ESRC FESTIVAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE – 22 OCTOBER-13 NOVEMBER 2022

Postcards from Salford

Members of the SHUSU Team partnered with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University to host events as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science from 22nd October to 13th November 2022.

The Festival of Social Science is an annual celebration of research and knowledge about humans and society.  It is an opportunity for anyone to explore topics relating to social science – from health and well-being to crime, equality, education and identity – through events run by researchers from UK universities.

My Local Area

The main theme for this year’s Festival was ‘My Local Area’ and celebrated any and all aspects of social science research related to the City of Salford.  This year one of Salford’s events was led by the SHUSU Team and involved two pop-up interactive events entitled “Postcards from Salford”.

The events explored how people have been re-engaging with their favourite places across the city and their ideas about how different places can be made more accessible to everyone.  The events were designed to facilitate conversations about inclusive and accessible spaces in Salford and to generate ideas about how to increase inclusivity.  These conversations helped the team raise awareness about the need for more inclusive and age-friendly spaces in the city and inform the general public about how research at the University of Salford is helping develop such spaces.

The Events

At the events, researchers used ‘Postcards’ with iconic Salford locations to capture people’s favourite places across the city, how they accessed those spaces and why they liked to visit them.  The first event was held on Wednesday, 26th October, at Pendleton Gateway, with the second at Eccles Gateway on Thursday, 1st November.

The events also used a pop-up reminiscence display from the Salford Community Leisure Memories Matter service.  This included handling items and photographs from Salford’s history to help people share their memories of the city.

https://twitter.com/SalfordAgeing/status/1587393357336256515/photo/1

The two events engaged over 40 people, with 50 postcards completed.  There were 15 key places across the city that people particularly enjoyed visiting.  The most popular places people shared they like to visit were Salford Quays, Salford Museum and Art Gallery, Salford Precinct, Monton and Peel Park.

Favourite Places

The feedback people gave was that they felt they were enjoyable places to visit across the city that were either free or low cost.  Some of these enabled people to get out in open, outdoor spaces, which had become more important post-pandemic.  Green spaces that people liked to visit included the Bridgewater Canal, Worsley, and Peel and Buile Hill Parks.  Many people reflected that Salford Quays and Media City were an asset to the city and enjoyed visiting there due to the variety of things to do and its positive atmosphere.  You can look at the most popular places on the interactive map created following the events.

Several people enjoyed viewing the historic photographs of Salford and shared their memories of how the city has changed over the years.  This included recollections of people and places that are no longer with us but hold a special place in people’s memory. As one person told us about Salford, “It’s not so much the places: it’s the people”.

If you want to learn more about the events, please contact either Dr Eve Blezard or Ian Cookson via e.blezard3@salford.ac.uk. Alternatively visit us on Twitter;

Healthy Active Cities Research at Uni of Salford (@ActiveCitiesUoS) / Twitter

Developing Age-Friendly Communities Salford (@SalfordAgeing) / Twitter

The events were part of a collaboration between two SHUSU research projects, the first being “Levelling up locally: Developing a rights-based approach to the neighbourhood in Greater Manchester”. In this research we are using qualitative methods to shape the design of capital infrastructure investment proposals and to maximise post-implementation active travel activation. The project is jointly funded by University of Salford and TFGM (Transport for Greater Manchester).

The second project is entitled; “Developing age-friendly communities in a post-pandemic world” over 24 months, this research will gather a body of evidence to inform initiatives actively supporting older people to remain connected with the world around them. This work is funded by The Dunhill Medical Trust and is being completed by a partnership led by the University of Salford with Inspiring Communities Together, and Manchester Metropolitan University.