Xiaohongshu
Help evaluate the impact of patient support services across one of London's largest NHS trusts
The Research Volunteering programme through the Community Research Initiative gives YOU the power to take your research and classroom skills out into the community to create a positive social impact. Through our bite size projects, you’ll work with a group of interdisciplinary peers and organisational allies to tackle a project that will draw on your research skills. These projects are flexible and designed with students in mind to give you amazing experience to fuel your CV, explore new skills, and meet other likeminded students. Each opportunity is unique, make sure to check out our page for more information.
All about the organisation
Royal Free Charity supports patients, staff, and communities across the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. The charity funds and delivers services that go beyond what the NHS can provide, helping to improve wellbeing and make a positive difference to people's experiences of healthcare.
Its work includes volunteer services, welfare and benefits support, complementary therapies, and a range of initiatives that support patients, families, carers, and hospital staff. Through these services, the charity helps create healthier, more supportive hospital communities.
A bit about the project
This project focuses on helping Royal Free Charity better understand and communicate the impact of its patient support services across Royal Free London.
The charity collects valuable data across a range of services, including volunteering, welfare and benefits advice, complementary therapies, and wider patient support programmes. Working alongside charity staff and a team of student researchers, you'll help bring this information together, identify key insights, and develop clear ways of presenting the findings. Your work will help the charity tell a stronger story about the difference its services make to patients, families, staff, and hospital communities. The findings will support fundraising, communications, service development, and future planning.
This project is a great opportunity to develop practical data and research skills while contributing to work that helps improve support for patients, families, carers, and staff across Royal Free London.
- What can I expect from this opportunity?
- Work alongside charity staff and a small team of student researchers.
- Gain practical experience analysing real-world healthcare and charity data.
- Explore how charities use evidence to understand and communicate their impact.
- Develop skills in data analysis, interpretation, and presentation.
- Create charts, visualisations, and summaries that bring data to life.
- Contribute to a report that will be used by charity staff and stakeholders.
- Build confidence presenting findings and recommendations.
- Learn how data can inform strategic decisions and service improvements.
- How will my work on this project impact the community?
- Help Royal Free Charity better understand the impact of its patient support services.
- Contribute evidence that demonstrates the value of support provided to patients, families, carers, and staff.
- Support future fundraising activities that help services continue and grow.
- Help identify opportunities to improve patient support across Royal Free London.
- Strengthen the charity's ability to communicate its impact to stakeholders.
- Support decision-making that helps improve experiences across hospital communities.
- Contribute to the long-term development of services that make a meaningful difference to people's lives.
What key tasks will the volunteer team be responsible for?
- Understanding the Data
- Learn about the new patient support model and the services delivered by the charity.
- Review existing data collected across patient support programmes.
- Build an understanding of how data is currently collected and used.
- Analysing and Integrating Data
- Review and analyse data from volunteering services, welfare support, complementary therapies, and wider patient support activities.
- Identify key trends, patterns, and insights across services and sites.
- Explore opportunities to bring data together in a more consistent and meaningful way.
- Help organise and structure datasets for analysis and reporting.
- Presenting Findings
- Develop charts, visualisations, and summaries that communicate findings clearly.
- Help create engaging outputs for reporting, communications, and fundraising purposes.
- Contribute to a short report outlining key findings and recommendations.
- Sharing Insights
- Present findings to charity colleagues.
- Respond to feedback and refine outputs where needed.
- Support the completion of final project deliverables.
What skills will I practice and develop during this experience?
- Quantitative data analysis and interpretation.
- Data management and integration.
- Data visualisation and reporting.
- Impact measurement and evaluation.
- Communicating complex information to different audiences.
- Stakeholder engagement and professional communication.
- Presentation skills.
- Project management and collaborative working.
- Understanding how charities use evidence to improve services and secure funding.
- Applying analytical skills in a real-world healthcare setting.
- A volunteer induction with Royal Free Charity.
- An introduction to the charity's patient support services and project aims.
- Guidance on handling sensitive information and data confidentiality.
- Ongoing support from charity staff throughout the project.
- Opportunities to receive feedback on analysis, reporting, and presentations.