community engagement

The Thinker CIC provides community engagement services for organisations and businesses, who are looking to work collaboratively to gain valuable input, explore and devise strategies and policies, and better understand the nature of the communities they serve. In hosting structured discussions with community members, using focussed stimulus materials, incisive questions, and enabling participants to develop responses, engage critically and constructively with others, we can provide substantial, meaningful outcomes that overcome the limitations of questionnaires and focus groups.

The Pandemic Institute

We are delighted to be working with The Pandemic Institute, in the formation and running of steering group meetings during 2025, with a view to facilitating rich discussion around issues relating to the preparation and responses to pandemics, and eliciting meaningful feedback that can inform the future of the institute. Here is the report from the first meeting of the group in January 2025:

"The Pandemic Institute has held the first meeting of its new Public Steering Group, opening up a discussion around emerging infections and pandemics.

The first meeting, held in The Spine Liverpool, was run in collaboration with Glenn Skelhorn from The Thinker Hub CIC who run community discussion groups focussing on ‘big’ questions and themes. The Covid-19 pandemic underlined the importance of public opinion and communities in the response and recovery of society, and this group aims to create a direct connection between the public and pandemic research. The meeting began with a presentation by Director Professor Tom Solomon CBE, which looked at the history of Liverpool as place of excellence in infectious diseases research and also the work of The Pandemic Institute including our five main research pillars and plans for a new Pandemic Preparedness and Response facility. The group then worked together to decide on topics around pandemics and emerging infections they think will be important to discuss going forward.

The group will meet four times a year to discuss current research from The Pandemic Institute, and also topics set by the group, including how we can better prepare for future emerging infections and pandemics, how to decide what information can be trusted, and what research we should prioritise particularly around how communities respond to and recover from pandemics." https://www.thepandemicinstitute.org/news/tpi-public-steering-group-launches/

NHS Primary Care Network Partnership

In 2023-24, The Thinker CIC joined the Community Innovation Team (CIT) for Central and North Liverpool Primary Care Networks to work on a project focussed on tackling the issue of low levels of MMR immunisation in certain areas of Liverpool. Our input offered a non-prescriptive approach, with community discussion sessions run in Toxteth, Kensington, and Norris Green, on the topic of ‘good thinking and medical decision-making’, unpacking the nature of excellent thinking and how this might be applied to medical decisions. In addition, we devised resources for social media, produced video resources, crafted a teaching resource pack for schools across communities to utilise, and participated in the Health Equity Liverpool Project (HELP) Learning Event. 

"...it has been wonderful and very interesting to see the range of resources and personalised messaging that the team has produced - including creative assets, and the hyperlocal approaches to reach out to target communities."  - Dr Emer Coffey, Associate Director Public Health, Liverpool City Council