ISJ intern Jess Dancer documents her experience participating in a dynamic Community Research Grant gathering. This was a new opportunity to learn from and contribute to discussions around ‘impact’ in HE and VCSE partnerships. 

My experience of the group activities:

As the ISJ student intern, I was fortunate to receive the opportunity not only to attend but to also assist in the Community Research Grant event, which took place on February 6, 2025. During this event, I was assigned the responsibility of timekeeping as well as note-taking, which was a good test of my skills in effective multi-tasking. From the perspective of a student, the event appeared to be fairly formal, something I had not experienced first-hand before.

During this event, I learnt about the multiple community-led organisations that attended and had the pleasure of taking part in some group activities alongside the representatives of these organisations. Although my initial knowledge of the roles and endeavours of these organisations was relatively limited, I still tried my best to engross myself in the activities and enjoyed listening to the achievements, goals and opinions of the representatives for these community-led organisations. 

My interpretations of the presentation on ‘Impact’:

Once the activity section of the event was over, there was a presentation from which I took an abundance of notes. One of the key elements I took from this presentation was the concept of ‘Impact’. From the perspective of someone who is both a student and unacquainted with this sector, it was extremely interesting to learn about ‘Impact’ and its relevance to VCSE organisations. I gained knowledge surrounding the ‘Four Domains of Impact’ which outlined four areas that ‘impact’ can influence; Policy, Organisational, Beneficiary and Academic. Due to being a final-year sociology student, learning about how ‘impact’ can influence and shape the academic sector was especially interesting and admittedly something I had not considered before.

Learning about the business side of these community-led organisations was extremely insightful, particularly in relation to achieving ‘impact’. The ‘Pathway to Impact’  was a concept that outlined the different stages community-led organisations should aim to attain in order to achieve their desired ‘impact’.  Additionally, I gained an insight into the possible barriers to ‘Impact’ these community-led organisations may encounter such as; lack of funding or an external social crisis like the Coronavirus. It was notably impactful to hear about the complexity of work that is required to achieve the desired outcome of these community-led organisations.  (Please note that these are only my interpretations of the content of the presentation).

Conversations with the representatives:

I had the pleasure of speaking to the representatives from of the ‘Good Organisation’ about their goals to decriminalise homelessness. They explained to me why the criminalisation of homelessness is ineffective and why effective policies are required to break the cycle of poverty to create opportunities for those less fortunate. One potential policy that I was especially interested in was the idea of introducing a ‘Tourism Tax’ to help combat homelessness and improve the city’s community. Not only does this attitude towards homelessness align with my own beliefs but it also relates to the content taught in my Sociology degree. Due to this, I was able to apply my sociological knowledge to thoroughly understand their goals and objectives. I left this conversation with such admiration for the representatives and wish them the best in achieving their goals.

To conclude my experiences of the Community Research Grant event:

Attending the Community Research Grant event as a student intern was an invaluable experience. The opportunity to immerse myself in the abundance of new information while listening to the experiences of those working within community-led organisations was extremely enriching. In addition to this, attending this event sparked an interest in possibly participating in a community-led organisation myself, once I graduate. I feel extremely privileged to have had the opportunity to access this event while also gaining experience in a professional setting.

Jess Dancer, ISJ Intern