Cumbria Youth Co-research Collective publish first research report 

We are Cumbria Youth Co-research Collective (CYCC)! We share an interest in how research can be more genuinely inclusive of different backgrounds, ideas and priorities. We think this is important because research happens every day but doesn’t always authentically include the people it is about or is seeking to help. This is especially true when research is focused on young people and through the new CYCC we hope to disrupt this pattern.

We were asked to undertake a research engagement project to support Petteril Community Panel better understand how their priority of ‘Children and Young People’ should be progressed and actioned. Between April – July 2025, we worked together to design, deliver and present findings that answer “how can Petteril community area be more youth friendly?”.

You can now read our full report here

We used the Lundy Model of Participation to underpin the research design and a mixed methods approach was applied, allowing for both quantitative and qualitative data generation and analysis. A survey was used as the primary method of data generation; opportunities for independent survey completion were available, alongside significant fieldwork undertaken by youth and peer youth co-researchers across a range of youth focused sites. Six peer research workshops were also facilitated to enhance participant inclusion. A total of 244 young people took part.

The findings show a mixed experience of Petteril community area being ‘youth friendly’ overall, with younger children (5 – 11) reporting more positively than teenagers (12 – 15). The principles of safety and fun were frequently intertwined as priorities and are important considerations within a context of evolving capacity, agency and independence through childhood. Where young people attend youth friendly spaces and groups, their experiences are positive, but there is a clear need to improve knowledge of them, increase access, and expand on them in order to improve ‘youth friendly’ experiences. Young people show a clear desire to be part of imagining and co-creating plans for the future of their communities, with time and action needed to (re)build trust that their contributions will be taken seriously. Inclusivity is felt strongly by young people and there is consistent narrative aligned to boosting inclusivity.

Having presented the research findings at a community panel event in July, the CYCC will conclude the project on 1^st December 2025, hearing how the research has shaped a number of recommendations for Petteril Community Panel including

• Members to agree to adopt the Lundy Model of Participation as the Panel’s approach to youth participation.
• Members to agree to create a Young Person’s Working Group for the Panel.
• Members to agree to use the Young Person’s Working Group as the youth voice for the Panel, improving co-production.

Alongside new knowledge and insight relating to the research focus, the project has demonstrated the potential of high-quality youth co-research in bringing unique, purposeful, robust and authentic engagement from often overlooked voices.

This research engagement project was our first funded project. We applied what we know or have recently learnt to the delivery of it, alongside learning lots of new things along the way. Having started our own journey to getting ‘research ready’ we are even more convinced that it has the chance to help us change things and is actually more FUN than we thought!

We have just secured our next research project, funded by the Pears Cumbria School of Medicine Research Hub. This project is titled “Building Us In from the Beginning: A novel Youth Co-Research project examining how young people in Cumbria can influence and shape future healthcare experiences through meaningful co-design”. We are working alongside medical students and GP Robert Westgate to ensure the research project has tangible outcomes which will shape real world experiences.

BACKGROUND TO CUMBRIA YOUTH CO-RESEARCH COLLECTIVE

The Cumbria Youth Co-research Collective (CYCC) were established in November 2024. The Collective formed through a shared interest in how research can be more genuinely inclusive of different backgrounds, ideas and priorities. They think this is important because research happens every day but doesn’t always authentically include the people it is about or is seeking to help through improved services, support and/or experiences. This is especially true when research is focused on young people and through the CYCC they are hoping to disrupt this pattern.

The CYCC is made up of a range of roles, all of which offer opportunities to be paid for contributions made:

• Youth Co-researchers (young people aged 12 – 17yrs)
• Peer Youth Co-researchers (young adults aged 18 – 24yrs)
• Community Co-researchers (adults who are in supportive roles such as youth workers, teachers, social workers, heath care staff etc)
• Academic Co-researchers (adults based in or connected to a University)

The exact make up of a co-research team varies depending on the research project and research question being explored. The CYCC is designed to be flexible and to enlist a range of interested people throughout the research project which support the research project aims.

Underpinning all co-research activity is a research capacity building programme titled “Get Research Ready With Me”.  The programme has been developed in collaboration with Professor Amanda Taylor-Beswick (University of Cumbria), Lauren Wyatt (a former Youth Co-researcher and now Co-production Enabler with Boingboing Foundation), and young people and young adults at Carlisle Youth Zone (CYZ). The programme has embedded youth peer learning and knowledge exchange from the outset which is essential to the integrity and authenticity of youth co-research and the meaningful development of CYCC.

Two blogs are available which share the learning and development to date:

• Walking The Talk Of Youth Co-Research; https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:b7829ec4-2170-4582-9521-6ce5489118c3?viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover
• Research Ready, Steady, Go… How We Moved Towards Becoming Research Active; https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:a5f1cd2e-deab-4825-a6fe-c91b7db096cb?viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover