Nicola Harrington

I’m Nicola Harrington. My background includes community research, discovery and service design work across central government, public health, emergency services and local communities. That’s included time inside the Home Office, UKHSA, the National Crime Agency, the Metropolitan Police, London Ambulance Service, the Department of Health and NHS England, and four years at Roke Manor Research leading discovery work across public sector programmes. Across all of that work I kept seeing the same thing: the people most affected by decisions were often the least involved in shaping them. Or if they were involved, the wrong questions had been asked of the wrong people. Research by Robin was created to help organisations understand communities before decisions are made, turning insight into practical action and places people actually use. Getting this wrong is expensive, not always in obvious ways, but in wasted effort, facilities that go underused, and investment that doesn’t land where it should. I have ADHD, which has sharpened how I think about the gap between how things are supposed to work and how they actually do. I take that question seriously in every project. I believe good decisions start with real conversations, not assumptions. With a teenage son racing nationally in cycling (and me mostly watching from the sidelines wondering how he got so fast), I have a particular curiosity about what keeps people in grassroots sport and what pushes them out, and how those same questions apply to community life more broadly. Alongside client work, I’m currently developing What Spaces Are Missing in Salisbury?, a local case study exploring the places, facilities and opportunities residents feel the city needs, and what this reveals about gaps in provision.