TO DO LIST:
Before Workshop (Plan)
The Workshop (Act)
After the Workshop (Observe and Reflect)
Proposed collab with EDI, Disability Services and ChangeMakers + EDI Small Grant Application Details
*(As of 29 September 2025) I reached out to the EDI and Disability Services and the LCC ChangeMakers (Fig. 2) to “explore whether there might be an opportunity to connect, collaborate, or share the project’s findings with them and their teams” and received a few replies of interest (Fig. 3).
I completed and sent the LCC EDI Small Grant Application form on 13th October 2025. Although the deadline for application is on the 20th of October, I was kindly confirmed that if successful, I would have been able to get the funds on time to run the event on the 26th of November “If all is well and goes as planned (i.e.. you are successful with your application), it is very likely that you have the funds by mid-November.” Initially the event was planned for the 19th Nov. but due to the tight deadlines for funds I decided to postpone the proposed date of a week.
At first I thought of applying for the School-based Student Enhancement Fund and contacted the contact provided on the website. I was encouraged to apply but then told by my Programme Director that it was not the right fund. So I then contacted LCC fund but was told that decisions for the funds will be made around mid-Nov and they were unsure whether “the proposal to pay students via Research Funding is acceptable” and there were uncertainties “about the PG Cert support through the research funding pot”. Meanwhile I also enquired about the EDI Funds and received a reply encouraging me to apply for EDI Small Grants.
The funds would enable me to:
- Compensate students for the time (using £5 vouchers they can spend at Uni, perhaps?) – = Total of £150 voucher for students’ participation (£5 each).
- Offer coffees/teas/water and light snacks during the workshop – I asked the canteen for a cost estimation for coffee/teas/biscuits for around 30 people and the asked for around: £112.50 for Fairtrade & organic brewed coffee & selection of teas and herb infusion with biscuits (£3.75 each).
- Buy resources to run the workshop (i.e., paper, coloured pens, pencils, post-it notes and perhaps some sensory materials? – Play doh, threads, pins, cotton, glue, balloons, straws, wooden sticks, pipe cleaners, beads and buttons, bubble wrap, pom poms) – should be around £70/80 for resources
The total amount requested is around £350/£400.
On the 14th November I received an initial response from the LCC EDI Small Grants Selection Panel confirming the grant was not successful. This was an unfortunate news because although well regarded the application didn’t fully meet the criteria due to insufficient “local need – no evidence that what you propose and what students needs has been explored” and “motivation is linked to personal development”. I replied to their email explaining that I was disappointed that I had not been able to emphasise enough the needs of students for carrying out such an event. However, I was aware that I hadn’t clearly articulated the students’ needs due to the personal circumstances I was in, and the delicate situation.
I explained that I really didn’t need this event for my PgCert requirements, as for the purpose of the PgCert I could have focused on something much smaller and it would have been enough. Therefore I articulated better the motivation behind such workshop, hoping the student benefit would have come through strongly enough and asked if could I try submitting again.
Additionally on the 17th November, I contacted my PD whom I had a conversation about this already and asked him if he would be interested in providing the funds instead. This was something he offered already but when I mentioned that the EDI Small Grants could be an option, he suggested “I get on their radar” and I (re)applied for that instead.
So, what now? I was confused on how to proceed :S
Worst case scenario, for the purpose of the PgCert, I was thinking to scale it down by doing a focus group with a smaller group of students I worked with or with some colleagues. I could still trying to get funds – to then carry out the event proper later on in the year.
EDI Small Grant Application Update I (25 November 2025): After having asked the panel to reconsider my proposal based on the provided evidence last week, I have received an email confirming the panel is now interested in providing the funds. I will meet with one of the EDI coordinators tomorrow at 4pm, and then with Kwame to refine details for the scope of the PGCert submission. I am glad that I managed to emphasise the importance of this intervention based on real students’ needs.
EDI Update II (December 3, 2025): The panel has approved my proposal. This delay has now slightly changed my initial plan (Figure 1) as after a quick Teams meeting with Kwame on the 19th December, and as briefly mentioned in the Research Question(s) post preceding this, he agreed that, my PgCert submission should focus on formative feedback on the workshop materials, resources, and overall approach of the proposed workshop intervention intended to inform the iterative refinement of the intervention. This revision takes into account the practical realities of scope, resources, and timeframe for a PgCert submission. The workshop itself, scheduled for 18 February 2026 will therefore act as a second iteration of the ARP cycle, as already mentioned, through which changes informed by student and staff reflections will be enacted and reviewed.