Exploring Wellcome’s Community Engagement Grants

This work explored Wellcome’s Community Engagement (CE) grants that were awarded in 2022 to support genomic sequencing research during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research Consulting was commissioned to evaluate these supplementary CE grants, which were offered to ten Principal Investigators already leading core sequencing projects, with four projects ultimately participating in the review.

The review aimed to assess the effectiveness of CE funding in achieving its objectives, understand how these grants enhanced core research projects, and identify lessons for future emergency funding. Key research questions explored included the alignment of CE activities with intended objectives, the value of Wellcome’s support in shaping applications and outcomes, and the implications for delivering community engagement in future emergency contexts.

The methodology involved qualitative research engaging 16 funded researchers through interviews with Wellcome staff and an external consultant, semi-structured interviews with award holders, a validation focus group, and analysis of grant documentation. We engaged with participants from projects in Kenya, Malawi, Ghana, Nepal, and the UK, analysing transcripts from interviews and focus groups using NVivo to identify key themes and findings.

The study produced several outputs for Wellcome’s internal use, including a retrospective theory of change mapping the pathway from funding inputs to long-term impacts of community engagement during emergencies, and a comprehensive report with seven key recommendations.