Research Requests

I hope this email finds you well. My name is Sofia, and I am a Master’s student at UCL and the Anna Freud. I am currently recruiting research participants for my project, in which I will be interviewing expectant lesbian adults, and I would like to ask your organisation for help.

Please see further information below, and I am more than happy to discuss it over a meeting or call. 

I am contacting you today to share more information about my research that is at a lab with expert researchers on the experience of parenthood from the Anna Freud. 

The focus of my project is on the psychological experience of expectant first-time parents who identify as lesbian adults and are in the last trimester of their pregnancy. I will be conducting online interviews, and parents will be offered a £20 payment for their participation.  This project is approved by the UCL Ethics Committee (Project ID: 7683/004).

Findings from my research will also be valuable for the lesbian community, as it may give insight into the experience of first-time expectant lesbian families. 

Our research team is also offering the possibility for families to join “Family Days” at the Anna Freud where they will be able to hear from experts on parenthood and child development. 

A more detailed account of the research and the monetary incentive I am offering can be found on my poster and information sheet, which I have attached in this email. Would you be able to circulate this in-person or online? 

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to respond. 

I appreciate you taking the time to read this, and I remain available for an online meeting or call to discuss this further.

Sofia Hong 

Email:

sofia.hong.20@ucl.ac.uk

Alongside my role as a trainee Counselling Psychologist, I am a doctoral (postgraduate) researcher at the University of Roehampton. 

Alongside my colleagues, Dr Paul Dickerson and Dr Igi Moon, we have recently launched a research study aiming to amplify the voices of bisexual women who have had at least one experience of a coercive, controlling and/or abusive relationship

This is with the ultimate goal of contributing to the development of more specialised guidelines for therapeutic support in working with this group for psychology professionals as well as to spotlight the role of wider social discrimination and power. This is something I am both personally and professionally incredibly passionate about and which, in the psychological professionals' field currently, is woefully under-researched

We Are Looking For:

• Bisexual women aged 18+ who have been in at least one ‘romantic relationship’ (inclusive of all casual romantic or sexual relationships, dating relationships, partnerships, and/or marriages/civil partnerships) which they would consider having been controlling, toxic, unhealthy and/or abusive

• Women who would be willing to discuss their experiences via Zoom in a 1-to-1 interviews (approx. 50-60 minutes) with the principal researcher

We are asking all interested participants to fill in a really short form with their personal details and some brief questions, so I can get in contact with them to discuss the interview. You will also find attached further information about the research

If you think you might in any way fit into the above criteria, please click the link for more information: 

https://tinyurl.com/jjee2h3u  

Otherwise, if you know anyone else who might be interested, please do forward this message on.

I am incredibly mindful of the pressures which services are under at the moment, and do not wish to add to this burden, however, any help you can offer in even just sending this email on would be really appreciated. Should you have any queries or questions please do not hesitate to contact me directly

Alex Neal (She/Her)

BSc, MBPsS, PG Cert.

Counselling Psychology Doctoral Trainee

Email:  

Alexandra.neal2@roehampton.ac.uk

Mobile:

+44 (0) 7903 342 440

I am a PhD researcher from the University of Glasgow conducting research exploring the reproductive lives and decision-making of non-binary people.

I am reaching out to your organisation to ask whether you would be happy to share my recruitment poster either by forwarding this email on to your members, tagging me in an Instagram story, or printing it out and putting it up in a communal space. Whichever suits you best.

The study is called Non-binary reproduction: a sociological study of ethics and reproductive decision-making using photographs. 

I am very much interested in talking to non-binary people who have something to say about their reproductive decisions and how they made them – this can be whether they are on contraception or not, choosing to have children or not, or anything else that they would like to bring to the table. Each participant will be given a £25 gift voucher. 

I have attached the recruitment poster which has a QR code that can be used to access an interest form, and from there I will contact the people who have filled it out.

If this research is of interest to you and your organisation, I can also send you an executive summary of my findings at the end of the project. 

Celeste Williams

(they/she) 

Email: 

c.williams.5@research.gla.ac.uk 

Instagram: 

NB_RDM

WhatsApp: 

+44 (0) 7849 101 817

My name is Rachel, and I am a research assistant at Dublin City University, getting in touch on behalf of my research team. 

We are currently working on a large-scale project (the ECHO Project) exploring experiences in LGBTQIA+ relationships. 

The main goal of this research is to understand experiences of abuse and violence within relationships, and how different factors (e.g., homophobia/transphobia, discrimination, mental health, homelessness) might make people more vulnerable to these experiences. 

The project involves a longitudinal survey that participants complete each year over 3 years. We’ll also conduct interviews alongside the survey to understand people’s experiences in-depth. 

This will be the first study of its kind in the UK and Ireland, so we really hope that this research will be useful to inform services and supports for queer people who experience abuse in relationships.

The longitudinal design will allow us to uncover patterns in people’s experiences over time, and the large sample we are aiming for will also allow us to examine minorities within the LGBTQIA+ community. 

