NIHR Health Determinants Research Collaboration · South Tees
Research by communities, for communities
We put the priorities, expertise and voices of people with living experience at the centre of research that shapes public services across Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland.
A partnership of RCVDA, HDRC South Tees and Teesside University.
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community-led research questions identified with local people
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projects currently in active development across South Tees
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Changing Futures deep dives into multiple disadvantage
Communities steering the work, not just hosting it
Too often the public sector does research to communities rather than with them. Our programme rebalances that: community priorities and questions lead, and statutory framings are supporting context, not the starting point. Where a finding challenges how services engage people, we say so plainly — that scrutiny is part of the point.
Being asked what we thought mattered — and then seeing it shape the questions — that was new. It felt like our experience counted for something.
Community researcher, Middlesbrough, 2026
Watch: The Parable of the Blobs and Squares
A short animation about shaping support around people rather than systems — an idea at the heart of community-led, trauma-informed research.
Film: “The Parable of the Blobs and Squares”, by Aberdeenshire ADP (Alcohol and Drugs Partnership), via YouTube.
Get involved in community-led research
Whether you have living experience to share, a question you think should be researched, or a service that wants to work with us — we would like to hear from you.
Changing Futures deep dives
Trauma-informed practice
A community-led look at what changes when frontline services build around trauma — and what still gets in the way.
Homelessness prevention
How a Housing First approach plays out for people with the most entrenched experiences of homelessness in South Tees.
Multiple disadvantage
What people navigating several services at once tell us about the gaps between them — and where small changes would help most.