Health, social, economic and cultural impacts of COVID-19 on migrant essential workers in the UK
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Glasgow
Department Name: School of Social & Political Sciences
Abstract
1.2 Scientific/technical summary (max. 250 words)
COVID-19 has exposed the UK's socio-economic dependence on a chronically insecure migrant
essential workforce. While risking their lives to offset the devastating effects of the pandemic,
migrant workers reportedly find themselves in precarious professional and personal circumstances
(temporary zero-hours contracts, work exploitation, overcrowded accommodation, limited access
to adequate health/social services including Universal Credit). This project will investigate the
health, social, economic and cultural impacts of COVID-19 on the migrant essential workforce and
how these might impact on their continued stay in the UK. It will focus on the largest non-British
nationality in the UK, the Polish community, who - while employed across a range of roles and
sectors - are overrepresented in lower-paid essential work. We will use this group as an illustrative
case study to make wider claims and policy recommendations about migrant work during the
pandemic. Using a mixed-methods approach, we will conduct: an online survey to map COVID-19
impacts; in-depth qualitative interviews to establish how the pandemic has affected worker's lives;
and expert interviews with stakeholders to investigate how to best support and retain migrant
essential workers in COVID-19 recovery strategies. The results will generate the first
comprehensive UK-wide dataset on the experiences of migrant essential workers against the
backdrop of COVID-19. The research, co-produced with partner organisations (Polish Expats
Associations, Fife Migrants Forum, PKAVS Minority Communities Hub and Polish Social and
Cultural Association), will generate a policy briefing, a toolkit for employers in the essential work
sectors, information resources for migrant workers, alongside media and academic outputs.
COVID-19 has exposed the UK's socio-economic dependence on a chronically insecure migrant
essential workforce. While risking their lives to offset the devastating effects of the pandemic,
migrant workers reportedly find themselves in precarious professional and personal circumstances
(temporary zero-hours contracts, work exploitation, overcrowded accommodation, limited access
to adequate health/social services including Universal Credit). This project will investigate the
health, social, economic and cultural impacts of COVID-19 on the migrant essential workforce and
how these might impact on their continued stay in the UK. It will focus on the largest non-British
nationality in the UK, the Polish community, who - while employed across a range of roles and
sectors - are overrepresented in lower-paid essential work. We will use this group as an illustrative
case study to make wider claims and policy recommendations about migrant work during the
pandemic. Using a mixed-methods approach, we will conduct: an online survey to map COVID-19
impacts; in-depth qualitative interviews to establish how the pandemic has affected worker's lives;
and expert interviews with stakeholders to investigate how to best support and retain migrant
essential workers in COVID-19 recovery strategies. The results will generate the first
comprehensive UK-wide dataset on the experiences of migrant essential workers against the
backdrop of COVID-19. The research, co-produced with partner organisations (Polish Expats
Associations, Fife Migrants Forum, PKAVS Minority Communities Hub and Polish Social and
Cultural Association), will generate a policy briefing, a toolkit for employers in the essential work
sectors, information resources for migrant workers, alongside media and academic outputs.
Organisations
- University of Glasgow (Lead Research Organisation)
- Arts and Humanities Research Council (Co-funder)
- Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) (Collaboration)
- Centrala (Collaboration)
- Perth & Kinross Association of Voluntary Service (Collaboration)
- POLISH EXPATS ASSOCIATION CIC (Collaboration)
- Polish Social and Cultural Association (POSK) (Collaboration)
- Fife Migrants Forum (Collaboration)
- FENIKS. Counselling, Personal Development and Support Services (Collaboration)
Publications
Gawlewicz A
(2023)
'They made bets that I'd die': Impacts of COVID-19 on Polish essential workers in the UK
in Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
Piekut A
(2022)
Blog: Covid-19 impacts on mental health
Piekut A
(2021)
Blog: What essential work do Polish migrants in the UK do?
Piekut A
(2021)
Blog: Our online survey
Trevena P
(2022)
Impacts of Covid-19 on Migrant Essential Workers in the UK
Trevena P
(2022)
Impacts of Covid-19 on Migrant Essential Workers in Scotland
| Title | Exhibition: spaces of (dis)connection: migrant essential workers |
| Description | Spaces of (dis)connection is an exhibition of photographic artwork inspired by the findings of the Migrant Essential Worker project. It combines newly commissioned photographic work by Paulina Korobkiewicz, Sylwia Kowalczyk, and Malgorzata Dawidek alongside anonymous testimonies given by Polish essential workers across the UK. The respective works speak to the changing public and private landscapes that resulted from the series of lockdowns implemented by the British and Scottish governments at the beginning of the pandemic. In exploring how spaces have transformed, through depopulation or increased habitation, the artists have produced uniquely insightful and intimate works, evidencing an environment affected by uncertainty and isolation. The exhibition was co-produced with Centrala, an internationally renowned centre for Central and Eastern European art and artists. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | We have achieved the following impacts via the Migrant Essential Workers in the UK - Portable multi-arts exhibition project: 1) Built strong partnerships between the involved HEIs, Centrala, Art27 and the 3 artists. We expect this to translate to future inter-disciplinary research across Social Sciences and Arts & Humanities. We already have plans for a workshop and co-authored publications in place. 2) Raised policymaker awareness of the role of migrant essential workers in the UK via launch and associated events including wider research dissemination in London on employee rights, worker protection and equalities, social security and benefits, and accessing services (taking place directly ahead of the launch in Lambeth Library). We had some high-profile policymaker attendees including Helen Hayes MP, local councillors in London (e.g. Jim Dickson, Donatus Anyanwu), city council representatives (e.g. Birmingham City Council), the NHS and the Polish Embassy/Consulate in London and Edinburgh. Their positive feedback is captured in social media posts (esp. Twitter) and feedback forms. 3) Developed a new relationship with John Mason MSP who is very interested in the issue of migration to Scotland and longer-term engagement in research in that area. 4) Greater public recognition of migrant essential work in the post-Brexit UK through the exhibitions, launch events, a series of intense social media campaigns and media coverage. This is captured in a video with visitor feedback (spaces of (dis)connection interviews 311022.mp4), written feedback that we collected and social media posts by visitors as well as media citations (esp. in Metro with circulation of ~900k). Key online stats are also reflective of the overall reach of the exhibition: - Facebook Ad campaigns: ~2,400 clicks, ~110,000 people who saw content - Project website: ~4,400 views Aug-Oct 2022 (while exhibition open) - 12 posts on project Facebook page with average reach of 350 users: 4,200 - 30 tweets from project Twitter account with average engagement with individual tweets of 200 (= 6,000) and average impressions (tweet seen) of 2,000 (= 60,000). 5) Promoted 3 Polish artists - Malgorzata Dawidek (https://dawidek.art/), Sylwia Kowalczyk (https://www.sylwiakowalczyk.com/) and Paulina Korobkiewicz (https://www.paulinakorobkiewicz.com/) through showcasing their work among the otherwise unlikely in-person and online audiences. 6) Re-thought how artistic collaboration can facilitate teaching and learning - we have already used the produced photographs in UoG teaching (e.g. UGT course 'Work, Welfare and the Politics of Reform'). |
