Welcome to HDRC’s e-newsletter. This newsletter is intended for all stakeholders with Bradford Council and externally. The newsletter aims to share the HDRC’s journey throughout the lifetime of the programme showcasing the impact of the collaboration.
Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) Bradford is funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) (part of the Department of Health and Social Care). We are hosted by Bradford City Council, in collaboration with our partners: Bradford Institute of Health Research, Bradford University, Leeds University and University of York.
HDRC’s aim is to help local authorities to become more research-active and to embed a culture of evidence-based decision making. Bradford HDRC is funded until Sept 2027 in the first instance.
Message from the HDRC Director
 Thanks to everyone who joined us and participated in our recent Bradford HDRC Conference. It was a fantastic day and we are grateful for all the feedback from colleagues – these quotes give a flavour:
“It was really great to have an in person event. I've known we need to link with HDRC but this has really helped move that on.”
“Co-production highlighted though the youth ambassadors was the highlight, but overall the event was great. Networking was also key.”
The conference provided us with the opportunity to showcase our new Bradford Council areas of research interest (ARIs), which have been co-produced with officers from across the Council. Over the past year, we have conducted interviews with several members of staff, representing each of our directorates, to better understand the evidence gaps that would help officers to meet their objectives. These insightful conversations, along with comments received from our Senior Leadership Team (SLT), HDRC Board, and Corporate Management Team (CMT), have resulted in a list of ARIs that are now published on our internal SharePoint site and our external-facing website. These ARIs will be used to provide a focus for initiating research that will help address some of the overarching strategic priorities, such as child poverty and urban regeneration, as well as other, service area-specific questions. If you are interested in understanding more about how you can get involved in helping to address one of these ARIs, we encourage you to contact the HDRC team via HDRC@bradford.gov.uk.
We also plan to include community priorities in our ARIs to ensure we are researching subjects that matter to our residents. HDRC Bradford conducted 10 community priority workshops across the district in May and June, two in each constituency, speaking to a cross section of residents in a variety of community, VCSE, Faith and social settings to inform our Community Areas of Research Interest (C-ARIs). Intentional selection was used to identify seldom heard groups and underrepresented communities. Public contributors from within each constituency were recruited and trained to support participation as well as grassroots knowledge from our council neighbourhoods teams. Residents and community organisations were renumerated for their time to show value and build trust.
50% of residents ranked Crime & Safety as a number 1 priority with Cost of Living, Access to Education and Employment & Skills following on as current challenges. If residents don't feel safe this can have a knock-on effect on all areas of their lives and wellbeing. We have synthesised this data and will be holding a follow-on academic led session with the communities we worked with, to develop these priorities into ‘research questions’. This will in turn be mapped to our council staff priorities to create our overall programme ARIs.
Finally, I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome some new members of the HDRC Team. Our new Public Health Consultant, Steven Senior will be working across HDRC and Public Health, focussing on all things data as well as our research portfolio. Dr Mel Cooper joins us from University of Bradford as a senior embedded academic adviser – Mel will be helping us to plan and deliver research collaborations to meet our Areas of Research Interest. Dr Hollie Henderson is based at Born in Bradford, working as part of UCL’s ESRC Equalise Centre for Health Equity. Hollie will be embedded with HDRC to work on early years childcare data and evidence; focussing particularly on equitable access and quality.
Congratulations to our very own Rob Shore for his successful NIHR PLAF (predoctoral Local Authority Fellowship) application. Rob will be combining his research and training with his HDRC Data Lead role. More info below, including how wider colleagues can apply for these opportunities (with our support!)
Policy Hub
Climate Action Plan
Bradford Council is consulting on a draft Climate Action Plan (CAP). To build in community views about priorities for climate action in Bradford, Public Health researchers at the University of York, with HDRC Bradford, worked with six community researchers in Bradford. We hosted a series of three co-produced community group workshops in Bowling & Barkerend (in partnership with the Anchor Project) and in Tong (in partnership with the Sutton Centre) in July 2025, with 16 community members attending each session. Each community prepared a community manifesto during the workshops to share their climate action priorities. The two manifestos and a summary brief can be found here: https://heyzine.com/shelf/ClimateManifestos
Foodsavers project
As part of the Made in Common project, researchers at the University of York working with HDRC Bradford partnered with local organisation FoodSavers, to host a zine-making workshop in July 2025. The session invited participants to creatively reflect on how food pantries support individual and community wellbeing through access to healthy, nutritious food, as well as by offering emotional support, a safe space to socialise, and opportunities such as saving through a local credit union. Based on powerful conversations and two key questions around health, wellbeing, and financial empowerment, the zine titled ‘Food Pantries: Nourishing Communities Together’ is now being illustrated and will be shared soon.
