Aston University: Aston University launches community project to promote healthy lives in East Birmingham

Aston University and Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, in partnership with Citizens UK, have launched a community project to identify local barriers that lead to poor health outcomes.

Dr Céline Benoit (Sociology and Policy), Dr Alexis Paton (Sociology and Policy), Dr Angela Jeffery (RKE) and Aisha Masood (RKE) have been leading on the Knowledge Exchange project in East Birmingham to help improve health and wellbeing.

On 17 March, the team hosted the first community sandpit at Aston University, where a number of community-led organisations and charities came together to identify small-scale projects to support local residents and promote healthy lives.

A total of £6,390 was awarded to five projects which will submit a report by 31 July 2022 and meet again in the autumn to share their journeys with each other as well as representatives from the NHS and Birmingham City Council.

Dr Céline Benoit, associate dean for public engagement for the College of Business and Social Sciences at Aston University, said:

“It was such a privilege to host a community sandpit at Aston University and have the NHS and local organisations talk to one another and come up with joint projects to help promote health and wellbeing in East Birmingham.

“It was truly inspiring to see how many brilliant projects were put forward.

“It not only helped us get a better understanding of the challenges local residents face when it comes to health and accessing healthcare services, but it was also a great reminder of how much we can achieve when we work collaboratively”.