About us
A partnership of Lambeth community organisations, collaborating to make research work for our communities.
The Lambeth Community Research Network (LCRN) was set up in 2023, to facilitate community-based research in Lambeth that leads to positive change for local communities. It aims to enable local communities to take a lead role in setting research priorities and throughout all stages of the research process. The network includes local voluntary and community sector organisations, academics and research bodies who are committed to community-based research. Through its research bank, free resources and events, the network aims to build local capacity and encourage effective collaboration between stakeholders and communities in Lambeth.
The network believes that research in Lambeth should be:
Grounded in the needs, issues and concerns of communities and the community-based organisations that serve them.
Meaningfully engaging communities and community knowledge in the research process and its outcomes.
Supporting and enhancing the strategic action that leads to community transformation and social change.
Influencing policy change that benefits Lambeth communities.
Staying accountable to people involved in community research and to those affected by the research themes.
Our work so far
The network emerged from local organisations coming together with a desire to ensure that the research taking place in Lambeth is grounded in the needs of local communities and directly leads to positive change. This formed the basis of the LCRN Steering Group, whose members have collectively over 100 years of experience of working with Lambeth communities.
The LCRN Steering Group has created a Research Charter which outlines what we believe high-quality, community-based research should look like and provides a clear vision for what we are trying to achieve.
Over the last year, we have been working on the governance and structure of the network and developing an ethics framework for community research in Lambeth.
Research priorities for 2024/25
Looking ahead, we have now set out the network’s research priorities for 2024/25, with initial research focusing on two communities of interest: young people and migrant/refugee communities. As a network, we have significant experience supporting and working with these communities and currently reach thousands of individuals a year through our direct services and wider engagement.
The body of community research exploring the experiences of children and young people living in Lambeth has developed considerably over the last few years. Each of the Lambeth Community Research Network’s Steering Group members have explored this in different contexts and the Lambeth Peer Action Collective (LPAC) brought together youth providers from across Lambeth, in an ambitious participatory action research programme. Over 400 young people took part in research that sought to understand young people’s experiences of violence in Lambeth. Action-focused discussions with young people on the research findings highlighted several areas where further youth led community research was needed, including in the areas of housing, opportunities and education.
Current research projects being undertaken by steering group members include: understanding the role trusted spaces and trusted adults play in protecting young people from experiences of violence in Lambeth (LPAC, led by High Trees), experiences of trauma and violence in custody (Juvenis), experiences of Black girls of harm in school and education (Milk Honey Bees), access to mental health and access support for Black children and their families (Black Thrive) and legal rights to education for migrant children (IRMO).
High Trees, Stockwell Partnership and IRMO have been working with migrant groups for over 25 years and have seen first hand the structural disadvantage migrant groups can face as they try to establish themselves in the UK. Listening events with migrant communities have given voice to the specific challenges faced by these communities in Lambeth and identified a need for a better understanding of their experiences and opportunities to take action.
Current research projects being undertaken by steering group members include: improving access to ESOL provision for those in employment (High Trees), legal rights to education for migrant children (IRMO), and the impact of community led initiatives to improve migrant wellbeing (Stockwell Partnership).
The steering group
The steering group is made up of five Lambeth based organisations: High Trees, Black Thrive, Juvenis, Indoamerican Refugee Migrant Organisation (IRMO) and Stockwell Partnership. These organisations oversee the development of the network and the research undertaken by its members.
This partnership is managed by High Trees.