In return, participants will receive a One4All voucher for each survey they complete, and if they wish to be interviewed, they will also receive a further small compensation. 

Do you think that this is something you might be willing to support by sharing with your members and contacts, or on your social media? 

If you have any questions, big or small, feel free to ask. I am also more than happy to have a chat with you over the phone or on Zoom, if you would like to chat more about the research.

Rachel O'Keeffe 

(she/her)

Email:

rachel.okeeffe@dcu.ie

I'm a queer researcher working on a project about queer family and care networks. 

This is an affirmative project that aims to benefit our community and our interactions with health and social care. 

I wanted to reach out to different community projects and community run spaces to share this survey in the hopes of getting as big a picture as we can about what family means to LGBTQ+ people.

Here are some details of the survey, if there is anyway of sharing across your network that would be greatly appreciated.

Survey link:

 https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/bathreg/lgbtq-survey

LGBTQ+ Survey

This survey aims to provide an understanding of the different forms of family practiced by LGBTQ+ people, and how these families experience representation and inequity in public services. 

It is part of a wider study collecting knowledge on LGBTQ+ families and the care they provide, including towards the end of life.

The survey is open to all over 18s living in England, Wales or Scotland who identify as LGBTQ+.  This research aims to improve understandings of diverse family structures to both address these inequities and to give visibility to LGBTQ+ ways of doing family. 

To do this, we want to get an idea of the breadth of diverse ways in which our community practice family, basically: who is family, where is family and what is family.

The Researcher

The researcher is Polly Maxwell, currently completing a PhD in Social Policy at the University of Bath. Their research takes an affirmative approach to the lives and experiences of LGBTQ+ people. The researcher self-identifies as a queer social researcher, doing research driven from the lived experience of grieving their late partner and navigating life as an overall queer human.

Polly Maxwell

Email: 

pem40@bath.ac.uk

Tel:

 +44 (0) 1225 384515

I'm Elena, a trainee Clinical Psychologist completing my doctorate at the University of East London. I am seeking your support in recruiting participants for my research, focussed on tackling human rights violations.

I thought this would be of interest to you given your dedication providing care and community for the LGBTQ+

. 

Research Focus

The LGBTQ+ community are vulnerable to sexual violence intended to force us into heterosexuality. This is called “corrective” sexual violence, and ranges from verbal harassment to physical assault. I am researching the unique journeys queer cis-women experience to develop a positive relationship with their identity following such experiences.

As I am committed to capturing the experiences of marginalised groups, I very much want to ensure diverse voices are included in this research. Given your service offers aid across the broadly diverse LGBTQ+ community, your support would be particularly valuable. 

At this stage, I am focussing on the experiences of queer cis-women. Research suggests that because each group within the LGBTQ+ community, such as trans, intersex, and non-binary populations, experience gender and sexuality oppression differently, separate research is warranted. My aim is that this study will pave the way to explore the unique experiences of these groups. 

For more details, please see the document attached and/or contact me. If you would like to speak or meet with me, I am more than happy to arrange a conversation to discuss this further.

Your Role 

I intend to conduct interviews with queer cis-women. Your support would involve sharing a recruitment poster via WhatsApp or email with potential participants or people who may know someone interested. I’m currently completing my ethics application, with recruitment to begin in April. 

At this stage, I hope to gain your confirmation of support via email.

Also, I would like to speak with survivors and professionals to further refine my research focus before the end of March 2025.

Please share my email and contact details with anyone who may be open to this.

Benefits to Your Participation

This research will contribute to wider LGBTQ+ advocacy and improve service provision. When the research is finished, I will hold a seminar to share and discuss the research findings. I would like to invite you to this.

For those interviewed, the experience can serve as a reflective and therapeutic space to explore their journey toward a positive identity.

Thank you for your time. 

Elena Opie

Trainee Clinical Psychologist

University of East London

Email: 

u2631805@uel.ac.uk

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-opie-82547399/

My name is Kiarah, and I am a non-binary graduate research assistant working at the UBC Sexual Health Lab (https://brottolab.med.ubc.ca/) at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia.

We are currently recruiting for a study gathering non-binary people's feedback to adapt online treatments (online cognitive-behavioural therapy and online mindfulness-based therapy) for distressing desire to meet the needs of non-binary people.  

This study is called the eSense Non-Binary Study.

We are seeking non-binary people who experience low sexual desire and experience distress as a result, who are willing to provide feedback on an online program for sexual difficulties.

While some non-binary people experience sexual difficulties, very limited research on treatments for non-binary people's sexual difficulties exist.  Non-binary people also fave heightened barriers to accessing psychological care.

Our team has spent the last four years adapting psychological treatments to an online form for cisgender women, on a platform we call eSense.  

We are now interesting in adapting eSense so that it meets the needs of non-binary people.  To do so, we would like to gather feedback from non-binary people with sexual desire difficulties on how eSense could be adapted to meet their needs.  

