Building on last year’s momentum, we are also pleased to introduce the first recipients of the Impact and Legacy Fund. This new scheme provides additional funding to projects that began in the pilot year of the Collaboration Kickstarter in 2024, enabling their collaborations to have a lasting impact.
‘Swipe up or Switch Off?’ - Co-designing research into smartphone-related interventions on young people’s health and wellbeing 
A collaboration led by Mohn Centre for Children’s Health and Wellbeing with Nova New Opportunities
Following on from the work done in the pilot year of the Collaboration Kickstarter, this project is now in its final stages of delivering workshops and drafting a public facing insights report.
Before the report is finalised, we will consult further with community partners and participants to honor the commitment we made to provide them an opportunity to input. We will also continue to build on participants’ desire for involvement, offering opportunities to contribute artwork, help with report writing, and for public speaking. A short video/animation will also be co-produced that will summarise key insights and learnings.
Quote by Rachel B Smith, Research Fellow in Population Child Health (911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ)
“I am delighted to receive Impact and Legacy Kickstarter funding. It allows us to continue working with our wonderful community partners, and supports them in responding to issues raised by the local community around the impacts of smartphones, screentime and social media on young people’s health and wellbeing. It also means we can respond to the project participants’ desire for continued involvement, by offering opportunities such as contributing artwork to our report, making a short film and public speaking.”
Break the Barriers: Co-production and advocacy to improve maternity care for Black, African, Caribbean and mixed-Black families
A collaboration led by the School of Public Health with lived experience partners
This project builds on earlier Collaboration Kickstarter funding that supports Sarindi Aryasinghe’s PhD research (Break the Barriers). As a team, the project’s lived experience partners and Sarindi reviewed existing evidence on how community advocates address racism in maternity care for Black, African, Caribbean and mixed-Black families. We identified a gap in how racism in maternity care is measured in the NHS from a community perspective, and how this information is then used by communities to advocate for change.
To respond to this gap in research, we have decided to run a focus group research study as our next step. We want to invite community-based maternity advocates and Black women who have used maternity services in London to better understand their perspectives on how racism in maternity care could be measured, and how this information can be used to advocate for better care.
We will then hold a final focus group bringing together some previous community participants and maternity staff to reflect on how the community-defined measures could be implemented in NHS maternity services.
Quote by Gabriella Sarpong, Break the Barriers lived experience partner
"This funding will enable us to conduct focus groups, ensuring that lived experiences remain central to shaping our approach and research to improve maternal outcomes for Black and mixed-Black women. Through these sessions, we aim to better understand the specific needs, challenges, and priorities of the communities we serve, with the main aim of reducing disparities in maternal health outcomes for Black and mixed-Black women."