HSC R&D Division were one of the original signatories of the Shared Commitment to Public Involvement in 2022.
At that time, we committed to continue our funding for Personal and Public Involvement (PPI) through the PPI in Research Small Grant Scheme (which first launched in 2020). Due to demand and the positive outcomes achieved, HSC R&D Division are re-affirming their commitment to this scheme in the coming years.
This scheme offers grants of up to £2500 to support people working in Health and Social Care (HSC) research to access resources to help them implement and develop PPI in their own projects or programmes, and to enable PPI contributors already involved in research to apply for courses or workshops to help develop them in their role.
Between 2020 and 2025, we are pleased to update that 25 awards with a total value of £60,588 have been made (view our infographic here).
Some examples where this funding has made a difference is the formation of a head and neck cancer PPI sub-group and a Lewy Body Dementia Research Advisory Group. More recently, funding has been awarded to create a PPI group for kidney research. Funding has also supported various initiatives such as the co-production of a podcast to help educate undergraduate nursing students about Parkinson’s Disease¹, a co-produced course ‘Getting Involved in Research’ for those with lived experience of Health and Social Care², and to support shared learning amongst PPI groups. PPI contributors have also been supported through the fund to attend courses and conferences, for example VOICE, a course in London for cancer patient advocates that aims to explain the research pipeline; from ideas through experiments to clinical trials³.
A recent evaluation of the scheme has shown how valuable the funding has been for the research community within Northern Ireland. Our awardees told us:
“We are grateful for the support provided through this scheme, which has allowed us to establish a strong foundation for meaningful PPI, and we look forward to building on this momentum in future work”.
“The most significant impact of being awarded the PPI in Research Small Grant has been the ability to establish a sustainable, collaborative PPI panel at an early stage of programme development, fundamentally shaping the direction, relevance and quality of this research area”.
“This award enabled training opportunities for two PPI representatives that simply would not have happened without this award. The award was invaluable and acknowledges the value of our PPI representatives in cancer research”.
If you are interested in finding out how this scheme could support you with PPI in your research projects or programmes, please contact Dr Janet Diffin (Senior R&D Programme Manager)4.
- Co_design_implementation_and_evaluation_of_an_audio_podcast_about_Parkinson_s_Disease.pdf
- ‘Getting involved in research’: a co-created, co-delivered and co-analysed course for those with lived experience of health and social care services
- https://research.hscni.net/sites/default/files/VOICE 2024 - Report for City of London Centre Newsletter.pdf
- Please note that the PPI in Research Small Grant Scheme ‘Guidance for Applicants’ and application form has recently been updated (March 2026).
