INCLUSIVE RESEARCH CONSULTANCY
Closing the gap between policy and practice.
Elysium London works with NHS Trusts, universities, ICSs, and national funders to design and deliver inclusive research that addresses health inequalities and supports the inclusion of under-served groups.
THE CHALLENGE
The commitment is widespread. The infrastructure to deliver on it is not.
NIHR has made inclusive research design a mandatory condition of domestic funding. Universities, NHS Trusts, ICSs, and national funders all publicly commit to inclusion, engagement, and equity. Yet the infrastructure to deliver on those commitments has not kept pace. Teams are expected to be inclusive without practical support to do it. Institutions commit to community engagement without the relational infrastructure to sustain it.
Closing the gap matters. Healthy life expectancy still varies by almost two decades between the most and least deprived neighbourhoods in England. The institutions accountable for closing that gap need delivery infrastructure.
Elysium London’s published structural analysis identifies why this gap persists. The barrier sits in the systems through which research is commissioned, governed, and delivered, including ethics review, PPIE governance, and recruitment infrastructure. Closing it requires applied practitioner support and dedicated infrastructure embedded across the research lifecycle.
WHAT WE DO
Applied inclusive research consultancy at the point of delivery.
Workshops & Training
Applied, scenario-based sessions designed around the specific inclusive research challenges a team actually faces. Sessions build practical capability that transfers to live work, aligned with NIHR INCLUDE guidance and the UK Standards for Public Involvement.
Review & Advisory
Independent review of research designs, ethics applications, PPIE strategies, and funding submissions. Structured feedback that strengthens preparation for ethics committee review, funder review, and external assessment.
Embedded Programmes
Long-term advisory and programme support for institutions embedding inclusive research at a strategic level. Community researcher recruitment, training, deployment, and governance.
Engagements from £1,500. Scoping calls are free and without obligation.
20+
Research and evaluation projects delivered across NHS, ICSs, universities, and national funders
190+
Practitioners trained in inclusive and community research methodology
4
Practitioner frameworks developed from direct delivery experience
2
Published white papers on inclusive research practice and infrastructure
WHO WE WORK WITH
Trusted by institutions where inclusive research is a strategic priority.
NHS Trusts & ICSs
Supporting health research teams with community engagement strategy, PPIE design, and Core20PLUS5-aligned research delivery.
Universities & Academic Partners
Strengthening research proposals, ethics applications, and under-served group recruitment strategies aligned with NIHR INCLUDE, the UK Standards for Public Involvement, and institutional EDI commitments at the research-design and delivery layer.
National Funders & Foundations
Advising on programme design, grantee support models, and evaluation frameworks for research inclusion, community-led grant-making, and lived experience involvement.
Local Authorities
Designing place-based research and co-production that supports council public health teams, Marmot Place commitments, and neighbourhood-level work on the wider determinants of health.
VCSE Organisations
Training peer and community researchers, designing co-production processes informed by the Ladder of Co-production, and developing governance structures for community-led research.
Social Enterprises
Supporting mission-driven organisations to evidence social value, design theories of change, and use inclusive research methodology to strengthen impact reporting to commissioners and foundation funders.
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS
King's College London
King's Health Partners
British Science Association
Ideas Fund
CLIENT OUTCOMES
What institutional partners say about working with Elysium London.
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“After just one session, you’ve transformed our partnership strategy.”
Programme Director
UK Trade Body
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“We have had double the applicants following your evaluation.”
Head of Department
Local Authority
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“You helped us to transform our entire strategy. I wish you had joined at the start.”
Programme Manager
NHS Foundation
FOUNDER-LED
Every engagement is designed and delivered by Muhammed Rauf.
Elysium London is a founder-led consultancy. The credibility of the practice rests on a track record built primarily at Centric Community Research, a community-led research hub in Lambeth and Southwark, where Muhammed progressed to Director and served as principal client-facing lead on the majority of research and advisory engagements over five years.
That track record spans approximately twenty research and evaluation projects across NHS Trusts, ICSs, universities, and national funders. It includes leadership of community researcher teams of up to twenty-five, training delivered to nearly two hundred practitioners, and front-facing institutional advisory on research design, ethics, community engagement, and funder relationships across NIHR-funded, ICS-commissioned, and publicly funded research programmes.
Four practitioner frameworks have developed from that direct delivery experience: the Interspace Framework, the RCA Model, the Continuum Model, and Pracademic Translation. These now underpin every Elysium London engagement.
PUBLISHED RESEARCH
Practice grounded in our own published research.
Elysium London’s practice is grounded in two published white papers and four practitioner frameworks developed from direct delivery experience. Strategic Frameworks for Inclusive Research (2025) established the conceptual models that underpin every engagement. The Inclusive Research Collaborative (2026) advances a structural diagnosis of why inclusive research remains fragile across the UK research ecosystem, and proposes a forward trajectory for dedicated infrastructure. A third paper on Inclusive Research Standards with implementation guidance is currently in development.
STAY INFORMED
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Ready to close the gap between policy and practice?
Elysium London offers a free thirty-minute scoping call to understand your institutional context, identify the specific inclusive research challenge, and recommend the right engagement. No obligation. No sales pressure. A focused conversation about what would actually help.