Scotland’s Third Sector Research Forum

As convener of TSRF, ESS organises regular forum meetings and conferences. ESS Director Steven Marwick chairs meetings, while Research and Communications Manager Jane Marryat and Communications Assistant Katrina Macapagal are responsible for various administrative tasks. Jane also leads ESS research about evaluation and outcomes for the third sector.

ACOSVO connects & supports leaders, bringing peers together to share best practice, learn from each other & talk openly in a safe space. We are interested in research that evidences the impact and contribution of leadership on organisational performance.

As a funder of charitable organisations who work with 0-3, Cattanach’s research aims to better understand the earliest years of children’s lives, and how they can be improved. This includes attempts to give those too young to have a voice a chance to participate in research through harnessing the latest early years research methods. We also use our research to link the grassroots to the systemic scale, exploring how policy change can ultimately improve the lives of the children, families and organisations we support.

Corra is interested in research that contributes to our vision in which people create positive change and enjoy fulfilling lives and that helps support people and communities to come together to respond to big challenges.

Children in Scotland is the national network organisation improving children’s lives. Our research supports us to achieve our strategic priorities, which include championing the participation of children and young people, increasing support for families, challenging inequalities and developing the children’s sector workforce. We have a particular interest in peer research, collaborating with children and young people as co-researchers. We are also commissioned to undertake independent evaluations of children’s sector organisations and project. Current and recent research projects include in the areas of home and belonging for care experienced young people, addressing place based health inequalities, diversity in teaching and cycling.

The ALLIANCE leads, partners and commissions research on a wide range of topics to support our work to inform and influence policy and practice that puts people at the centre. We also work with partners to support and promote peer research in Scotland. Some of the research issues we have recently focused on include: Self-directed Support (SDS) and social care; social security; women and girl’s health; human rights; employability; and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

Inclusion Scotland is a disabled people’s organisation which regularly undertakes and contributes to research on issues which impact on disabled people’s lives and inclusion in society. We are particularly interested in research on social security, social care support, employment and human rights. Inclusion Scotland promotes the use of co-production methodologies in research and was the lead organisation for the Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning (DRILL) Programme in Scotland, which funded co-produced research projects between 2015-2020.

Policy Scotland is a research and knowledge exchange unit in the University of Glasgow’s College of Social Sciences. We foster co-operation between academics, practitioners and policy makers, and pool this collective expertise in order to flesh out new initiatives, test the effectiveness of interventions, generate better evidence and engage a wide variety of audiences, including third sector partners.

The Poverty Alliance was established in 1992 and has more than 350 members drawn from across civil society and the public sector. We focus on addressing low incomes in and out of work, improving services for those experiencing poverty, enabling the participation of people in poverty in policy development, and addressing attitudes towards poverty.

Promoting greater awareness of learning difficulties and neurodiversity through conducting and collaborating in research. Seeking to make links between evidence and practice. We are partners with the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre at the University of Edinburgh.

The focus of much of SCVO’s research is to understand the key issues facing voluntary organisations in Scotland. The research findings are often used to influence policies impacting on the sector. In the past year, much of this work has been on understanding the impact that Covid-19 is having on the sector.

Volunteer Scotland’s research and evaluation team specialises in the quantitative and qualitative analysis of volunteering and its contribution to Scotland.

The Voluntary Sector Studies Network (VSSN) promotes understanding of the UK voluntary sector through research and provides a voice and a meeting place for voluntary sector researchers in the UK.

Waverley Care carries out and commissions research on HIV, hepatitis C and sexual health. Our research primarily focuses on better understanding people’s experiences of accessing blood borne virus prevention, testing and support services.

Evidencing impact and contribution of youth work on young people’s lives, supporting youth-led research and developing youth worker’s research skills.