A few days ago, I came back from Glastonbury Festival 2017, where I had the opportunity to share our research on financial scamming with a diverse and curious audience. It was one of the most awesome experiences of my professional life, and I want to tell you all about it.
From Tourism and Events to Health and Social Care
Before joining the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences (HSS) at Bournemouth University (BU), I used to work as a tourism and events research assistant. I thought I had left behind the hectic and unpredictable world of working at events, especially after some bad weather experiences at the Air Festival. But this time, it was different. I was not collecting data, but disseminating it. I was not just talking to academics, but to people from all walks of life. And I was not just presenting our findings, but engaging them in interactive activities that made them think and learn.
How We Got to the Science Tent
It all started when a call was put out for ideas to represent BU in the Science Tent run by Southampton University in the Green Futures field at Glastonbury Festival 2017. Dr Sally Lee, a research fellow at the National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice, submitted an idea to present our work on financial scamming and how to prevent it. She was successful, and we got to work on designing our materials.
We created a board game, a card game, and an activity using UV lights to show how scammers can leave traces behind. We also produced publications, workbooks, and posters to explain our research and give practical tips on how to avoid being scammed. We had something for everyone, regardless of their age or background.
The Impact of Our Work
I am sure Sally will blog next week about the impact of our work in relation to financial scamming, but what I want to share with you is the sheer scale of the impact we made by going to an event like Glastonbury. Over the course of five days, we engaged with over a thousand people who were interested in our work and wanted to know more about what we do at BU.
What struck me the most was how much they cared about other people. They were not only concerned about their own safety, but also about their friends, family, and community. They wanted to learn how to protect themselves and others from scammers, especially online.
We were the only team representing the social sciences in the science tent, and I think we made a strong case for why our research matters. We showed how social science can help people understand and improve their lives and society. We also met many professionals who work in health and social care sectors, such as nurses, police officers, social workers, carers, and commissioners. They were keen to collaborate with us and use our research to inform their practice.
Looking Forward
I would love to do something like this again, and I hope we can get more opportunities to showcase our work at events like Glastonbury. Next time, I would definitely bring Sarah with me, as she is more experienced at camping and more sociable than me. She also helped me design our materials and is a great colleague to work with.
I would also love to reach out to more groups who care about health and social care issues, such as financial scamming. People really do care about these topics, and they want to make a difference. It is not only a great way to raise awareness about BU and our research, but also to address the recruitment and retention challenges faced by the health and social care sectors.
So if you are interested in engaging with events like this, or working with us on financial scamming or other health and social care topics, please let us know. We would love to be part of this brave new world!