| URL | https://migrantessentialworkers.com/en/exhibition/ |
| Title | Spaces of (dis)connection: Artists' perspectives |
| Description | 'Spaces of (dis)connection: Artists' perspectives' is a short video from the Birmingham launch of the exhibition. It showcases the curator's and artists' experiences of working on the project and the message behind their artwork as well as impressions from some members of the audience. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | The video has had 32 views to date on You Tube (March 2022). It is also used as part of the digitised exhibition available online and will be used in further impact and engagement work. |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z98jZG3ZP4&t=2s |
| Title | Spaces of (dis)connection: Exhibition & research |
| Description | This short video shows the 'Spaces of (dis)connection', showcasing the artwork and the Migrant Essential Workers research results. It features the researchers behind the project and the themes and issues explored by the research. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | The video had 55 views to date (March 2023). It is used as part of the digitalised exhibition which is available online. |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKO0W7gSYvs&t=2s |
| Description | Significant new knowledge was generated about the health, social, economic and cultural impacts of Covid-19 on migrant essential workers. Impacts of Covid-19: We established that Polish essential workers were severely impacted by the pandemic with 55% of survey participants reporting that their mental health deteriorated. 83% of those working in education and childcare in Scotland reported worsening mental health. Mental health support was insufficient throughout the UK. Those seeking support typically turned to private (online) services from Poland as they felt they could not access them in the UK because of language or cultural barriers, lack of understanding of the healthcare system and pathways to mental health support, support being offered during working hours only, or fear of the negative impact of using mental health services on work opportunities. Overall, 40% reported a worsening financial situation. Some participants were in extreme financial hardship, especially those with pre-settled status or those who arrived in the UK during the pandemic. The reasons for financial strain varied but there were strong patterns linked to increased pressure at work, greater exposure to Covid-19 as well as redundancies, pay cuts and rejected benefit applications. There was a tendency to avoid applying for state financial support. Some were unable to access Universal Credit whilst out of work or to top-up low-waged work (in-work Universal Credit). These impacts were compounded by the sense of isolation, helplessness, or long-distance grief due to inability to visit loved ones in Poland. Covid-19 impacted most detrimentally on women with caring responsibilities, single parents and people in the health and teaching sectors. The most vulnerable Polish migrant essential workers - e.g. those on lower income, with pre-existing health conditions, restricted access to support and limited English proficiency - were at most risk. Discrimination was reported; 28% of respondents did not feel treated equally in the workplace. The sense of discrimination two-fold: as essential workers (low-paid, low-status, unsafe jobs) and as Eastern Europeans (frequent disciplining practices, treated as threat, assumed to be less qualified). In terms of future plans, 34% of survey respondents intended to leave the UK or were unsure about their future place of residence. Brexit as major reason for uncertain settlement plans. Vaccine hesitancy: 67% of our survey respondents had been vaccinated or intended to be, but 12% were not willing to take the vaccine and 18% were unsure (3% - no response). We identified reasons for lower take-up. There were doubts about vaccination, especially amongst younger respondents who perceived low risks of Covid-19 for their own health, including women of childbearing age, who may have worries over unknown vaccine side-effects for fertility. Interview participants largely turned to Polish language sources for vaccination information, especially social media, and family and friends in Poland. This promoted the spread of misinformation as Poland has a strong anti-vaccination movement. Improved research methods or skills developed; • Facebook Ads success - our original target was 500 survey participants, we got 1,105. Novel use of Facebook as a research tool - evidenced by invite to give a presentation: https://migrantessentialworkers.com/en/2022/04/14/watch-our-talk-on-using-facebook-ads-for-research/ Highly effective collaborations were established with: 1) the Scottish Government, who commissioned Trevena, Gawlewicz and Wright for a follow-on study; 2) migrant arts organisations Centrala and Art27 and 3 artists who created original fine artwork for our exhibition: Malgorzata Dawidek (https://dawidek.art/), Sylwia Kowalczyk (https://www.sylwiakowalczyk.com/) and Paulina Korobkiewicz (https://www.paulinakorobkiewicz.com/). We expect this to translate to future inter-disciplinary research across Social Sciences and Arts & Humanities and have funded plans for a workshop. 3) Child Poverty Action Group, who co-created a factsheet to help migrants access social security benefits; 4) Prof. Robert Gawlowski (WSB University in Torun, Poland) on policy recommendations; and 5) Migrant charity Feniks, who co-authored a blog on vaccine hesitancy Scotland and are distributing project outputs. Important new research questions are opening up, including: • How and why did a small minority of migrants thrive under Covid? • How is Brexit impacting migrant essential workers' plans to leave or stay in the UK? Does this vary in different parts of the UK and/or different work sectors? What can be done to encourage key workers to remain in the UK? |
| Exploitation Route | Project findings are tailored to UK and Scottish policy makers and practitioners in 'Policy Recommendations' documents. These are being taken forward at local, devolved and UK government levels to address the health, employment and social security needs of migrant workers. The Scottish Parliament is engaging enthusiastically with findings we presented via formal committees and inquiries. The Scottish Government commissioned a follow-up study, reanalysing project data, to discover how service innovations for migrants and minoritised ethnic groups made during Covid-19 can be enhanced during pandemic recovery. In collaboration with Third Sector partner Feniks, our 'Accessing Health Care' and 'Social Security for EU Migrant' factsheets, published in English and Polish, are being shared with support organisations across the UK. The social security fact sheet is hosted by Child Poverty Action Group, who are industry leaders in welfare rights advice. Our 'Employer Toolkit' provides practical advice for employers of EU migrants across the UK. Two new project-generated data sets will be archived for future re-use by academic researchers. The survey data set (n=1105) is being prepared for deposit in the University of Sheffield repository. The qualitative data, consisting of 40 transcripts of migrant interviews of 10 transcripts of support agency interviews, has been anonymised and will be archived. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Transport |
| URL | https://migrantessentialworkers.com/en/ |
