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- The AWRC is Two!
The AWRC is Two!
This week marks two years since the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) opened its doors, and well, what a ride it has been. Despite the challenges presented by Covid-19, we are incredibly proud of the achievements of the 150 Sheffield Hallam staff who co-locate at the Centre, which is part of the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park near Darnall. Staff that use the AWRC come from a wide range of academic disciplines across the University. These include health, sport science, psychology, robotics, engineering, design and environmental science. A number of staff external to Sheffield Hallam also work at the AWRC. Many of these come from our collaborating institutions, and from clinical practice, industry and the community. We all share a common vision to transform lives through innovations that help people move. To mark our second birthday, grab your trainers and let’s take a walk through some of the highlights of the past year.
Active Together – Prescribing Physical Activity to People with Cancer
In March we were delighted to join forces with Yorkshire Cancer Research and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust to develop an innovative programme exploring how a multi-modal programme (exercise, nutrition and psychological support) can help people with cancer prepare for and respond to treatment. Made possible through funding from Yorkshire Cancer Research, the ‘Active Together’ programme will enable 1000s of people with a cancer diagnosis across Sheffield to work with specialist clinicians and researchers to develop personalised pathways of care using the fantastic facilities at AWRC, including our on-site physical activity suite, which got a very Yorkshire makeover ready for the project! In time, findings from the Active Together project will be used to develop effective models to improve the lives of people with a cancer diagnosis through physical activity across Yorkshire. Over the last few months, we have welcomed on board a brilliant Active Together team and we are expecting the first patients through the door in the next few weeks.
Read more about Active Together
Follow Active Together on Twitter
AWRC Wellbeing Accelerator – Into the Second Phase
It’s been another successful year for our AWRC Wellbeing Accelerator. Through 2021, the first cohort of 28 pre-revenue and early-stage companies continued to receive support from the AWRC’s expert co-located researchers in the development of a range of innovative products and services all focused on wellbeing. Our Accelerator team worked with companies from as far afield as the USA, Norway and Hungary, as well as many from Sheffield City Region. A group of 80 mentors from programme partners such as Canon, IBM and UKRI provided support, both directly to the companies and through a series of over 30 events held as part of the programme. Our first cohort have since graduated, and in December we were pleased to launch our second Accelerator programme. If you know of a start-up working on an innovative, wellbeing-focused product or service which would benefit from a package of support including up to £20,000, mentoring and expert support, workshop and networking opportunities, you’re in luck: applications are open until 14th February.
More information on the AWRC Accelerator Programme
Long-Covid Clinics in Underserved Communities
In May, as part of AWRC’s RICOVR unit we collaborated with the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM) in Sheffield (which has its research hub at the AWRC) and local community organisation Darnall Wellbeing to establish virtual clinics to support people in underserved areas suffering with long-Covid. The Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected people from deprived communities, who are already more at risk of poor health and often face complex challenges accessing healthcare. Researchers worked with members of the public to coproduce interventions that meet the needs of their local communities. They applied expertise in areas such as elite sport, public health and rehabilitation to explore the unique challenges around the little-understood long-Covid, including how it may be affected by physical activity. You can watch AWRC Researcher Rachel Young and Waqas Hameed of Darnall Wellbeing explain more about the project on this ITV Calendar segment. If you’re interested in the project’s findings, you can read the publication at the link below.
Collaborative Research with parkrun
Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do at the AWRC. Whether it’s our colocation model which brings researchers interested in physical activity together from across the University, our many visiting researchers and fellows, our collaborative NHS clinical services, or coproduction of research with our Public Involvement in Research Group (more on that later), collaboration is definitely our thing. Over the last two years we have established several long-term strategic collaborations with a variety of industry and third sector organisations. One of our longest running collaborations is with the globally renowned phenomenon that is parkrun. Our Director of Engagement, Prof. Steve Haake is Chair of the parkrun Advisory Board, and our researchers work closely with the parkrun team on a variety of projects which help support their mission to ‘create a healthier happier planet’. In 2021 this led to five publications, which you can take a look at below. We also hosted a seminar with parkrun superstars Chrissie Wellington and Mike Graney back in January, which you can view on our YouTube channel. Finally, our parkrun research board held a series of seminars throughout 2021, on a range of fascinating subjects such as parkrunning during pregnancy and running with arthritis. See the full series at our YouTube and keep an eye out on Twitter for details of our 2022 seminars.
The influence of neighbourhood equity on parkrunners in a British city
Public Involvement in Research Group
I’ve already talked about how much we value collaboration, and we especially value the contributions of those outside of the academic community in our research. Co-production (or patient and public involvement in research, as it is also commonly known) involves research being undertaken with and by participants and members of the public. We embrace this philosophy because it helps ensure that our research is relevant, beneficial and inclusive. It provides us with valuable insights and challenges our thinking – in all sorts of positive ways! Our AWRC Public Involvement in Research Group (PIRG) has gone from strength to strength throughout 2021, and we now have over 20 active members who meet regularly to review research proposals, develop lay summaries and provide feedback on ongoing projects. Our PIRG members are active in the AWRC community, attending and contributing to Board meetings, co-locator forums and we even welcomed them onto site towards the end of the year. If you, or anyone you know is interested in joining our PIRG, we are always looking for new members. You can find out more at our website.
And So Much More…
So there we have it! What a year. I should note that this has been a whistle-stop tour of just a few of the highlights of 2021; there have been so many wonderful projects, it’s impossible to mention them all. I hope that this post has been an interesting insight into the diverse work that happens at the AWRC. We’d love to hear from you, whether you’re a researcher interested in collaborating with us, a business applying to the Wellbeing Accelerator, or a member of the public who would like to join the PIRG, please do get in touch. Contact details are available at our website. Finally, I’ll leave you with some of the lighter moments of 2021. It’s not all hard work down on the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, we also know how to have a good time! Here’s to a happy, healthy and active 2022.
Rob and Ian's Epic Bike Ride for Yorkshire Cancer Research
In May, our Director Prof. Rob Copeland and Senior Technical Specialist Ian Brookes set out on an epic bike ride of 450 miles in three days (yes, that’s four hundred and fifty, not a typo) for Yorkshire Cancer Research’s Tour de Walkshire campaign. They achieved their impressive goal, and the sore legs all seemed worth it when they doubled their target and raised over £5000 for the charity. Let’s see if they can up the challenge in 2022!
Summer's Beat the Street Fun
In June we hosted the launch of Beat the Street, the Move More initiative which transformed Sheffield into a giant outdoors game throughout June and July. We loved having the beat boxes dotted around the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park and our local areas, and the competitive side of our staff truly came out in the AWRC Beat the Street tournament! You can read more about how Beat the Street helped to lift thousands of adults and children out of inactivity in their final report.
Claire's Scootathon for the MND Association
Our amazing Receptionist Claire completed a Scootathon challenge for the Motor Neurone Disease Association in October. She managed to raise a whopping £810 scooting ten kilometres on her trusty scooter Beryl. Luckily the weather held out and she was kept company by various members of the team who cheered her on, were on hand with the refreshments and even joined in for a few laps. Amazing job Claire.
Jen Parry is the AWRC's Communications and Engagement Officer