Third Sector Research Partnership
The SPARK Third Sector Research Partnership (TSRP) aims to create a vibrant Third Sector research culture by forming equitable partnerships between Third Sector Organisations and Cardiff University academics, through the development and sharing of research skills, mobilisation of existing evidence and the co-production of new research, creating positive change for disadvantaged communities in the Cardiff Capital Region.
Through the TSRP Pro Bono Research Support Programme small and medium-size Third Sector Organisations are matched with academics who commit to providing 10 hours of pro bono support to help meet their identified research and evidence needs. These needs are identified with Third Sector Organisations expressing interest in academic support through a Research Mapping Workshop. Ideas are then further refined and set out on a Pro Bono Support Request Form. We then look across Cardiff University to find academics with the right expertise, experience, and skills to ‘match’ with the Third Sector Organisations and provide them with the requested support. You can see a list of our TSRP Research Fellows here. Many of these Third Sector / Cardiff University matched pairs and research collaborations continue and evolve beyond the initial 10 hours of pro bono support, co-creating new research projects, jointly applying for new funding or scaling the outputs from their collaboration within and beyond the CCR.
Where possible, we also engage Civic Insights students in providing support to Third Sector Organisations, for example to undertake a rapid literature review or scope similar projects to the Third Sector Organisation operating elsewhere in the UK. In the photo below, TSRP Research Fellow Dr Andy Williams and Civic Insights student Imogen Brooks are providing academic support to Helen Griffiths from the community-based organisation Hope St Mellons.
A TSRP Steering Group with representatives from universities and Third Sector Organisations from across Wales acts in an advisory capacity and supports the development and delivery of the work of the TSRP. This includes Together for Change, Building Communities Trust, Cwmpas, University of South Wales, Swansea University, WCVA and C3SC.
Third Sector Organisations receiving pro bono support from Cardiff University academics and students to date include:
Together for Trowbridge St Mellons
Sub-Sahara Advisory Panel (SSAP)
National Autistic Society Wales (Cardiff)
Cardiff Community Anchor Organisations Network (CAN)
You can read about the development of the TSRP here, here and here. Visit this page for future blogs and case studies.