Author: Sarah Crabtree

The next deadline for the Royal Society of Chemistry Outreach Fund is 5pm (UK time) on 5 June 2026.

The Fund offers grants of up to £10,000 to support exciting and creative chemical science engagement activities across the UK and Republic of Ireland.

We fund a broad range of projects that connect communities from all backgrounds with the chemical sciences. If you work with, or have an idea to engage, schools, community groups, families, public audiences or underserved communities, this fund could help support your work or bring a brand‑new idea to life.

If you’re thinking of applying, or just want to explore what’s possible, you might also find inspiration in the RSC Education Outreach Hub, which brings together a wide range of outreach resources and case studies.

Applications to the Outreach Fund are accepted on a rolling basis, with deadlines at 5pm (UK time) on 5 June, and a final closing date of 5pm on 2 October 2026.
For full information about the scheme and to access the application form, please visit:
https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Frsc.li%2Foutreach-fund&data=05%7C02%7Csarah.crabtree%40KCL.AC.UK%7C70d39130db7149ea741d08deac4220da%7C8370cf1416f34c16b83c724071654356%7C0%7C0%7C639137597327637616%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=6S6WyvsI4OhE1PJAW94UjW23ACOeMvCD%2F66TucFN6nc%3D&reserved=0
If you have any questions, you’re also very welcome to get in touch via outreach@rsc.org.

Hello everyone,

My name is Irene Higginson, and I am a Dr and Professor of Palliative Care working on a new NIHR evidence review proposal focused on early palliative care in respiratory disease. I am looking for public collaborators to provide comments on the proposal at this stage, with opportunities for further involvement in online workshops in the future.

This work aims to better understand how early palliative care can support people living with advanced lung conditions, reflecting priorities highlighted through the James Lind Alliance.

I am particularly keen to hear from 3-4 people with experience of respiratory or lung conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, or interstitial lung disease, either through personal experience or caring for someone. I am keen to bring together a diverse group of contributors with a range of experiences , and this will be reflected in the selection of the group. I will let you know of the outcome of your expression of interest by 10 May 2026.

What’s involved? .. Providing feedback on the proposal (approximately one hour or less). The initial work will be online. There may also be opportunities to join online workshops at a later stage to help shape the work further.

Reimbursement .. As a thank you for your time, you can claim £27.50 for the initial reviewing, which equates to around one hour of activity, providing feedback on the proposal.

If you are interested, would like to know more, or need additional support to take part, please get in touch with my colleague Eleanor Rochester at: eleanor.rochester@kcl.ac.uk

Many thanks for reading this, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Irene Higginson

On 30th March, the INSPIRE consortium and Cancer Patients Europe hosted a webinar called ‘INSPIRE: Strengthening Patient Participation in Palliative Rehabilitation Research’. The event aimed to strengthen patient involvement by gathering priorities and expectations regarding palliative rehabilitation during cancer treatment.

Dr Jo Bayly, INSPIRE scientific manager, gave an overview of the INSPIRE project and Professor Matthew Maddocks, Chief Investigator, presented preliminary results. Jo explained how the initial idea for INSPIRE came directly from a patient who wondered why the rehab he received towards the end of his life wasn’t offered earlier.

A panel discussion, including Dr Jo Bayly, three patient advocates – Christine Campbell, Katell Maguet and David Chuter – and Dr Cathy Payne from the European Association for Palliative Care, explored patients’ priorities in palliative rehabilitation. Discussions included the need for a personalised approach, the importance of small, everyday goals, and challenges facing younger, ‘fitter’ patients for whom rehab goals and expectations may differ. Although INSPIRE is designed to be integrated into existing services, this relies on local services being available, and panel members discussed the ‘postcode lottery’ and differences in availability and access to services.

The event was attended by 37 people, and the recording can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_biFIhSluYU

The Collaboration and Innovation Grant is a new funding scheme, awarding up to £10,000 for the formation of practice-led, cross-sector teams to facilitate knowledge exchange and collaboration between sectors, from which experimental public engagement activity will emerge.  

There will be an application webinar on Monday 9 March, 2-3pm, to find out more. Booking here: Centre for Public Engagement Practice Booking Form – Form 

For questions relating to the Collaboration and Innovation Grant, please email cpep@sas.ac.uk. 

Being Human Festival is the UK’s national festival of the humanities and runs from 5 – 14 November with the theme Crossroads. The 2026 call for applications offers multiple funding pathways and one unfunded pathway. 

There will be an application webinar on Wednesday 25 February, 11am – 12pm, to find out more. Sign up here 
Find out about Being Human Festival 2026 

For questions relating to Being Human Festival, please email beinghuman@sas.ac.uk. 

