The Social Care Community was a successful capacity-building scheme for pre and post-doctoral social care practitioners and researchers. The programme, launched in April 2024, ran until March 2026 and was funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) as part of its commitment to supporting and promoting applied social care research.
The national programme supported over 65 social care practitioners, practitioner-researchers and early to mid-career researchers across 15 Applied Research Collaborations in England. ARC Kent Surrey and Sussex (KSS) were the lead ARC, nationally.
The aim of the capacity building programme was to promote and strengthen links between academic and practitioner communities in adults and children’s social care and social work, as well as to support the development of knowledge, skills and confidence in research that drives positive and lasting change for adults with care and support needs, children and young people, families, the workforce and the public.
The programme offered the first step into applied research for some participants. It has given confidence in how to apply research in practice and shape or deliver research in collaboration with academic researchers. For post-doctoral researchers, the scheme has supported a greater understanding of practice, the experience of practitioners and how to work effectively with social care organisations to deliver high quality and impactful applied social care research.
Social Care Capacity Building in Kent, Surrey and Sussex (KSS)
The ARC KSS social care capacity building programme supported five award holders:
- Alison Charles – Themed Project Fellow for the ARC National Priority Programme (NPP) Care Planning in Care Homes project
- Lilly Trapp, Research Facilitator at Kent County Council
- Sophie Jones, Social Worker, East Sussex County Council
- Lucinda Kalupka, Home Counties Carers, Surrey
- Lisa Richardson, Researcher, University of Kent (now at King’s College London)
National Community
Each of the 15 regional ARCs developed their own tailored programme of capacity building to reflect their region’s needs and priorities. The national programme led by ARC KSS created a space to collaborate, share knowledge and learning, and network. It included:
- Quarterly online meeting of ARC social care capacity building leads to support learning across ARCs.
- Handbook and an online induction/orientation meeting
- Bi-monthly online meeting of the cohort of award holders to support networking, peer support and learning, and reflection on topics of interest, e.g., starting out in research for practitioners, mentoring, how to access/read journal articles, use of AI, the role of ‘researchers in residence’, implementation and impact, next steps in research.
- Two national events held in London (2024) and York (2025) to facilitate networking, peer learning and support. The York event was also a space to celebrate the learning and achievements of the programme.
Further information
For further information about the ARC KSS regional programme, please see links below.
ARC KSS Research Week 2025 presentation
Interviews with ARC KSS individual award holders:
Posters created by Lucinda Kalupka and Sophie Jones
For further information about the ARC National Community see the final report or slides.
