Community Connections: Open Space for Social Innovation

Where imagination meets constraint: how can those involved with social innovation, community wealth building and systems change in Oxfordshire connect and collaborate for improved outcomes?
We are inviting Equinox partners, University researchers and members of Oxfordshire’s Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector to come together at our Community Connections: Open Space for Social Innovation. You are encouraged to bring along topics, projects or ideas you would like to discuss with others that align with the theme.

An Open Space is a gathering where attendees contribute to shaping the agenda. You may be involved in social sciences research or policy, be a social entrepreneur, be part of the social impact sector, or a member of the innovation ecosystem looking to improve the social value of your business. Everyone is welcome to bring discussion topics or questions related to social innovation in Oxfordshire.

Please register to attend the event so we know how many people to plan and cater for. Please fill out the questions when you check out so we have a sense of who will be in the room.

Travel Advisory
Attendees driving to the site should note that Botley Road is closed to vehicles at the rail bridge near Oxford Station; pedestrian access only. Access to Botley Road is only possible from the west, via the ring road, with no access from the city centre.

Bursary for Community members

The event is free of charge. However, we recognise that participating in an in-person event can incur further expenses and not everyone will have access to funding to cover these costs. We have some budget to support those for whom there may be a financial barrier to attend – please see our Community Connections Event Bursary Policy below.

We are committed to making sure this event is accessible. The event is free to attend. However, we recognise that participating in an in-person event can incur further expenses for attendees – and not everyone will have access to funding to cover these costs. We are therefore offering a limited number of bursaries to support the attendance of community members or representatives of community-based organisations.

Eligibility

To be eligible to be compensated for their time, claimants must be taking part in the event outside of their paid work obligations. This includes lost earnings (where your employer will not pay for your time and where attendance does not support other freelance activities). If you are coming from a small organisation where there is a financial barrier to attendance, we also may be able to offer a bursary.

To be eligible for travel expenses, the claimant must not have their travel expenses covered by their employer. Claimants must also be travelling specifically to the event, outside of their regular community journey. We can only cover travel expenses within Oxfordshire.

What and how to claim

Please refer to the university guidelines on travel reasonable claim amounts. We can also cover childcare costs in accordance with the university's expenses policy. We can support the cost of a carer’s time and travel.

We will be providing a meal so we will not be offering expenses for subsistence. As the event is half a day, we will also not be providing accommodation expenses.

Payments to cover eligible contributors’ time will be paid at the following amounts:

• Half a day of travel time and attendance = £75

If you are claiming travel or childcare expenses, you will need to submit an expense form after the event, found on the Oxford University website: How to claim expenses: claimants external to the University | Finance Division (ox.ac.uk) (Please note receipts will need to be kept).

All payments will go through the university's payment processes, which can take up to 6-8 weeks.

Action required and deadline

If you need to claim expenses or compensation for your time, please email the Public and Community Engagement with Research team in advance at [email protected], Ideally, by 25 June 2025, including:

• why money is a barrier for you to attend and

• how the bursary will mean that you can attend.

If you have questions about this document, please contact [email protected]k

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