Research
Community Research
Bringing hard-to-reach voices into the research that shapes their lives
For over three years, Bold Actions CIC has worked as a trusted community research partner, connecting professional researchers with global majority communities across the West Midlands whose voices are too often missing from mainstream research.
Why researchers work with us
Some of the communities most affected by health, social and economic inequality are also the hardest for mainstream researchers to reach. Language barriers, mistrust of institutions, and a history of being studied rather than heard mean that vital lived experience is routinely left out of the evidence base.
Bold Actions CIC exists to close that gap. As a key community partner on research projects across the West Midlands, we open doors that institutions can’t open on their own, building trust, translating research aims into everyday language, and creating safe spaces for people to speak honestly about the issues affecting their lives and communities.
We don’t just recruit participants. We help shape the questions being asked, surface the issues that matter most on the ground, and make sure participants are genuinely heard and not just counted.
A trusted delivery partner
Since 2022, we’ve been a key community partner on research and engagement projects delivered in collaboration with:
Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (BVSC)
University of Birmingham
West Midlands Combined Authority
and other regional institutions and funders
Through this work, we’ve supported research into health, social care and community wellbeing, helping raise issues affecting people from the global majority communities in the West Midlands and ensuring their perspectives directly inform local services, policy, and funding decisions.
Ready to collaborate
Bold Actions CIC have qualified and trained Community Researchers embedded within the communities we serve. They bring:
Lived experience and established trust within global majority communities across the West Midlands
Training in ethical community research practice
The language, cultural insight, and relationships needed to reach people mainstream research methods miss
Our Community Researchers are available for new projects, secondments, and collaborations. Whether that’s co-designing a study, running community conversations, gathering qualitative insight, or supporting participant recruitment and retention.
How we can support your next project
We work alongside universities, NHS bodies, local authorities, and third-sector research partners. Services include:
Community access & recruitment – reaching participants from hard-to-reach communities
Co-design & consultation – shaping research questions and materials so they reflect real community priorities
Community Researcher deployment – trained researchers to run interviews, focus groups, and listening sessions
Trust-building & engagement – culturally competent facilitation that improves participation and data quality
Dissemination support – feeding findings back to funders, partners and communities in accessible, meaningful ways
If you’re a professional researcher or institution working on a project that needs to reach and genuinely engage global majority communities in the West Midlands, we’d like to hear from you.
Let’s talk about your next research project
Contact us to discuss collaboration, commission our Community Researchers, or explore a partnership.
Our Research Impact – Advancing Qualitative Research
Research shapes our policies, our communities, our wellbeing, and our future. Yet, structural hurdles continue to lock brilliant minds and vital perspectives out of the process. We are stepping up to change that narrative. We advocate for dismantling the systemic barriers that have long shaped and restricted traditional research cultures. Our mission is to champion a bold, uncompromising shift toward greater inclusivity at every level of research. We exist to ignite a passion for discovery, empowering individuals from the global majority to step into research spaces with confidence.
“Research belongs to everyone. Whether you are an institution ready to evolve, an academic looking to collaborate, or a community member eager to make your voice heard, your perspective is vital. Together, let’s build a research culture that is truly representative, equitable, and open to all.”
Since 2022, Bold Actions CIC has helped shape Birmingham-based research, both directly, through our Director’s accredited role as a Community Researcher with the University of Birmingham and BVSC’s CHERP network, and through the wider network of Community Researchers we work alongside. Here’s where you can see that work in action.
BVSC Long Covid Report 2024
Bold Actions CIC delivered a local Long COVID awareness session for Birmingham residents, featured as Case Study 9 in this report. The session helped an attendee understand persistent symptoms, explore self-management strategies, and learn where to find ongoing support after her GP care fell short.
Read the BVSC Long Covid Report 2024
Addressing Isolation, Loneliness and Mental Health Challenges
Authored by our Director, Jean Claude Kabuiku, this poster was one of ten community-identified health priorities researched as part of a wider Community Researcher-led project. It explores the role of faith-based support in tackling isolation and loneliness within Birmingham’s African communities.
WM-ADAPT: Updates and Resources
Our Community Researchers bring grassroots insight to WM-ADAPT, a NERC-funded climate adaptation project run in partnership with BVSC, the University of Birmingham and the West Midlands Combined Authority. Through World Café-style community conversations, this work ensured that Birmingham residents’ lived experiences of extreme weather inform future climate resilience planning.
Bridging Two Important Worlds: Community and Research
A first-person reflection from our Director, Jean Claude Kabuiku, on his journey as a Community Researcher, drawing on projects covering Long COVID, access to green spaces, urban wellbeing, and mental health within Birmingham’s ethnic minority communities.
CHERP Engagement with Research – Short Films
Our Community Researchers form part of the network of grassroots researchers featured across this series, showing how community-rooted expertise helps academic institutions build trusted, lasting relationships with local organisations.