.

This project is bringing women together through both horticulture and digital literacy to help improve both physical and mental wellbeing.
Participants are working with a researcher who will help to develop digital skills and share analytical skills with participants in order for them to chart the story of the She Shed. Programmes like the ‘Wellbeing Naturally’ Course, which combines gardening in a polytunnel with therapeutic practices, alongside additional activities promoting learning about healthy eating, food sustainability, and digital skills, are enabling the project to reach those in a rural community to combat isolation and provide residents with new skills..

Working with adult community members in two main age groups- 19+ and 40+, this project examines the benefits of time spent outdoors on mental wellbeing.
Working with a researcher will enable them to develop an approach with the community to measure and co-design the activities that participants go through. Two programmes are running to help establish a connection between the community members and the natural surroundings in their local area: Air (walking and woodland exploration) with mature adults, and Water (water-sports and swimming) with young adults.

This project is set out in two 10 week periods to provide support to survivors of mother and baby institutions. It will give those affected an opportunity for creative expression.
From painting to performances, the sessions are facilitated by an experienced theatre practitioner and a researcher using a trauma informed lens. The group are working with the researcher to develop their skills around research protocols and receiving guidance on the format of the project. The project is being co-designed by the participants and is using the arts as a way of improving mental wellbeing.

Young people participating in this project are being encouraged to develop educational programmes and resources, using storytelling as one of the tools for improving mental wellbeing. They will work with a researcher and learn about approaches and methodologies in cultures and traditions across the world, as well as developing their own research and facilitation skills. Through workshops focusing on empowerment and positivity, the programme is allowing young people to build relationships and make connections though sharing their lived experience.