Event Insights

CORE Celebration 2025: A Night of Community-Led Research

On Thursday 20th November 2025, the Community Organised Research for Equity (CORE) initiative, part of the Health & Social Equity Collective and supported by Impact on Urban Health, held its culminating celebration at the vibrant Peckham Levels. The event brought together community organisations, researchers, university staff, funders, and local residents for an evening that blended lively discussion, creativity, and meaningful connection.

The celebration marked the end of the current cycle of CORE projects, a seed-funding programme designed to support community organisations leading their own research to address health and social inequities across Southwark and Lambeth. Over the past year, CORE has helped strengthen relationships between community groups and academic partners while amplifying the knowledge and leadership that already exists within local communities.

Spotlighting Community Leadership

One of the highlights of the evening was a powerful panel discussion featuring Star Support, South East London Mind, and Equality 4 Black Nurses. Each organisation shared their journey through the CORE programme including how their projects were developed, the challenges they addressed, and the impact they are striving to create within the community.

Their stories illuminated the sheer volume of community-led work taking place across South East London, from supporting mental health and wellbeing, to advancing equity in healthcare, to advocating for the rights and dignity of marginalised groups.

Creativity, Music, and Community Expression

Beyond the discussions, the celebration was infused with creativity. Key Changes provided vibrant live music that set a warm and uplifting tone throughout the night, encouraging guests to mingle, talk, and reflect.

Artist Maia Walcott led a live creative workshop that invited attendees to explore identity, belonging, and community through art-making. Participants contributed drawings, textures, and words to a collective piece, creating a visual expression of the themes at the heart of CORE.

Guests also explored an exhibition of the CORE project posters and creative outputs, including zines and Photovoice materials from the CONNECT study. These displays offered a tangible look at how community-led research can take many forms and reach people in accessible, creative ways.

Championing Inclusive Mental Health for LGBTQIA+ Communities

During the panel discussion, one of the speakers also highlighted a newly released report, “Amplifying LGBTQIA+ Voices to Influence Change in Mental Health Service Delivery.” Commissioned through the Queer Finds project and developed collaboratively by South East London Mind, Impact on Urban Health, and the Health & Social Equity Collective, the report sheds light on the significant barriers LGBTQIA+ people continue to face when accessing mental health support. They reflected on the report’s findings, noting how many LGBTQIA+ individuals experience discrimination, a lack of accountability, and intersecting forms of marginalisation within mental health services. The report reveals that 86.3% of trans, genderqueer, and non-binary respondents felt their gender identity significantly shaped how they were treated, while 80% of respondents from minoritised ethnic backgrounds reported that their race or ethnicity impacted their care. These findings underscore why safe, inclusive, and community-informed mental health services remain urgently needed.

Diego Garcia from South East London Mind, who spoke on the panel, emphasised that the report offers clear, actionable recommendation, from meaningful LGBTQIA+ competency training to inclusive data practices, specialist support, and stronger partnerships with grassroots organisations. Their contribution reinforced a key theme of the evening: that meaningful change in mental health equity must be shaped by the communities most affected, and that research, practice, and policy all have a role to play in creating safer and more affirming systems of care.

You can read the here Queer Finds abridged report and recommendations September 2025 here and the Lay Summary here.

Strengthening Partnerships and Looking Ahead

More than just an end-of-year celebration, the evening served as a meaningful opportunity to recognise the organisations and individuals driving change within local communities. It reaffirmed the value of community-led research and the importance of partnerships between grassroots groups, universities, and local health systems.

Many attendees spoke about how the CORE initiative has helped foster new connections and create space for collaboration that feels genuinely equitable and community-driven.

As the night drew to a close, there was a shared sense of momentum and commitment, a recognition that while the projects showcased have concluded their seed funding, the relationships, learning, and energy behind them will continue to grow.

The CORE Celebration marked not only the closing of this chapter, but also the beginning of new opportunities to build community power, champion equity, and support research shaped by those with lived experience.