SEED Stitch Socials Promote Wellbeing and Connection at The University of Manchester
Laura Pottinger, Poppy Budworth, and Xin Li are the driving force behind the SEED Stitch Socials, an initiative aimed at fostering wellbeing and connection among early career researchers (ECRs) and postgraduate researchers (PGRs).
Running from December 2023 to June 2024, these monthly gatherings invite participants to engage in craft projects while discussing their research and building community ties.
What was the motivation behind your project and how did the SEED SR Catalyst Fund support your research?
[Stitch Socials] There have been calls from researchers within the School for more opportunities to get to know one another, and we are aware that contract researchers and newly joining staff in particular are at risk of feeling isolated and disconnected from colleagues. Responding to these concerns, our aim was to create regular, safe, and relaxed spaces that facilitate familiarity and feelings of connection with a supportive 鈥楽EED鈥� community.
We hosted five monthly Stitch Socials at a variety of locations across the University of Manchester and the local area including Christie鈥檚 Bistro, 91直播 Poetry Library, Hulme Garden Centre, and the Firs Environmental Research Station. We also held a final celebration event supported by the Humanities Wellbeing Fund in June 2024. The sessions were primarily aimed at SEED PGRs and ECRs (but open to all), inviting people to an informal and friendly meet-up where we learnt more about each other's research while working creatively in a variety of ways.
Over fifty people joined one or more sessions, and this included researchers from across faculties and at all career stages, as well as artists and colleagues from MMU. People brought existing projects (stitching, knitting, mending, or something completely different) or used the free, sustainably sourced stitching materials provided in the sessions. This gave us all an opportunity to slow down and chat about things in our work and personal lives, as well as taking time to sit quietly together.
At one of the Stitch Socials, we also invited two local artists whose work explores themes of social responsibility and sustainability to share their beautiful work with the group: Nell Smith, an artist who works with textiles and print, and Simone Trumpet, a portrait photographer with an interest in photographing people, places and plants.
What impact did Stitch Socials have on the researcher community in SEED?
[Stitch Socials] Participants who attended the Stitch Socials said they enjoyed the 鈥榞entle socialising鈥� of the sessions and liked having something practical to do while talking with colleagues. They valued opportunities to chat but also to spend time together quietly, and sometimes even in silence.
One noted that they found it 鈥榬ewarding to share craft hours together, bond with people, and calm down鈥�. Having a reason to visit new places and lesser-known parts of the University was also something many saw as a benefit of taking part, with one participant commenting 鈥業 really love the idea of having a session and discovering different locations, especially as a newcomer to the city.鈥�
How does this project relate to our wide research and/or teaching at the University?
[Stitch Socials] As Early Career Researchers in SEED, our individual work engages with Social Responsibility issues in a variety of ways. For example, Xin is interested in caring relations between bodily experience and urban infrastructure, particularly in how to develop care-oriented approaches in urban spaces through community and social engagements.
Laura is interested in the idea of so-called 鈥榮low scholarship鈥� and how we might create gentler, more ethical and inclusive ways of working with research participants, communities and with fellow academic researchers. In her current research, Making Slow Colour, she is interested in how researchers might resist the urgency and competitiveness that often characterises academic work.
Poppy鈥檚 work explores social difference, marginalisation, and everyday life, with a focus on youth and disability. Poppy is interested in exploring the multiple ways that academic researchers can collaborate and partner with non-HEI organisations and experts in meaningful and enduring ways; which draw on creative and non-traditional methods of sharing. We are each experimenting with creative methods to research, respond to and communicate these challenges.
Through these socials, Pottinger, Budworth, and Li aim to nurture relationships with local artists and strengthen future collaborative opportunities, aligning with their individual research interests in social responsibility and community engagement.
For more information about the SEED Stitch Socials, contact Laura Pottinger at laura.pottinger@manchester.ac.uk.