Last year, Macmillan Cancer Support ran Influencing Commissioning facilitation events around the country. We helped participants develop skills to encourage members of the public to get involved.

We have made the manual freely available to give you the opportunity to use it to improve the lives of people affected by cancer. It includes examples of activities and resources for facilitators running their own sessions.

Download Influencing Commissioning.

Another area where it's vital to involve the public is research. It can be a confusing and daunting subject, so we developed Building Research Partnerships in conjunction with the National Institute for Health Research Cancer Research Network (NCRN). It has been running since 2007 and has been internationlly peer reviewed. It has been fully updated for 2014.

The workshop is free to attend. It covers:

• different types of research methods
• terminology used in research
• how the public can get involved
• the issues people my face once they get involved.

Register your interest in attending Building Research Partnerships.