| Description | We achieved greater public recognition of migrant essential work in the post-Brexit UK through the exhibitions, launch events, a series of intense social media campaigns and media coverage. Research findings have informed public understandings of the impacts of Covid-19 on migrant essential workers. The research is cited broadly in the media in the UK (Metro UK + primarily diasporic media such as Londynek.net) and Poland (e.g. Newsweek Polska). Our Polish Press Agency interview (Polska Agencja Prasowa, PAP) was reprinted in at least 13 primarily Polish-language online outlets (including Business Insider). We are also mentioned in Deutsche Welle (Germany) and India Education Diary (India). Our blogs have informed debate, especially one co-authored with Polish third sector group Feniks and published by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, and media work, e.g. BBC Reporting Scotland news interview. The TRANS.Info news blog informed the transport industry about our findings. The project has a strong dual language Polish-English online presence via the project website (5,700 individual visitors, 10,700 all time views); Facebook (120 followers) and Twitter (370 followers). These activities ensured accurate and up to date information about the attitudes and experiences of Polish migrant essential workers and the Covid-19 vaccination and influenced the Scottish Parliament's strategy for maximising vaccine take up amongst wider migrant populations. We raised policymaker awareness of the role of migrant essential workers in the UK via our findings launch and associated events including wider research dissemination in London on employee rights, worker protection and equalities, social security and benefits, and accessing services. Our findings on Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy amongst Polish migrant essential workers informed policy developments in the UK, particularly in Scotland. We presented written and oral evidence to multiple Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government inquiries. Our dissemination events and art exhibition attracted high-profile policy makers and politicians, including an MP, local councillors in London, city council representatives (e.g. Birmingham City Council), the NHS and the Polish Embassy/Consulate in London and Edinburgh. Their positive feedback is captured in social media posts (esp. Twitter) and feedback forms. Lines of communication are open for ongoing dialogue with the opportunity for future policy impacts via cross-party discussions with five Members of the Scottish Parliament and two Members of Parliament at UK level. Art exhibition feedback is captured in a youtube video (spaces of (dis)connection interviews 311022.mp4), social media engagement (~110,000 people saw content; ~2,400 clicks on Facebook Ads; ~6,000 tweet engagements and ~60,000 Twitter impressions); and media citations (e.g. in Metro with circulation of ~900k). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Transport |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | DWP Universal Credit Workshop |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | DWP Universal Credit Workshop |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Participation in the Scottish Parliament Health, Social Care and Sport Committee Inquiry into 'Health Inequalities' |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | Participation in the Scottish Parliament Social Justice and Social Security Committee meeting |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | Presentation at the Scottish Government Coronavirus (COVID-19) Learning and Evaluation Oversight Group meeting |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-learning-and-evaluation-oversight-group-exper... |
| Description | Providing evidence on vaccine hesitancy among the Polish community in Scotland - Scottish Parliament Covid-19 Recovery Committee |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/committees/current-and-previous-committees/sessio... |
| Description | Scottish Government Vaccine Inclusive Steering Group meeting |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Submission for establishing the framework of the Scottish Government COVID-19 inquiry into the handling of the pandemic in Scotland |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://www.gov.scot/groups/scottish-covid-19-inquiry/ |
| Description | Impact Acceleration Account ESRC/Universities of Glasgow & Sheffield |
| Amount | £20,127 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2021 |
| End | 10/2022 |
| Description | Middlesex University Impact Funding (received by Dr Kasia Narkowicz) |
| Amount | £3,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Middlesex University |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2022 |
| End | 10/2022 |
| Description | School of Social and Political Sciences Research and Scholarship Development Funding |
| Amount | £250 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Glasgow |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2021 |
| End | 07/2021 |
| Description | School of Social and Political Sciences Research and Scholarship Development Funding |
| Amount | £750 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Glasgow |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2021 |
| End | 07/2021 |
| Description | University of Glasgow ECR Support Fund |
| Amount | £660 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Glasgow |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2022 |
| End | 12/2022 |
| Description | University of Glasgow Urban Studies Research Incentivisation Fund (received by Prof. Sharon Wright, Dr Anna Gawlewicz and Dr Paulina Trevena) |
| Amount | £1,500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Glasgow |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2022 |
| End | 02/2022 |
| Title | Survey questionnaire - impacts of Covid-19 pandemic |
| Description | We have developed a new questionnaire measuring health, cultural, social, economic and financial impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on Polish migrant essential workers who live in the UK, or lived in the UK for at least three months in 2020. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Research on the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on various populations in the UK is still emerging. There are a few questionnaires which are used to measure the social and economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the general population, like the Wellcome Trust questionnaire or Understanding Society Covid-19 module. Our questionnaire contains one question from the Wellcome Trust questionnaire, and a couple were adapted, yet the remaining questions were designed by our research team (in collaboration with project partners) in order to capture the specificity of the experience of (Polish) migrant essential workers in the UK. The questionnaire is available in both English and Polish. |
| Description | Collaboration with project partners |
| Organisation | Fife Migrants Forum |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We have shared expertise - our knowledge on Polish essential migrant workers and the opportunities for creating new knowledge that our project brings. We have produced project outputs for the use of our partners (and other organisations): information resources for migrants on accessing healthcare and benefits in the UK (October 2022), and a toolkit for employers (December 2022). Our project partners (and other organisations) may use the project policy recommendations to aid their funding applications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our project partners have helped shape the research tools - the survey and the qualitative interview schedules. We have spoken to our partners to discuss our ideas on the questionnaire and interview scripts. We have discussed what themes would be important for our research and what information would be important/interesting to them as organisations supporting migrants. They have provided us with insider local knowledge on the respective Polish communities in their locations. Our projects partners have contributed to producing our project outputs: information sheets for migrants on healthcare and benefits, a toolkit for employers, and policy recommendations. We carried out consultations with our project partners on what should be included in the information resources and to discuss and sense-check the policy recommendations with them. |
