{"id":1479,"date":"2026-05-07T08:58:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T08:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/per\/?p=1479"},"modified":"2026-05-07T08:58:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T08:58:25","slug":"health-and-wellbeing-research-matchmaking-for-vcse-and-academic-partners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/per\/2026\/05\/07\/health-and-wellbeing-research-matchmaking-for-vcse-and-academic-partners\/","title":{"rendered":"Health and Wellbeing Research: Matchmaking for VCSE and Academic Partners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In partnership with Devon Community Foundation, the University recently hosted a researcher-voluntary sector \u2018matchmaking\u2019 event. This half-day event, funded by the Devon Research Engagement Network, under the umbrella of the Torbay, Plymouth and Devon VCSE Assembly, invited those with an interest in applied health and wellbeing research to connect, and spark ideas for collaboration.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 28th<\/sup> April, the University of Exeter\u2019s Reed Hall welcomed voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations, and local researchers for an exciting \u2018matchmaking\u2019 session.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Health and wellbeing research is a core component of work for academics across the University, but ensuring community voices are at the heart of this research is not without its challenges. The VCSE sector provides unique insights into the needs and ambitions of local communities, along with lived experience and knowledge, helping researchers to ensure their work is reflective of the people who are most affected. Likewise, researchers can help inform the work of VCSE groups, providing different methodologies, and the latest evidence to maximise the efficacy of their work. Both groups have a great deal to gain from working together, and their combined knowledge generates outputs that puts community priorities at the centre of research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This session built on a previous event, \u2018Community Research: Exploring and Celebrating Collaboration\u2019, hosted in spring of 2025 at Exeter City Football Club. Including insights from interdisciplinary projects, this day-long celebration showcased the valuable work already taking place across the region, and in doing so, highlighted an appetite from researchers and VCSE members to take this further.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Focussing specifically on health and wellbeing, this matchmaking event encouraged discussion across themes such as health inequalities, inclusive healthcare, social prescribing, and mental health. A light lunch was followed by a series of brief talks from Dr Nicola Frost, Head of Impact, Insight and Learning at Devon Community Foundation, and Dr Lindsey Anderson and Catherine Hurcombe from the University of Exeter\u2019s Regional Engagement team. Through a series of \u2018speed-dating\u2019 exercises and themed conversations, the rest of the afternoon was spent inviting participants to get to know one another, and find common ground to support future research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018We know that both VCSE organisations and academic researchers have a lot to gain from working closely together, but it can be difficult for like-minded people from the two sectors to build initial connections. We wanted to provide a very lightly curated space for new relationships to flourish. It was thrilling to hear the buzz of purposeful conversation in the room!\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Nicola Frost, Devon Community Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Both researchers and VCSE representatives used this time to establish a dialogue across their organisations, with one researcher reporting that \u201cI loved the various opportunities to mix and chat with people, it felt very open and flexible!\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hope our attendees have been inspired by this afternoon to seek out new partnerships, and continue their work to improve the health and wellbeing landscape of the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In partnership with Devon Community Foundation, the University recently hosted a researcher-voluntary sector \u2018matchmaking\u2019 event. This half-day event, funded by the Devon Research Engagement Network, under the umbrella of the Torbay, Plymouth and Devon VCSE Assembly, invited those with an interest in applied health and wellbeing research to connect, and spark ideas for collaboration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2305,"featured_media":1481,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHealth and Wellbeing Research: Matchmaking for VCSE and Academic Partners - Public Engagement with Research (PER) at the University of Exeter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/per\/2026\/05\/07\/health-and-wellbeing-research-matchmaking-for-vcse-and-academic-partners\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Health and Wellbeing Research: Matchmaking for VCSE and Academic Partners - Public Engagement with Research (PER) at the University of Exeter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In partnership with Devon Community Foundation, the University recently hosted a researcher-voluntary sector \u2018matchmaking\u2019 event. 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