QUB funds researcher/sector partnerships to tackle social impacts of Covid-19

Queen’s University has awarded a number of ‘Covid-19 Rapid Response’ fund grants to projects that are applying research to addressing the health and social impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. These include a number of projects in which researchers are partnering with voluntary and community organisations to tackle the impacts of the pandemic on different groups, including older people, children and young people, and those experiencing mental health impacts.

The projects funded include the development of an online mental health campaign working with AWARE NI; a global survey into the Covid-19 experiences of young people involving the international Child Rights Connect network whose members include Save the Children; and a project to tackle the social isolation of older people due to Covid-19 through Open Learning online opportunities involving Age NI, U3A and the Commission for Older people and the Nerve Centre.

The Covid-19 Rapid Response fund was devised at short notice at the end of March in response to the pandemic along with a second fund, which closed in June, focussed on “Covid Recovery and Re-Imagining a Post-lockdown World.” 

NICVA is looking forward to reporting more on the results and achievements of the projects funded under both schemes, and is seeking to encourage researchers where possible to partner with sector organisations on such projects in future similar calls to support projects which deliver social impact from research.