| Impact | At the early stage in the project (March 2021), our collaborators helped us shape our research tools - the survey and qualitative interview scripts. In March 2022, we organised a project partners consultation (involving all partners, i.e. FMF, PKAVS, POSK & Centrala) regarding impact outputs. The discussions during this workshop informed: - developing our information resources for migrants and the toolkit for employers - developing the policy recommendations from the project. POSK and Centrala were directly involved in developing the project outputs: - Prof. Robert Gawlowski (POSK) contributed to developing and reviewing the policy recommendations from the MEW project (https://migrantessentialworkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Policy-recommendations-UK.pdf) - Alicja Kaczmarczyk (Centrala) co-produced the employer toolkit (https://migrantessentialworkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/EU-Migrant-Employer-Toolkit.pdf). |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collaboration with project partners |
| Organisation | Perth & Kinross Association of Voluntary Service |
| Department | PKAVS Minority Communities Hub (MEAD) |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We have shared expertise - our knowledge on Polish essential migrant workers and the opportunities for creating new knowledge that our project brings. We have produced project outputs for the use of our partners (and other organisations): information resources for migrants on accessing healthcare and benefits in the UK (October 2022), and a toolkit for employers (December 2022). Our project partners (and other organisations) may use the project policy recommendations to aid their funding applications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our project partners have helped shape the research tools - the survey and the qualitative interview schedules. We have spoken to our partners to discuss our ideas on the questionnaire and interview scripts. We have discussed what themes would be important for our research and what information would be important/interesting to them as organisations supporting migrants. They have provided us with insider local knowledge on the respective Polish communities in their locations. Our projects partners have contributed to producing our project outputs: information sheets for migrants on healthcare and benefits, a toolkit for employers, and policy recommendations. We carried out consultations with our project partners on what should be included in the information resources and to discuss and sense-check the policy recommendations with them. |
| Impact | At the early stage in the project (March 2021), our collaborators helped us shape our research tools - the survey and qualitative interview scripts. In March 2022, we organised a project partners consultation (involving all partners, i.e. FMF, PKAVS, POSK & Centrala) regarding impact outputs. The discussions during this workshop informed: - developing our information resources for migrants and the toolkit for employers - developing the policy recommendations from the project. POSK and Centrala were directly involved in developing the project outputs: - Prof. Robert Gawlowski (POSK) contributed to developing and reviewing the policy recommendations from the MEW project (https://migrantessentialworkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Policy-recommendations-UK.pdf) - Alicja Kaczmarczyk (Centrala) co-produced the employer toolkit (https://migrantessentialworkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/EU-Migrant-Employer-Toolkit.pdf). |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collaboration with project partners |
| Organisation | Polish Expats Association CIC |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We have shared expertise - our knowledge on Polish essential migrant workers and the opportunities for creating new knowledge that our project brings. We have produced project outputs for the use of our partners (and other organisations): information resources for migrants on accessing healthcare and benefits in the UK (October 2022), and a toolkit for employers (December 2022). Our project partners (and other organisations) may use the project policy recommendations to aid their funding applications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our project partners have helped shape the research tools - the survey and the qualitative interview schedules. We have spoken to our partners to discuss our ideas on the questionnaire and interview scripts. We have discussed what themes would be important for our research and what information would be important/interesting to them as organisations supporting migrants. They have provided us with insider local knowledge on the respective Polish communities in their locations. Our projects partners have contributed to producing our project outputs: information sheets for migrants on healthcare and benefits, a toolkit for employers, and policy recommendations. We carried out consultations with our project partners on what should be included in the information resources and to discuss and sense-check the policy recommendations with them. |
| Impact | At the early stage in the project (March 2021), our collaborators helped us shape our research tools - the survey and qualitative interview scripts. In March 2022, we organised a project partners consultation (involving all partners, i.e. FMF, PKAVS, POSK & Centrala) regarding impact outputs. The discussions during this workshop informed: - developing our information resources for migrants and the toolkit for employers - developing the policy recommendations from the project. POSK and Centrala were directly involved in developing the project outputs: - Prof. Robert Gawlowski (POSK) contributed to developing and reviewing the policy recommendations from the MEW project (https://migrantessentialworkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Policy-recommendations-UK.pdf) - Alicja Kaczmarczyk (Centrala) co-produced the employer toolkit (https://migrantessentialworkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/EU-Migrant-Employer-Toolkit.pdf). |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collaboration with project partners |
| Organisation | Polish Social and Cultural Association (POSK) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We have shared expertise - our knowledge on Polish essential migrant workers and the opportunities for creating new knowledge that our project brings. We have produced project outputs for the use of our partners (and other organisations): information resources for migrants on accessing healthcare and benefits in the UK (October 2022), and a toolkit for employers (December 2022). Our project partners (and other organisations) may use the project policy recommendations to aid their funding applications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our project partners have helped shape the research tools - the survey and the qualitative interview schedules. We have spoken to our partners to discuss our ideas on the questionnaire and interview scripts. We have discussed what themes would be important for our research and what information would be important/interesting to them as organisations supporting migrants. They have provided us with insider local knowledge on the respective Polish communities in their locations. Our projects partners have contributed to producing our project outputs: information sheets for migrants on healthcare and benefits, a toolkit for employers, and policy recommendations. We carried out consultations with our project partners on what should be included in the information resources and to discuss and sense-check the policy recommendations with them. |
| Impact | At the early stage in the project (March 2021), our collaborators helped us shape our research tools - the survey and qualitative interview scripts. In March 2022, we organised a project partners consultation (involving all partners, i.e. FMF, PKAVS, POSK & Centrala) regarding impact outputs. The discussions during this workshop informed: - developing our information resources for migrants and the toolkit for employers - developing the policy recommendations from the project. POSK and Centrala were directly involved in developing the project outputs: - Prof. Robert Gawlowski (POSK) contributed to developing and reviewing the policy recommendations from the MEW project (https://migrantessentialworkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Policy-recommendations-UK.pdf) - Alicja Kaczmarczyk (Centrala) co-produced the employer toolkit (https://migrantessentialworkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/EU-Migrant-Employer-Toolkit.pdf). |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collaboration with the charity CPAG (child Poverty Action Group) |