Child of the North
In 2024, Child of the North, which is a joint collaboration between the N8 University Research Partnership and Health Equity North, which forms part of the Northern Health Science Alliance, embarked on a campaign with the Centre for Young Lives calling for a ‘Children First Government’. Their series of 12 reports published throughout 2024 and into 2025 highlight the problems of inequity experienced by children in the North of England facing disadvantages in relation to a range of issues including poverty, special educational needs, school attendance and mental health.
The reports provide evidence-based plans and recommendations to help policymakers address the issues. The next phase of their campaign is now live and provides practitioner toolkits to support schools, child health services, and local authorities to implement the report recommendations and put children first. Bradford HDRC worked closely with the N8 group to produce the local authority guides, which can be found here: Child of the North - N8 Research Partnership
Co-production
Latest news from our Youth Ambassadors
Our Youth Ambassadors have carried out extensive insight gathering to highlight the key priorities for young people in Bradford District around the wider determinants of heath.
Findings were captured in a report and a video was created as a dissemination tool to highlight this work. You can watch the video here: Co-production | Bradford Council
“We have asked young people what matters to them the most about issues that affect them and what needs to change. To further help us understand the issues affecting young people we have collated numerous reports and research carried out within Bradford, through youth forums, youth surveys and youth summit events that have highlighted key issues. From all those conversations, three key themes came through loud and clear – and that’s what this video is all about.”
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Education and Skills Development
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Safe Homes and Communities
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Physical and Mental Health
The key themes were underpinned by two cross cutting themes
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Youth Voice and Participation
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Tackling Inequality and Discrimination
 Case study: Anisia's Story
We spoke to one of the Youth Ambassadors, Anisia Maria Boldosan a 17-year-old of Romanian heritage, who has been deeply involved in shaping Bradford’s Safety of Women and Girls campaign. In this case study she shares her journey into youth work, her experiences of co-production, and her ambitions for the future.
Read the full case study on our website.
Data
ASQ and E-CHILD
HDRC Data Scientist Dr Yanhua Xu is collaborating with Born in Bradford and the Connected Bradford platform to explore whether data from the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) — specifically assessing communication, gross motor, and fine motor skills in children aged 24 to 30 months — can help identify key developmental domains that could indicate levels of 'school readiness'. This analysis involves linking ASQ data to Department for Education (DfE) Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) assessment outcomes at Reception age, focusing on whether children achieve a Good Level of Development (GLD). The research has gained interest from the Department of Health and Social Care and is being considered as part of the E-CHILD programme, with potential for scaling beyond Bradford.
PLAF
Rob Shore, Data Manager, has been awarded a NIHR Pre-doctoral Local Authority Fellowship (PLAF). Through this fellowship, Rob will undertake academic training in Computer Science with City and St George’s, and in co-production and environmental policy with the University of York. His research will focus on the question: “How can best practices in data visualisation support local authority decision-making?”
If you are a council officer and interested in PLAF/DLAF please contact HDRC@bradford.gov.uk and also see the information below.
To pilot this work, Rob will collaborate with Bradford Council’s Clean Air Zone and Air Quality team, supported by a cross-sector working group that includes Green Party elected members, council officers, members of the public, academic partners from City and York universities, and the Bradford Institute for Health Research (BIHR).
This award strengthens internal capacity in data visualisation and environmental analytics, while also promoting co-production with elected members and the public. It aligns with Bradford Council’s priorities around clean air, digital transformation, and evidence-based policy. Rob is committed to developing a pathway for future doctoral-level research embedded within local authority settings.
