Behind the scenes at a Community Champion event
It’s a grey and drizzly day in south Birmingham – but inside The Hub Hazelwell, the air is warm and friendly. A hum of voices and the smell of coffee lead new arrivals into a bustling room that’s full of tables and people chatting.
One of the tables is draped in a yellow tablecloth. It bears the words ‘Our Future Health’. Here, Dorrett Erskine and Ogechi Duru are talking to people from their local community about the UK’s largest health research programme.
Dorrett and Ogechi are both Our Future Health Community Champions. They’ve volunteered to help spread the word about our programme, so that people from different communities are aware of what we’re doing.
So, what made them want to become Community Champions? And how’s it going today in Birmingham?
‘People from my community know and trust me’
Dorrett is a born and bred Brummie who works at The Hub Hazelwell as a community development practitioner. She runs activities to help people connect with one another, and signpost them to support in the area.
After signing up to become a Community Champion, Dorrett received one-to-one support from a member of our team, who assisted her with all things planning and logistics. We provide comprehensive training to all our Champions, including event delivery training, guidance on how to talk about Our Future Health, and ethics training.
“As an Our Future Health Community Champion, I actively encourage people here, many of whom are from Black, Asian or minority ethnic communities, to consider signing up. I understand the caution that they might have, because there is a history of discrimination in the communities, but I believe this is so worth doing.
“What I’m trying to do as a Community Champion is to share information wherever I can, so more people can gain power over their health and their future through being part of this research.
“Where I live in Birmingham, we have a healthy life expectancy that’s lower than the national average, and higher levels of certain health problems too, such as diabetes. There is a lot of social housing round here, so many people are from lower-income households. That can take a toll on your health over time.
“That’s why it’s important that people from all backgrounds and walks of life are represented in Our Future Health’s data set. The more people who join, the more patterns and trends researchers will be able to pick up on.”
Dorrett says that the Our Future Health information booth at The Hub Hazelwell has been a great success.
“When people come up to chat, I just have normal conversations with them. I explain what the programme is and I tell them what’s involved. I help them to see that it’s not overwhelming or scary.
“People from my community know me and trust me. I think it’s nicer for people to hear about something like Our Future Health from me than from something online that feels more removed from their lives here in Birmingham. It’s just good to sit down and chat with an actual person sometimes, isn’t it?”
As well as today’s event, Dorrett says she runs community lunches where she invites people to chat with her about Our Future Health. “I also help at events at our local church and spend time networking and building connections, so people know they can always come to me to hear more about the work Our Future Health is doing. I hope this is the start of something new and exciting in our community here.
“I want everyone to have the knowledge and power to live longer, healthier lives, and I see Our Future Health as a big step towards that.”
‘It’s inspiring seeing people’s eyes light up’
Ogechi works in the NHS as a project manager on outpatient programmes in Coventry. She says her professional experience inspired her to become an Our Future Health volunteer, and then later one of our Community Champions.
“The NHS is such an important part of our nation, and we all want good healthcare. Programmes like Our Future Health give us the opportunity to do something to support it. Being a Community Champion feels like a chance to be part of something meaningful.”
Ogechi says she’s enjoying the opportunity to engage with people as a Community Champion. “I can see their eyes light up at the idea that in the future something could be done to prevent so many diseases and illnesses.
“Being here today has given me the nudge I needed to go back to my community in Coventry and host my own event there. I’d love to help sign people up as volunteers and increase diversity and representation in the data set.
“For me, it’s important in life to do things you don’t necessarily have to do, but you choose to because you care about the people around you and want the best for them. I don’t want people in my community to miss out on Our Future Health simply because they weren’t aware that it exists.
“Health research is a numbers game. The wider your sample of the population, the more chances there are to find out about the nation’s health. It will make the results less skewed towards one demographic and help them to be more accurate.
“If I can help even a few people take that step, I will feel proud knowing we are making the future of healthcare fairer and better for everyone.”
Let’s prevent disease together
By volunteering for Our Future Health, you can help health researchers discover new ways to prevent, detect and treat common conditions such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s.