Our Project
We are a team of eleven student partners from the five Greater Manchester Universities: The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, The University of Bolton, The University of Salford, and the Royal Northern College of Music.
Starting in September 2020 we have been working on a co-produced project evaluating the Greater Manchester Universities Student Mental Health Service (GMUSMHS). This is a relatively new service that works in partnership with the five Greater Manchester universities to support students struggling with their mental health to achieve their university ambitions and improve their overall experience.
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Based at the University of Manchester, our evaluation project is funded by the Office for Students and is part of the Mental Health Challenge Competition. Our evaluation falls under the Student Mental Health Partnerships Project headed by The University of the West of England.
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Over the last year we have been speaking to students who have used this service through focus groups and interviews that we, the student partners, have designed and delivered. This is where co-production comes in! Co-production, in its simplest form, is professionals and the users of a service working together to shape the future of that service. It's important to us that the students that use the GMUSMHS have a say in the direction it takes because ultimately we want the service to meet their needs!
In addition to working with student service users, from the very start, our project has been co-designed and delivered by students. We believe that we as students have a unique perspective that allows us to better connect with users of the GMUSMHS, who also happen to be GM university students. We like to think we're a little less intimidating than professional researchers with white lab coats and clipboards!
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Co-production isn't just about mental health services. We believe universities should utilize co-production to engage students in shaping their university experience. Students could play an active role in how courses are run, how buildings are used, and the kind of academic and pastoral support available.
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This podcast explores our experiences with co-production, from the logistics to the environment the co-production ethos creates. We hope you'll join us and maybe even bring co-production into your own systems!
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Special thanks to the University of Manchester for supporting this evaluation project and to the Office for Students for the funding.
Meet The Team
Elli
Elli is a third-year BSc Psychology student at Manchester Metropolitan University. She is completely undecided about post-graduation plans, but knows she wants to work with children. She currently works as a teaching assistant and in her free time she's on the path to making the perfect home made wontons!
Anvita
Anvita is in her final year of her Masters of Science doing Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Manchester. As a South Asian student, she hopes to encourage other ethnic minorities to share their experiences and destigmatize mental health. In her spare time she loves playing guitar and piano and spending time outside with her dog.
Joe
Joe is a student at Manchester Metropolitan University, doing his Masters in International Relations and Global Communications. He is particularly interested in the role that demographic factors play in our mental health. He's a football and music geek and claims distinctly middling abilities at both!
Sigourney
Sigourney (Zigi for short) is a recent graduate of the Popular Music: Vocal Performance course at the Royal Northern College of Music. In 2022, she will be starting her Masters in Music Therapy at the University of the West of England! In her spare time she adores climbing, kayaking and cooking.
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Madeleine
Madeleine is a recent graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music where she completed her Bachelors of Music in Violin Performance. She is interested in education and getting students to become an active part of their own learning, which fits perfectly in with co-production! In her spare time you'll usually find her cooking Japanese food.
Caitlin
Caitlin is a third-year psychology student at the University of Manchester. In her spare time she enjoys pole dancing!
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Tobi
Tobi is a medical student at the University of Manchester.
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Anita
Alice
Alice is a recent graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music where she earned her Bachelor's of Music in Violin Performance. She was president of the RNCM Students' Union in 2019/2020. She reckons she'd be in for a good shot at winning Great British Bake Off if they were competing purely for the best Millionaire's Shortbread!
Kiye
Shaheen
Shaheen is a Masters student at Manchester Metropolitan University where she is studying Biomedical Science.
Lili
Anita works at the University of Manchester as the Evaluation Co-ordinator on this project. In her free time she enjoys going on meditation retreats, walking in the Lakeland fells, and expanding her cooking repertoire with recipe boxes.
Kiye is in her third year of her undergraduate degree in Health and Social Care at The University of Bolton. In her spare time she collects plants...lots of plants.
Lili is a Masters student at the University of Manchester where she studies Political Science, Governance, and Public Policy.