We are looking for volunteers to support research into a questionnaire that helps people with liver disease tell their doctors about their symptoms and concerns. Your input will help people with liver disease express their views and improve healthcare for many people who often face significant health inequalities. We would like to hear from people who live with chronic liver disease, or who have experience of caring for someone with advanced liver disease. You will attend a 30 minute online Teams meeting to discuss a new medical questionnaire. In the meeting you will be asked to give your opinion on whether the questions that are being developed are clear and understandable. All communication will be through email. We offer a £10 gift voucher to say thank you for your contribution. If you are interested in supporting this project please email hyeg19@hyms.ac.uk before 23/2/26. Thank you. Dr Beth Gulliksen (PhD student at Hull York Medical School)

The RSC Outreach Fund is open for 2026 – offering up to £10,000 to support exciting and creative chemical science engagement activities across the UK and ROI.
We fund a broad range of projects that connect communities from all backgrounds with the chemical sciences.

If you work with or have an idea to engage schools, community groups, families, public audiences or underserved communities, this fund could help support your work or bring a brand‑new idea to life. Or if you are looking for inspiration – take a look at the RSC Education Outreach Hub

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year, with deadlines at 5pm (UK time) on 6 March, 5 June, and a final closing deadline at 5pm on 2 October 2026.
If anyone has any questions about a project or application, please do get in touch with me via outreach@rsc.org.

For information on the scheme and to access the application form please go to the website.

We’re delighted to announce the launch of a new online introductory training course on ‘The Foundations of Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement’, developed by a team of public contributors and staff from across King’s. For those new or less experienced in involving people in their research, starting to plan public involvement can be overwhelming, with hundreds of resources and pieces of guidance out there. This training aims to distil all this information down to the essential elements you need to get started in running involvement activities. It contains 6 sections, including videos and helpful resources covering: what PPIE is, why it’s important, practical advice on how to plan and deliver this work, and what best practice looks like for ensuring that your PPIE is meaningful and inclusive. This course is designed to be flexible to complete alongside various working patterns and can provide you with a certificate of completion.

Foundations in Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement

The Centre for Translational Medicine would like to remind researchers of the Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Pre-grant Support Fund! 🎉This scheme offers up to £350 of funding to support PPIE activities in grant application! This is internal to staff across King’s Health Partners (KCL, GSTT, KCH, SLAM). Applications are reviewed on a monthly rolling basis. 
For more information on eligibility and to apply see Patient and Public Involvement/Engagement Pre-grant Support Fund :: King’s Health Partners

We are delighted to invite you to register your interest to the next series of ‘Developing Leaders in Palliative Care’ workshops. 

This series of workshops will offer PhD students at the Cicely Saunders Institute a chance to collaborate with patients and members of the public (PPI). PPI members will have the opportunity to share their experiences and expertise with the students, to help them with their PhD studies and ensure their research will have a real-world impact. No previous research experience is necessary.  

The first workshop will be held on Wednesday 21st January 2026, 11.30-13.00. This workshop will be held online, via Zoom. Attendees of the first workshop will be invited to two subsequent workshops, dates to be confirmed. The second workshop will be held online, and the third will have the option to be held in person, in London. All attendees will be reimbursed for their time and, if attending in person, we will pay reasonable travel expenses to the final workshop.  

In this first workshop, we will hold three parallel sessions, as detailed below: 

Room 1 

• Amelia Cook: The validity and acceptability of the Integrated Palliative Outcome Scale in diverse populations with advanced illness 
• Charlotte Davies: Does a standardised comprehensive palliative care assessment (CPCA) improve person-centred assessment; how may it work and what is required to support its implementation into routine hospice care? 

Room 2 

• Natalie Ramjeeawon: Family caregiver’s hospital experiences of older adults in the last three months of life  

• Megan Bowers: Experiences of changes in physical function: analysis of interviews with people with cancer and weight loss 

Room 3 

• India Tunnard-Johnson: Geographical variation in place of death for people with dementia vs cancer 

• Ana Maksimovic: Economics and decision-making in dementia 

• Evan Brock: The use of Artificial Intelligence in Palliative Care and Dementia Care 

To ensure representativeness, we will be asking you to provide some information about yourself. All the information you provide will be kept confidential. After the events, all data will be destroyed.  

We will need to keep the meeting small to give you time to express your views and discuss fully. If we receive more applications than spaces available, we may only be able to invite some applicants to attend. However, we will be in touch to let you know of future opportunities.  

If you are interested in attending, please fill in the form using the link below to register your interest by Monday 5th January 2026. 

Developing PhD students through Patient and Public Involvement workshops – Fill out form 

A final list of attendees will be determined and notified by Friday 9th January 2026.  Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Best wishes,
India, Rachel, Megan, Natalie, Ana, and Amelia