Learning and Development
Research Methods at Shipley College
Our brand-new Introduction to Research Methods course has been offered exclusively to Bradford Council staff in partnership with Shipley College, and this started in October. It is an eight week programme delivered for two hours per week, designed to help build confidence and practical skills, and HDRC Bradford are covering the costs for officers to attend. Sessions will be covering topics like qualitative and quantitative methods, evaluation, and evidence-based decision-making. It’s ideal for those with little or no research experience, or anyone looking to refresh their skills and apply research in their role. We encourage Bradford Council officers can register their interest with us for similar courses to be held in the future.
Webinars
Health in all policies: Turning local decisions into healthier communities
Date: Tuesday 28 October 2025, 13.00 – 14.30
Venue: Online event held on Zoom Webinar – accessible via PC, laptop and smartphone
Posting on behalf of The Health Foundation
Introducing a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach into local government decision-making would consider the health effects of all areas of a council’s activity as standard practice. Housing, transport, planning and employment are just as critical to improving population health and reducing inequalities as healthcare itself. Local government is in the position to fix the gaps where they exist and build better health for all our communities.
In this webinar, we will share knowledge of decision-making tools that support new approaches in infrastructure and investment, and engage with developers, investors and communities to improve health through more transparent, balanced, and holistic decisions.
We will cover:
- how social, environmental and economic policies can have health benefit;
- in the implementation and delivery of public services, how health impact can be better understood;
- how to balance short-term pressures with long-term goals;
- how to build greater transparency and accountability into decision making.
Speakers
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Michael Chang, Associate Town Planner (Healthy Planning Lead),
- NHS Property Services Ltd
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Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair, LGA
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Kate Kennally, Chief Executive Officer, Cornwall County Council
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Katherine Merrifield, Assistant Director, Healthy Lives, The Health Foundation
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Sonia Milne, Project Officer, Glasgow City Region PMO
NIHR Webinar - Forging Your Research Pathway: Exploring development opportunities with the NIHR and beyond
Date: Thursday 22nd January 2026 Time: 13:00pm until 16:30pm
This half-day event is aimed at alumni of the Associate PI Scheme, the Principal Investigator Pipeline Programme (PIPP) and Clinician Researcher Credentials Framework as well as anyone interested in exploring their next steps in health and care research.
- Hear inspiring alumni stories and career journeys
- Explore development opportunities with the NIHR and beyond
- Gain practical guidance on progressing your research career
Please save the date for now and if you would like to receive further information about the event and how to register, please add your details to this Expression of Interest Form and we will contact you as soon as more details are available.
Who can attend the event?
Whilst the event and agenda are primarily aimed at Alumni, we do still want to encourage Health and Care professionals to feel welcomed - the event is open to all. If you have any questions, please email the Associate PI Scheme Team at associatepischeme@nihr.ac.uk
HDRC Bradford News and Activity
HDRC Bradford Conference 2025
On Thursday 18 September, HDRC Bradford hosted our 2025 conference at Fountains Church, bringing together Bradford Council officers, the research community and voluntary sector partners to showcase our work so far and to launch our Areas of Research Interest (ARIs). The theme of the conference was ‘Improving Lives in Bradford by Putting Evidence at the Heart of Policy and Practice.’
 HDRC Bradford Co-Hosts Annual HDRC National Conference.
On 26 June 2025, HDRC Bradford jointly hosted the Annual HDRC National Conference, along with HDRCs Doncaster, North Yorkshire and Wakefield, in collaboration with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) RSS Specialist Centre for Public Health.
See the full article for more:
RSS Update
The NIHR Research Support Service provide free and confidential support to researchers who are in the process of applying for funding to help them develop and deliver clinical and applied health and care research.
The RSS has developed a collection of case studies showcasing how UK HDRCs are partnering with local authorities to support their journey toward becoming more research-active organisations. HDRC Bradford has contributed to some of these case studies. Read more here: Case studies
The RSS also recently hosted Fellowship Application Day, targeted towards researchers who are thinking about applying to the NIHR Fellowship Programme. For those who could not make it on the day but would find it useful, the RSS have published some videos and resources from the day.
