Thinking about becoming a public contributor? Go for it!

I’ve only been in the South West for the last 5 years or so.  Before that we lived in Aberdeen where I was a business analyst in the oil and gas industry, which isn’t health-related at all!

We moved during the pandemic, and I joined a local walking group called Bristol Steppin’ Sistas to get out of the house and meet people. Sophie, the group leader, posted about a community researcher role at Common Ambition Bristol (CAB) – a programme to increase HIV testing and reduce stigma in African and Caribbean communities locally, which the SHIP HIT oversees. The role included data analysis work, so I applied. I started in December 2021 working with other community researchers – now I’m part of the CAB Project Delivery Group.

At the programme’s peak, I would be going out into the community most days, speaking to the barbers, hairdressers, takeaway owners and other Black-owned businesses that CAB’s involved with. The first time I went out was daunting. I remember thinking: ‘I’m just going to observe as a researcher’. But very quickly this became: ‘OK, they’re asking me stuff, I need to engage and give them the information! It’s my duty to share it’. So, almost immediately, it became outreach work.

Lots of people we spoke to didn’t realise HIV existed anymore. We don’t see the old adverts of the doom and gloom, so people assume it’s gone away, I guess. This attitude saddened me, but I can understand why people might think that, as prior to engaging in this work I was unsure exactly how prevalent HIV was.

Every time I tell someone about the problem with HIV in the community, and I see the light bulb go on for them, I feel like I’ve done a good thing. Educating the public is rewarding, especially when it’s health related and it’s something that they can control. They can take ownership for their sexual status and sexual health, get checked and know that they’re OK.

CAB has had some real highlights over the years, which I’m proud to have helped make happen.

One was getting a video message for CAB from the singer Beverley Knight. Bev is a good friend of mine from school – we still see each other when we can! She’s also Patron of the Terrence Higgins Trust (in 2025, she and the Prime Minister took HIV tests on television to launch National HIV Testing Week).

Another was presenting to the Board of University Hospitals Bristol & Weston NHS Foundation Trust. Afterwards the Hospital Managing Director, Professor Stuart Walker, asked if he could join us on an outreach visit – we were gobsmacked! But it was great to take him and his colleague Emma Wood to one of the barbershops we work with. As White people going into a mostly Black space, I think it helped them to understand how awkward it can feel for a Black person coming into a mostly White space – and why initiatives like CAB are so desperately needed.

Although I still work for CAB, I’m now busy with other related projects too. For Caafi Health, I support uptake for the HPV (human papillomavirus virus) vaccine that’s offered at secondary schools to protect against cervical cancer (because, again, there’s a really low uptake with the African Caribbean diaspora). I also co-present the Thursday morning breakfast show on Ujima Radio. Matt (the CAB project co-ordinator) calls me the ‘Pied Piper of clinics’, because I do call outs on the radio for listeners to get tested for HIV!

In 2023, David Dravie-John from the African Voices Forum suggested I become a public involvement representative for Bristol Health Partners’ SHIP HIT, which supports CAB. This gives me insight into upcoming research projects across sexual health; Heidi and Jeremy in particular find lots of things to involve me in, which I appreciate. It’s encouraging to know that there is so much work going on in this space. Sometimes it can be overwhelming – not just with the jargon but when the team talk about areas of work that I’ve never even heard of. But, if I get to that point, I can say, ‘hang on, can you just explain that for me?’ and they’re more than willing to do so.

For anyone thinking about becoming a public contributor, I’d say go for it. Especially if you’re concerned about a certain condition that may be relevant to you or a family member and you’d like to have your input. Your opinion is valid, your thoughts are relevant, and if you’ve got that lived experience, nobody knows more about it than you do.