On 1ST July 2025, we hosted a free in-person Human Rights Summer Event in London to celebrate the end of the first year of delivery on the London Communities Human Rights Programme (LCHRP).  

We were joined by our four incredible community partners and community members Indoamerican Refugee and Migrant Organisation, Southall Community Alliance, Community Plan for Holloway, and Unfold. These groups work across London on everything from migration and refugee rights to learning disability self-advocacy. The room was packed, with over 50 people from community groups across London 

During the event, we delivered a human rights workshop that focused on the importance of using human rights-based approaches in community work. This included an introduction the Human Rights Act 1998, and a look at some practical case studies showing how human rights can be used in our day-to-day lives.  

Our community partners then participated in a panel discussion where they shared some of their insights and experiences of using human rights. They talked about the work they’ve been doing and the advice they’d give to other community groups looking to build on their human rights work. A key message from all the groups, whether they were working on empowering young people, providing advice and support, or enabling community action was the power of using Human Rights Act to give real power to their advocacy. Partners shared examples of external successes such changing school admission policies and the internal benefits using human rights brings, like strengthening participatory approaches.  

To bring our three-year UK-wide Community Programme to a close, the BIHR team headed to the Baring Foundation offices (who generously funded this work) on Wednesday to share some key learnings from this important capacity-building work, as well as the need to continue mobilising communities through Human Rights Act advocacy.  

We were joined by community partners to speak directly to Baring and other funders in this sector about the different the Human Rights Act has made to their lives and work. This included Zainab from Awesta, which advocates for better housing, mental health and education services for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants; Ernest from Migrants' Rights Network, which stands in solidarity with all migrants in their fights for rights and justice; Lucy from Pembrokeshire People First, a self-advocacy organisation run by and for people with a learning disability; and Fairuz formerly from Hopscotch Women's Centre, which provides a range of services to empower, support and advocate for women. 

With funders from a range of areas attending, we’re looking forward to progressing discussion on how to sustain and grow HRA advocacy work with community and grassroot groups across the UK. Stay tuned for more details of this event! 

30th June marks co-production week, a week established by the Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE) to celebrate the importance of co-production in the development of social care. Co-production is about making sure that people who use or are impacted by services are involved in transforming those services to ensure that they have a real say over their care and treatment. 

At BIHR, much of our work is co-produced in a meaningful way with people who have lived experience, people who have important everyday expertise that can be powerfully combined with our legal and practical knowledge. Together, we can share the everyday value of our Human Rights Act. 

For example, our RITES Committee (standing for real-life insights, tips, experiences and stories) is made up of experts by experience who have used our Human Rights Act to achieve change – for themselves, the people they work with or their loved ones. We have worked with the RITES Committee on projects such as co-producing a response to the Department for Health & Social Care’s consultation on visitations rights in hospitals, care homes and hospices, and creating Easy Read explainers on the European Convention of Human Rights.  

We have also co-produced free human rights guides and resources for community groups around the UK. For example, in 2024 we co-produced a human rights card game with the members of Cwm Taf People First. We also co-produced a guide to empower parents and carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities to use human rights when challenging decisions of local authorities and schools with Parent and Carer Alliance CIC.