| Organisation | Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We invited Henri Krishna of CPAG to take part in ,consultation workshops aimed at developing our project policy recommendations. We later also invited him to contribute to the development of our information resource for migrants on claiming benefits. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Henri Krishna of CPAG led on the development of the information resource for migrants on claiming benefits and contributed to the employer toolkit. |
| Impact | We co-produced the information information resource for migrants on claiming benefits and the employer toolkit. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Collaboration with the charity Feniks |
| Organisation | FENIKS. Counselling, Personal Development and Support Services |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Dr Trevena has established an informal partnership with the charity Feniks which focuses on supporting Central and East European migrants mental health. She is regularly in touch with Magdalena Czarnecka, the CEO of Feniks, to exchange knowledge and see how the project outputs can support Feniks in their work. These exchanges have led to an invitation to present the project results at the Scottish Government-led Vaccine Inclusive Steering group meeting (11/08/2021) and next to co-writing a policy blog together. Dr Paulina Trevena met with Ms Magdalena Grzymkowska, Campaign Coordinator at Feniks to discuss collaborating on raising awareness of vaccine hesitancy among the Polish community in Scotland and the need to address this issue among Scottish policymakers. They decided to do this through writing a policy blog together, drawing on data from the Migrant Essential Workers project and Feniks' own research. The blog was published through the SPICe blog series in September 2021: https://spice-spotlight.scot/2021/09/14/guest-blog-addressing-vaccine-hesitancy-among-the-polish-community-in-scotland/ Feniks was invited by Dr Trevena to become project partner on the spin-off project funded by the Coronavirus (COVID-19): Learning and Evaluation Oversight Group (April-November 2022): "Addressing the needs of Scotland's migrant and minority ethnic populations under Covid-19: lessons for the future." The results of this research supported Feniks' funding applications and overall campaigning and advocacy work. Feniks also received information resources for migrant workers on access to healthcare and claiming benefits, and a toolkit for employers., to use for the purposes of their organisation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Feniks made members of the Scottish Government Vaccine Inclusive Steering group of the work on vaccine hesitancy as part of the Essential Migrant Workers project. This led to Dr Trevena receiving an invitation to present at one of the group's meeting. Furthermore, Magdalena Grzymkowska of Feniks contributed to a policy blog that Dr Trevena led on. The blog was published through the SPICe blog series in September 2021: https://spice-spotlight.scot/2021/09/14/guest-blog-addressing-vaccine-hesitancy-among-the-polish-community-in-scotland/ Feniks also became project partner on the spin-off project funded by the Coronavirus (COVID-19): Learning and Evaluation Oversight Group (April-November 2022): "Addressing the needs of Scotland's migrant and minority ethnic populations under Covid-19: lessons for the future." Feniks contributed to intelligence gathering and co-produced the policy recommendations from this research. Further collaboration with Feniks included help with distributing project outputs: information resources for migrant workers on access to healthcare and claiming benefits, and a toolkit for employers (early 2023). |
| Impact | Dr Trevena and Ms Grzymkowska co-wrote and published the blog "Addressing vaccine hesitancy among the Polish community in Scotland" through SPICe: https://spice-spotlight.scot/2021/09/14/guest-blog-addressing-vaccine-hesitancy-among-the-polish-community-in-scotland/ The Feniks team contributed to developing the research as well as policy implications from the project: "Addressing the needs of Scotland's migrant and minority ethnic populations under Covid-19: lessons for the future:" https://migrantessentialworkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SC-Migrant-C19-Innovations.pdf |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Exhibition co-production collaboration with Centrala |
| Organisation | Centrala |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Centrala and the MEW team collaborated on a mutli-arts exhibition, for which the team received additional funding through the IAA. Dr Trevena led on organising the exhibition and communicating with Alicja Kaczmarek from Centrala, who was exhibition curator. This mobile exhibition was held in Birmingham (Sept 2022), London (Sept-Oct 2022) and Edinburgh (Oct-Nov 2022). The research team contributed to the development of the artwork through meetings and discussions with the artists involved (Paulina Korobkiewicz, Sylwia Kowalczyk and Malgorzata Dawidek), and selecting and providing personal stories and quotes from the respondents of the Migrant Essential Workers project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Centrala made a cash contribution of £2,000 towards production costs and an in-kind contribution of £2,150 towards equipment, community engagement, marketing and organisational costs. We worked together on selecting artists for the exhibition and developing the art. Centrala curated the three exhibitions, produced marketing materials, and organised the exhibition launches in Birmingham and London. They also helped document the exhibition by photography and gathered information on audience numbers. Representatives of Centrala took part in all the exhibition launches, helping promote the inclusive message of our research. |
| Impact | The exhibition was launched in September 2022 and held in three locations: Birmingham (Sept 2022), London (Sept-Oct 2022) and Edinburgh (Oct-Nov 2022). It was also digitised and launched online in January 2023. The full exhibition is now available in digital form on our project website: https://migrantessentialworkers.com/en/exhibition/ As part of our impact and engagement work, we filmed two videos from the exhibition at the Birmingham launch in September 2022: open explaining the research and findings that informed the exhibition, and the other showcasing the exhibition artists' and curator's perspective. These re currently shown on our website as part of the digitised exhibition and will be used for further project impact and public engagement with the project. Prof. Sharon Wright and Dr. Anna Gawlewicz have also used the photos in UoG teaching as part of the UGT course 'Work, Welfare and the Politics of Reform', and made a podcast about the exhibition: https://migrantessentialworkers.com/en/2023/02/13/podcast-on-art-and-research/ The Team are currently preparing for publishing a blog on the interactions between research and art, co-produced with one of the exhibition artists, Malgorzata Dawidek. In the longer term, we would like to keep the exhibition live by showing it alongside research events. To that end, we have secured some funding (from the Urban Studies Research Incentivisation Funding - £800) to organise a workshop bringing together University of Glasgow and external researchers working across research and art (planned for Spring-Summer 2023) in view of developing a publication/special issue. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | AAG 2022 - presentation at the American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Anna Gawlewicz presented at AAG 2022 on the "Variegated impacts of Covid-19 on migrant essential workers in the UK: Health, economic, social & cultural perspectives" on 1/03/2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://aag-annualmeeting.secure-platform.com/a/organizations/main/home |
