Jacari is delighted to have been chosen as a Science Together community partner by the University of Oxford - one of only eight Oxfordshire organisations chosen to design and lead collaborative science projects in 2025/26!

Science Together is an University of Oxford programme which aims to facilitate mutually beneficial partnerships between researchers at Oxford Brookes and Oxford University and community partners to respond to a local need, challenge or opportunity. 

Jacari's project aims to learn from the voices of the children and young people who receive English language tutoring through their programmes, as well as to increase pupils' and families' sense of belonging within Jacari and their communities. 

We’re incredibly lucky to have two fantastic academics working with us -  Lecturer and Public Engagement Facilitator, Rachel Hindmarsh, and Postdoctoral Researcher, Isobel Voysey.

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Rachel currently combines academic work in the medical humanities with public engagement coordination and knows about the benefits of making links between scientists and local communities:

“I'm passionate about building bridges between universities and the public - and creating opportunities for these two worlds to learn from and enrich each other.”

Rachel explained her reasons for volunteering: “The project's aim to learn from the voices of the children in order to shape the future direction of Jacari has such transformative potential - and I can't wait to collaborate with the Jacari team and Isobel to make this a reality!”

“A lot of my public engagement work so far has been working collaboratively with young people - so I jumped at the chance to support Jacari to learn from the children and young people that they work with!"

"I am also passionate about supporting people from refugee, asylum-seeking, and migrant backgrounds - and have been inspired by role models in my own life who have dedicated their energy and time to this cause.”

Isobel currently works as a researcher in the Department of Computer Science looking at how to support children in interactions with AI. Her work involves collaborating with children and young people to understand their wants and needs.

Isobel explained why she’s got involved: 

"I’m passionate about involving children in the development of technology and systems that affect them, so Jacari’s aim to learn from young voices was something I was keen to lend my skills to. I was also inspired hearing about the work Jacari does – I’ve seen what a difference individual support can make to children’s confidence and sense of belonging and I’m delighted to contribute in a tiny way to Jacari’s mission.”

The Science Together project perfectly aligns with Jacari’s strategic priority to be known, respected and driven by the communities in which we work and to build services on shared values and trust.

As a small charity, we will benefit hugely from the expertise and skills of researchers from Oxford University. We’re hoping Isobel and Rachel will help us research and implement the most effective methods and opportunities for engaging our pupils and families using our limited capacity and funding - we can’t wait to get started! 

Science Together projects take place between October 2025 and July 2026. University researcher and facilitator support is provided voluntarily. For more information visit: https://www.mpls.ox.ac.uk/public-engagement/science-together-oxford-researchers-and-communities