LARPs
Before NIHR RSS funded LARPs in 2021, the PHLARPs scheme — backed by DHSC and NIHR — paved the way for these roles. HDRC Data Manager, Rob Shore was in the initial cohort. Many have continued in public health research and the RSS is forming its LARP alumni network to share expertise and career journeys. See this page for more:
RSS Guidance tool for research in local authorities
The RSS has created a definition and decision tool for local authorities to use as a guidance for research. This could determine potential eligibility for research funding or specialist support, help you decide if the activity you are planning might need, or benefit from, independent ethical review and formal research governance approval. Or if further requirements may apply, for example, obtaining consent for research purposes. Find the tool here: Guidance and decision tool
Pre-Application Support funding available
It provides funding to support those who might not otherwise be able to apply for an NIHR award. In doing so, the scheme aims to create more opportunities for groups and professions currently under-represented within NIHR. Applications from regulated healthcare professionals, social work and public health professionals, researchers in methodology, applicants from ethnic minority backgrounds and applicants who are disabled are encouraged by the NIHR.
HDRC Bradford has so far supported two Council staff with writing personal grant funds which have resulted in them being awarded local authority fellowships. NIHR fellowships enable individuals to build research capacity within local authorities and encourage practitioner-academic careers. Please get in touch if you would like any more information and think we can help.
Elaine James, Social Worker and Head of Service Adults with Disabilities, was accepted for a NIHR DLAF award with support from HDRC. Read her story below:
Why I applied for an NIHR DLAF: In 2017 , I was privileged to be asked by the then Chief Social Worker for Adults in the Department of Health and Social Care, Lyn Romeo, to be a practitioner advisor to a research prioritisation exercise led by the James Lynd Alliance for adult social work. An outcome from this work was a recommendation to the Department and to the National Institute for Health Research that investment should be made to support practicing social workers to remain in practice whilst undertaking action research projects at pre and post Doctoral level. I applied to the NIHR DLAF award to continue to support my development as a practitioner researcher as I want to continue to develop my research, evaluation and reporting knowledge and skills whilst remaining as a practicing social work manager in Bradford and District.
What I will be researching: Over the last eight years in Bradford, social workers in Adult Social Care have supported local user led groups of people with learning disabilities to promote their understanding of their right to register and participate in elections. We call this project 'Promote the Vote'. This new project builds on Promote the Vote, by working with our Bradford voluntary sector and with our Adult Social Work Peoples Forum, which is people with disabilities who have lived experience of social work, to expand our work on voting rights. The project will develop a Citizen’s Jury, whose members will be people with learning disabilities. The Citizen’s Jury will consider, vote and make recommendations as to what extent adult social care support in Bradford and District helps them to live a good life and whether their experience of the wider environment across the District helps them maintain good health.
Public involvement: People with learning disabilities, and people who support them, have been involved in developing this project. There are three community organisations who support people with learning disabilities have also been involved. The community organisations are: the School of Rock and Media, a charity which is based in Bradford; Project 49, a user led project in Southend; and Southend Mencap, a charity based in Southend.
How it will help Bradford residents: The project will support people with learning disabilities in Bradford to have a say in how they experience living in the District. The recommendations from the Citizen’s Jury will be received by Adult Social Care managers and help us to improve our plans for supporting people with learning disabilities in the future.
Local Authority Short Placement Award for Research Collaboration
This award supports individuals working in Local Authority settings and NIHR Academy members to design and apply for funds to undertake short placements allowing them to move between NIHR and Local Authority settings in either direction.
It will enhance your skills, knowledge and expertise to co-create research that is more meaningful and better connected with practice. It will also provide opportunities to build meaningful research collaborations and partnerships between the NIHR and local authorities and enhance your professional networks. See here for more information.
More about HDRCs
Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRCs) boost research capacity and capability within local government. They aim to embed a culture of always using evidence when making decisions. HDRCs use research findings to understand how decisions impact on health and health inequalities. They also carry out research where evidence isn’t already available.
Bradford Council is one of 13 local authorities in 22/23 across the country that have been awarded funding from the NIHR (National Institute of Health Research) to boost research capacity and capability within local government. In October 2023 NIHR awarded a further 11 authorities with HDRC status and 6 with development funding.
Follow this link if you would like to know more https://www.nihr.ac.uk/explore-nihr/support/health-determinants-research-collaborations.htm
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