| Description | BBC One Reporting Scotland interview |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Dr Trevena was interviewed on the issue of vaccine hesitancy among the Polish community in Scotland for BBC One Reporting Scotland. Parts of the interview were used in a news clip on vaccine hesitancy among different groups within the population in Scotland. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Blog on the impact of Brexit & Covid on EU key workers living in the UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Media request from TRANS.info, provider of transport, trucking and logistics news. Dr Anna Gawlewicz and Dr Aneta Piekut were interviewed by journalist Gregor Gowans, who posted a news blog reporting our study findings on the website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://trans.info/en/study-reveals-impact-of-brexit-covid-on-eu-key-workers-living-in-the-uk-326701 |
| Description | Blog: Addressing vaccine hesitancy among the Polish community in Scotland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The blog: "Addressing vaccine hesitancy among the Polish community in Scotland" was written collaboratively by Dr Paulina Trevena and Magdalena Grzymkowska of Feniks, an Edinburgh-based charity supporting Eastern European migrants' mental wellbeing and published through the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. The purpose of the blog was to raise awareness of the issue of vaccine hesitancy among the Polish community in Scotland and help address it. The blog was published on 14/9/2021 and received 1,130 views over 5 months (numbers recorded on 21/02/22*). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://spice-spotlight.scot/2021/09/14/guest-blog-addressing-vaccine-hesitancy-among-the-polish-com... |
| Description | Centre of Migration Research seminar series |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Aneta Piekut presented on "Facebook-Ad generated online survey with Polish migrants in the UK" as part of the seminar series at the Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw, Poland on 24/02/2022. The presentation was based on experiences gained through Dr Piekut's work on the Migrant Essential Workers project. It led to influencing some decisions on future project methodologies at the Centre of Migration Research: they are designing a global survey with Polish migrants and now want to use the Facebook Ad Manager as part of their methodology |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Conference presentation: "Heroes or villains? Migrant essential workers & social security during Covid-19" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Prof. Sharon Wright presented on "Heroes or villains? Migrant essential workers & social security during Covid-19" at the Social Policy Association Annual Conference 2022 in Swansea, Wales, in July 2022 at the session: "Inter-generationality: Challenges and Prospects". The presentation was attended by 35 people. A lively discussion followed the presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://social-policy.org.uk/what-we-do/conference-2/ |
| Description | Conference presentation: "Time and sample quality in a Facebook-Ad generated survey with Polish migrants in the UK" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Piekut presented on "Time and sample quality in a Facebook-Ad generated survey with Polish migrants in the UK" at the The 19th IMISCOE Annual Conference, Oslo, Norway in July 2022 at the session: "Migration and Time: Temporalities of mobility, governance and resistance." IMISCOE is one of the major international migration conferences. The work of Dr Piekut on using Facebook Ads as a sampling tool is ground-breaking in the area of migration studies and the presentation sparked considerable interest. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.imiscoe.org/events/imiscoe-events/1380-19th-imiscoe-annual-conference |
| Description | Conference presentation: "Variegated impacts of Covid-19 on migrant essential workers in the UK: Health, economic social & cultural perspectives" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Gawlewicz presented on the "Variegated impacts of Covid-19 on migrant essential workers in the UK: Health, economic social & cultural perspectives" at the The 19th IMISCOE Annual Conference in Oslo, Norway, in July 2022 at the session: "Migration and Time: Temporalities of mobility, governance and resistance." IMISCOE is a major conference in migration scholarship. The talk was met with great interest and sparked questions from the audience. It was attended by 15 people. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.imiscoe.org/events/imiscoe-events/1380-19th-imiscoe-annual-conference |
| Description | Conference presentation: 'The only thing those essential workers received was clapping - racialised capitalism and Polish essential workers in the pandemic times in the UK' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Narkowicz and Dr Piekut presented on 'The only thing those essential workers received was clapping - racialised capitalism and Polish essential workers in the pandemic times in the UK' at the Polish Sociological Association in Warsaw, Poland, in September 2022 at the session: 'Migrations and migrants at the time of crises'. The presentation was attended by 25 people and sparked many questions from the audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://zjazdpts.pl/grupy/migranci-i-migracje-w-kontekscie-kryzysow/#czesc-1 |
| Description | Conference presentation: Covid-19 and mental health of Polish essential workers in the UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Trevena presented our research findings on 'Covid-19 and mental health of Polish essential workers in the UK' at the British Sociological Association Annual Conference 2022 (online) at the 'Building Equality and Justice Now' session. The purpose of the presentation was sharing knowledge and gaining feedback/thoughts on our findings. The session was attended by 15 people. We had a lively discussion following the presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.britsoc.co.uk/media/25752/ac2022_day1_final.pdf |
| Description | Participating in the Cross Party Group on Poland meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Supporters |
| Results and Impact | Dr Trevena took part in the Cross Party Group on Poland meeting on 9/12/2021, shared some results from the Migrant Essential Workers project and contributed ideas as to the future direction of the Group. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.parliament.scot/get-involved/cross-party-groups/current-and-previous-cross-party-groups/... |
| Description | Participation in the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Universal Credit meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Prof Wright was invited to contribute to a discussion on 'Universal Credit, Sanctions and Deductions' at the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Universal Credit meeting on 24 My 2022. 19 MPs and supporting staff took part in the meeting. Prof. Wright achieved direct policy influence with members of House of Lords and House of Commons through participating in this meeting. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Podcast 'Social inequalities and Covid in Scotland' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | University of Glasgow Spotlight is a podcast discussing public policy and the political process - at a local, national and international level - through a Scottish lens. Its aim is to bring together the best insights from staff from across the University of Glasgow and beyond in an accessible and engaging way. Prof. Sharon Wright was invited to speak about inequalities and welfare reform policy implementation. The outcomes/impacts of the podcast are unknown. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.gla.ac.uk/colleges/socialsciences/podcast/ep3/ |
| Description | Podcast on commissioning fine artists to respond to research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Prof. Sharon Wright and Dr Anna Gawlewicz took part in a University of Glasgow podcast, reflecting on their experience of working with a specialist migrant arts organisation, Centrala, to commission three artists to respond to project research findings by created an exhibition. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.gla.ac.uk/colleges/socialsciences/podcast/s2-ep10/ |
