Keep Talking: Messy Research in Times of Lockdown

This chapter outlines how a participatory research project adjusted to the Covid-19 lockdown and imposed physical distancing regulations. We show how the initial ambitions to replace face to face meetings with remote research activities were re-evaluated and replaced with creative and less structured activities designed to promote wellbeing and connect the group during unprecedented times. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the benefits of the adapted approaches, drawing on a small number of interviews with the community research team, and identifies how moving to a messier approach to research resulted in unexpected outcomes for the group.