We hope that this study can be the first step towards developing a treatment for sexual difficulties amongst non-binary people.  Our research study is led by non-binary researchers (including myself) who hopes this research can assist the well-being of the non-binary community.

I was wondering if it would be possible for you to assist us with the promotion of this study by posting a story or post on your page or website?  The UBC Behavioural Research Ethics Board has approved this study.  The ethics ID number is as follows: H22-02584.

More information about our study can be found on our website, 

 https://brottolab.med.ubc.ca/studies/esense-non-binary/

My name is Rasoul Sabaei, and I am a master's student in Clinical Health Psychology at Strathclyde University in Glasgow.

My thesis is focused on suicidal behaviour and self-harm within the LGBTQ+ community and the related factors, under the supervision of my advisor, Susan Rasmussen.

.

Since I have recently migrated to the UK, I have very limited connections and access to groups and individuals within this community. I was wondering if you would be so kind as to promote our study poster in any way you prefer, so that individuals who are interested can fill out our anonymous questionnaire, which takes about 30 minutes to complete, and assist us in this project.

We hope that this research will contribute, even in a small way, to improving and supporting the mental health of individuals in the community. 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me for any questions.

This is also the link to the questionnaire.

https://strathbusiness.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0oJbaSykuIjrMdE

We are currently conducting a research project at UCL exploring whether dementia services are meeting the needs of LGBTQ+ older adults with dementia. Would you and your organisation be interested in supporting this research?

This would involve you asking eligible service users if they are interested in taking part sharing our study information poster with them, and sharing their contact details with us if they would like to hear more about the research.

We would like to speak to family/friend carers of LGBTQ+ people living with dementia about their experiences of the services and care the person with dementia they support has received. 

This would involve one interview with me on Microsoft Teams for around 45 minutes, and each person will be offered a £20 Love2Shop voucher as thanks for taking part.

Please do let me know if your organisation would be willing to help.

Simran Kainth

Email:

simran.kainth.18@ucl.ac.uk

I am a trans social worker completing a PhD research project exploring what good support means to trans and/or gender non-conforming people with a learning disability.

I have recently achieved ethical approval and am looking for people with a learning disability who may want to participate and was wondering whether you were aware of anyone who may meet the inclusion criteria. 

I would be really happy to speak to anyone who meets the inclusion criteria who may be interested in participating and share more detailed information or attend any group meetings to discuss what participating may involve.

I also have funding available to renumerate the time of participants with a learning disability through vouchers and the time of social care providers/advocacy groups who support recruitment/share information about the study. 

Lorne Power

PhD Candidate/NIHR Local Authority Research Fellow

Please note I use they/them pronouns

I am a second-year trainee clinical psychologist at the University of Oxford, and am currently conducting a study into possible stigma experienced by family members of LGBT+ young people.

The project is being supervised by Lorna Hogg (she/her), Dr Claudia Zitz (they/them) and Dr Christopher McCormack (he/him) at Oxford University, and has been approved by the Central University Research Ethics Committee (approval reference MS IDREC 817675).

We are currently trying to recruit parents or caregivers of queer young people (i.e. the young person identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, transgender or non-binary), to ask them about their possible experiences of stigma and their relationship with their young person.

To take part, the caregiver must be over 18 years old, based in the UK, speak fluent English, and care for a LGBTQIA+ young person who is under 18 years old.

We hope that by completing this research, we can understand more about the experiences of LGBT+ young people and their families, and how they can best be supported.

We wondered if there was any possibility of you circulating this amongst your network, send to those who may be interested or help advise us on where we may be able to find people that may wish to take part?

Information about the study (information sheet and poster) are available on request, but please do let me know if it would be helpful to meet to discuss.

Emily Morley (she/her)

Trainee Clinical Psychologist

Oxford University

Email: 

emily.morley@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk

I am currently researching the experiences of older LGBTQ+ people (67+) with residential and domiciliary care settings in the UK. 

As part of this, I am using online questionnaires and in-person interviews to talk to LGBTQ+ care receivers and their families, friends and support networks, as well as professional care providers and middle-late aged LGBTQ+ adults (40s, 50s, 60s+) on their concerns, assumptions and fears about the future and the care sector in general.

This research focuses on the importance of identity recognition and sexual citizenship in LGBTQ+ people's later life.

Concerns over having to go back into the closet are frequent, as are fears of abuse, neglect or ignorance from staff who are not trained and not prepared to provide care for the specific needs of LGBTQ+ people.

Dignity, respect, privacy and the ability to live authentically while getting the support they need are integral to LGBTQ+ care receivers mental, physical and emotional health to keep them from living as authentically as possible.

I would love to speak with you further about this research and what I aim to achieve at the end. 

I was also hoping your organisation might be able to help me share the research details with people who might want to get involved, as I am unfortunately struggling to find people who can participate. 

Harriet Argyle BA, MA 

(she, her)

Email:  harriet.argyle2019@my.ntu.ac.uk