| Description | Presentation at Urban Studies workshop, University of Glasgow |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Trevena presented on "Covid-19 and mental health of Polish essential workers in the UK" as part of the University of Glasgow Urban Studies Workshop series, 7/03/2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation at an online workshop: 'Brexit, Covid and emotions' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Trevena was invited to present at a webinar organised by the EU Nationals Project on 'Brexit, Covid and emotions'. The workshop was attended by 24 people. A discussion followed the workshop. Members of the audience thanked Dr Trevena and the other presenters for validating their experiences of Brexit and said it made them feel less alone. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation at the Migration Policy Scotland event 'EU nationals in Scotland' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Prof. Wright and Dr Gawlewicz were invited to present at the Migration Policy Scotland event: "EU Nationals in Scotland: Experiences, Needs and Support." The event was targeted mainly at third sector representatives and brought together learnings and views from across the sector on the support needs and support available for EU nationals in Scotland. The MEW tea presented research-based findings on Covid-19 and the support needs of migrant essential workers in Scotland. There were 40 participants at the event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://migrationpolicyscotland.org.uk/publications/perspectives-mps-event-on-eu-nationals-in-scotla... |
| Description | Presentation on 'Highs and lows of using Facebook to recruit hard-to-reach groups for research' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Piekut and Dr Gawlewicz presented at the 'Facebook as a research tool' Seminar Series organized by Anja Neundorf & Aykut Ozturk in April 2022. This online presentation was attended by 65 people, predominantly academics. The presentation sparked questions and requests for further information. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://rpubs.com/AnetaPiekut/Covid_PL_Glasgow |
| Description | Presentation: "Variegated impacts of Covid-19 on migrant essential workers in the UK: Health, economic, social & cultural perspectives" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Gawlewicz and Prof. Wright presented on the "Variegated impacts of Covid-19 on migrant essential workers in the UK: Health, economic, social & cultural perspectives" at the University of Glasgow Urban Studies Workshop. The workshop was attended by 12 people. The presentation was met with great interest and sparked discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation: 'Impacts of interlocked crises (Brexit and Covid-19 pandemic) on racialisation of Polish essential workers in the UK' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Piekut presented on ' 'Impacts of interlocked crises (Brexit and Covid-19 pandemic) on racialisation of Polish essential workers in the UK' at the MIGREC Project Final Conference (finalising the Horison2020 project) and simultaneously opening of a research centre on migration at the University of Belgrade in January 2023. The presentation was attended by 30 academics. It sparked a lively discussion and the audience reported a change of opinion in result of it. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation: 'Migrant essential workers: Combined hostilities of Brexit and Covid-19' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Gawlewicz presented on 'Migrant essential workers: Combined hostilities of Brexit and Covid-19' at the BSA Members-Only Symposium (online) on 'Sociological Perspectives on Migration and the Hostile Environment' in January 2023. The presentation was attended by 48 people. A lively Q&A followed the presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.britsoc.co.uk/events/key-bsa-events/bsa-members-event-sociological-perspectives-on-migra... |
| Description | Presentation: 'Pandemic Clapping, a Slap in the Face: Theorising Racial Capitalism through the Experiences of Polish Migrant Workers' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Piekut presented on 'Pandemic Clapping, a Slap in the Face: Theorising Racial Capitalism through the Experiences of Polish Migrant Workers' at the Migration Research Group and MIGREC project visit - networking day at the University of Sheffield in December 2022. The talk was attended by 30 academics internationally. It sparked considerable interest and debate and inspired members of the audience to rethink the meaning of the popular custom of clapping for NHS workers during the pandemic. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation: 'Poles in the UK in the context of Brexit and Covid: changes, challenges and future plans' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Dr Narkowicz presented on 'Poles in the UK in the context of Brexit and Covid: changes, challenges and future plans' at the Polish Catholic Mission in London in November 2022. Dr Narkowicz was invited to present there, for an audience consisting mainly of third sector organisation representatives. The talk was attended by 25 people. It was followed by a lively discussion and raised awareness of issues of discrimination and the particular challenges faced by Polish essential workers in the UK. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation: 'Polish migrant workers in the UK' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Narkowicz presented on 'Polish migrant workers in the UK' at an impact case study event at Middlesex University in London in December 2022. The talk was attended by 50 colleagues across various departments. It was met with considerable interest and sparked ideas for further collaborative work building on this body of research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation: Social Policy Research Centre, Middlesex University (8/03/2021) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Kasia Narkowicz presented our research project at an academic seminar entitled "Brexit, Covid and the hierarchies of Europeanness: Polish migrants in the UK" organised by the Social Policy Research Centre, Middlesex University. The talk was attended by both UK- and internationally based scholars. Following the talk Dr Narkowicz received an enquiry about organising a Knowledge Exchange activity in collaboration with scholars from the Centre of Migration Research in Warsaw, Poland once findings from our project become available. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol9T-7Ranzk&t=2938s |
| Description | Presentation: Urban Studies research group, University of Glasgow (26/01/2021) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Anna Gawlewicz did a presentation at the Neighbourhood Welfare Wellbeing Research Group Meeting, Urban Studies, University of Glasgow on 26/01/2021. She introduced and discussed our project with the research group. Presentation title: "Migrant Essential Workers: Opportunities and challenges for social science research in times of Covid-19." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Project Facebook page |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Our project Facebook page has the double aim of serving as an information platform about the project and its activities as well as engagement platform for study participants. It has been our main platform for distributing the project survey. Our FB page is a highly successful channel of engagement, with an impressive reach of 13,850 people within the last 28 days, and 885 post engagements (figures for 10th February-9th March 2021). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
| URL | https://www.facebook.com/MigrantEssentialWorkers |
| Description | Project Presentation, Migration Research Group, Sheffield (18/02/2021) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Seminar entitled "Key challenges for migrants and migration governance in post-Brexit Britain", run by Migration Research Group, University of Sheffield. Dr Aneta Piekut (project Co-I) presented basic information about research project, research plans and questions. She received feedback from the academic audience regarding the potential theoretical frameworks to apply and analytical concepts the study could refer to. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://migrationresearch.group.shef.ac.uk/mrg-semester-2-seminar-series/ |
