Social Action for Health and Queen Mary University of London – Partnering for better health in Tower Hamlets

18 June 2026

Based in the Brady Centre, just off Whitechapel Road, Social Action for Health is a grassroots health charity that provides services and support to those most impacted by health inequalities. Their work began when a group of local GPs, recognising health inequalities playing out in their patient population, were motivated to work with Queen Mary academics and the local community to tackle wider social and related issues that impact so much on health.  

Today, Social Action for Health continues to work with local communities in Tower Hamlets and throughout East London, on a mission to support and address the priorities of those most affected by health inequalities, and to champion the case for wider structural and societal change. They do this in two main ways: delivering free direct services (such as conversation clubs for men and women, exercise groups, mother and baby groups) and supporting people from communities most affected by health inequalities to get involved in health and related research.   

Social Action for Health believes in the positive effect that inclusive, non-extractive research can have for local communities, and partners with institutions like Queen Mary to ensure that local people can shape and influence this work. Most Social Action for Health participants live with multiple, long-term health conditions, speak little or no English, have very low household income and are navigating complex social circumstances. The team is also very aware that local communities have the most to lose if they are excluded from shaping healthcare and research agendas, perpetuating and potentially widening health inequalities. Inclusive research highlights and provides tools by which local people and academic researchers can take action to address those inequalities.  

Queen Mary believes the same. Our Civic University Agreement commits us to “a healthy and sustainable future”, including addressing health inequalities facing local East London residents. Our Centre for Public Engagement team specifically supports researchers wanting to connect to the local community through grants, advice and training. 

United by a common aim, sustained with mutual respect, and with an ethos of equal partnership, many Queen Mary researchers have partnered with Social Action for Health to deliver research that engages local communities, supported in many cases by the Centre for Public Engagement and their grant schemes. Examples range from large, long-term studies like Genes & Health, where Social Action for Health led community engagement and piloted and developed sustainable outreach and recruitment methods in community venues such as mosques and libraries, to supporting PhD Students taking their first steps in collaborative and inclusive research design. Other recent examples of projects to address local challenges that have been supported by the Queen Mary Centre for Public Engagement and have been delivered in partnership with Social Action for Health, include: 

• ‘The Big Mouth Project’ in Tower Hamlets - exploring oral health research priorities through community conversation events and an online survey (supported by a Large Grant 2024-25) 
• A project co-developing animations explaining how large language models are used in health research (Participatory Research Fund Grant 2024-25) 

• Who do you trust?  - a series of creative arts community engagement sessions culminating in a performance and interactive meal exploring barriers to Covid-19 vaccine uptake and trust (Large Grant 2021-22) 

The impact of this long-standing collaboration is far-reaching 

By partnering with Social Action for Health, Queen Mary academics not only have an opportunity to work with communities vital to their research, but also to start a dialogue with the organisation. As experts in local health, Social Action for Health support academics to engage in a meaningful and appropriate way. This can better inform academics’ research, allowing for deeper insights to be gathered and developed, with a shared goal of producing better outcomes for the local community and those involved.  

Ceri Durham, CEO for Social Action for Health explains that “We all bring different skills and expertise. For Social Action for Health and QMUL, we both learn from each other, with mutual respect and professional curiosity. Sustaining our relationship and working together to meaningfully engage wider communities in research is vital to improving health and reducing health inequalities.” 

There are also wider benefits for a smaller, grassroots organisation like Social Action for Health partnering with Queen Mary. Working with academics has allowed the organisation to explore emerging research areas. 

For example, for the last three years, Social Action for Health and Queen Mary have worked together on AI Multiply, a project which considers the potential of AI to improve care for those living with Multiple Long-term Conditions and taking multiple medications. As an organisation, Ceri explains that they are unlikely to have examined this subject unprompted, but working directly with academics gave an increased insight into strategic, academic and policy-level conversations. By the time Chat GPT became ubiquitous, they were ready to think about the pros and cons, the impact for their communities, and how they should respond.  

Looking forward 

With a number of ongoing projects and frequent requests for new collaborative work, the partnership between Queen Mary researchers and Social Action for Health continues to develop. As new projects are launched, both organisations remain committed to working together to deliver better health outcomes for communities in Tower Hamlets and beyond. Social Action for Health are always happy to discuss new ideas and potential collaborations with QMUL colleagues. Find out more about their work and their research support on their website (www.safh.org.uk) or connect with the Centre for Public Engagement team to find out more.