| Description | Project Twitter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Supporters |
| Results and Impact | Our project Twitter is a popular medium of sharing information and engaging study participants. We have 164 followers (on 10/03/2021) and regular re-tweets of our engagement posts. Twitter is also one of our channels for recruiting survey participants. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/MigrEssentWork |
| Description | Project blog: Our online survey |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Aneta Piekut wrote a blog on 'Our online survey'. The purpose of the blog was to provide key information about our online survey to the public and raise awareness of it. The blog series is a way of carrying out early dissemination for the project and sharing our results. We advertise our blogs through our project Twitter, Facebook page and personal networks to ensure engagement with the wider public. Date published: 1/07/2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://migrantessentialworkers.com/en/2021/07/01/our-online-survey/ |
| Description | Project blog: Vaccine hesitancy among Polish migrant essential workers in the UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Aneta Piekut wrote a project blog on "Vaccine hesitancy among Polish migrant essential workers in the UK". This blog follows an earlier blog on the topic of vaccine hesitancy published through SPICE (Trevena & Grzymkowska 2021). It's aim was to complement the previous blog and present further study data on the subject matter. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://migrantessentialworkers.com/en/2021/10/12/vaccine-hesitancy-among-polish-migrant-essential-w... |
| Description | Project blog: What essential work do Polish migrants in the UK do? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Aneta Piekut wrote the blog: "What essential work do Polish migrants in the UK do?" Its purpose was to describe our sample and results pertaining to type of essential work carried out specifically. The blog series is a way of carrying out early dissemination for the project and sharing our results. We advertise our blogs through our project Twitter, Facebook page and personal networks to ensure engagement with the wider public. Date published: 16/8/2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://migrantessentialworkers.com/en/2021/08/16/what-essential-work-do-polish-migrants-in-the-uk-d... |
| Description | Project presentation at the Scottish Parliament: 'Covid-19 and migrant essential workers' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Dr Trevena, Dr Gawlewicz and Prof. Wright organised a project presentation at the Scottish Parliament. The event was sponsored by Maggie Chapman, MSP. Our presentation sparked questions and discussion about the challenges faced by migrant essential workers during the pandemic and ways of supporting them. We achieved direct policy influence with MSPs and their teams through this discussion with MSPs reporting the presentation was very informative and they will use the findings in their parliamentary work. 14 MSPs and clerks attended the presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Project recommendations launch event - Health, economic, social and cultural impacts of Covid-19 on migrant essential workers in the UK: Why is change needed and what can be done? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Our first Migrant Essential Workers dissemination event took place on 17 May 2022 at the COSLA Conference Centre in Edinburgh. The aim of the event was to discuss our key findings and policy recommendations. 17 people from across Scotland took part in the event, mainly third sector representatives and policymakers, including Scottish Government representatives. We had a direct discussion of project findings and recommendations with Scottish Government officials and third sectors organisations, and they agreed to take action on our recommendations. In result of the event, representatives of Voluntary Health Scotland invited Prof. Sharon Wright to present our project findings at two meetings of the Scottish Parliament Health, Social Care and Sport Committee Inquiry into 'Health Inequalities' in May 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://migrantessentialworkers.com/en/blog/ |
| Description | Project website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We have set up an engagement focused project website which is linked to our other public engagement platforms, namely Facebook and Twitter. The website serves the double purpose of informing the wider public on the project, its aims, activities and progress but also as a platform for engaging project participants by hosting the project survey on this platform (as well as distributing it through other channels). The website is available in both English and Polish to ensure inclusivity: it is accessible to the Polish community in the UK (and in other countries) as well as English speakers. The website has very good traction and with 373 all time visitors and 1,162 all time views (as of Mar 2021). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
| URL | https://migrantessentialworkers.com/en/ |
| Description | ReWAGE Covid-19 Grants Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | ReWAGE is an independent expert advisory group modelled on SAGE that is co-chaired by Warwick and Leeds Universities and which focuses on the recovery and renewal of work and employment in the UK as it tackles the economic impact of Covid-19. It supports the government's 'build back better' and 'levelling up' agendas by providing evidence to enable a strategic response to jobs' recovery and renewal. Dr Anna Gawlewicz and Prof. Sharon Wright were invited to present on the "Health, social, economic & cultural impacts of Covid-19 on migrant essential workers in the UK" as part of ReWAGE on 13/01/2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/rewage/about/ |
| Description | Response to media enquiry from BBC Scotland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Dr Trevena received an e-mail from David Wallace Lockhart, BBC Scotland Political Correspondent. He is doing research into non-vaccination with a view to writing an article on this. Dr Trevena provided him with information and contacts for him to follow up with. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Seminar on Impacts of Covid on migrant essential workers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Dr Anna Gawlewicz presented project findings to migration and population health researchers at the University of St. Andrews. 18 people attended. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://populationandhealth.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/seminars/ |
| Description | Workshop on Migrant Essential Workers and Public Health |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Paulina Trevena hosted an online workshop with 6 stakeholders, which discussed the health challenges facing migrant essential workers during Covid-19 and in its aftermath. Participants were from migrant support organisations, public health, mental health, a homeless charity and the NHS. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Workshop on Migrant Essential Workers, Social Security & Employment |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Dr Paulina Trevena hosted an online workshop with 6 expert stakeholders to discuss key issues facing migrant essential workers in employment and social security. Participants were from local authorities, a welfare rights organisation and charities supporting migrants. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Youtube video on the highs and lows of using Facebook to recruit hard-to-reach groups for research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Youtube video of Dr Aneta Piekut and Dr Anna Gawlewicz presenting a seminar about using Facebook to recruit research participants. The audience is research practitioners, in academia and beyond. It has been viewed 146 times to date. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKBYhJx0QKc |