Thank you to our amazing volunteers

To mark Volunteers’ Week 2026 (1 June to 7 June), we are celebrating and saying a big thank you to our Research Ethics Committee, Confidentiality Advisory Group and Generic Document Review Committee volunteers.

We have more than 900 volunteers at the HRA who give their time and expertise to support health and social care research in the UK.

They are made up of people from a range of backgrounds who bring different skills and life experiences to review research proposals to make sure they are ethical for the people taking part.

Some volunteers have experience of working in healthcare and social care, and others bring wider perspectives from all walks of life, giving our committees a real breadth of life and professional experience.

This mix of skills and experience means that a study is reviewed from a variety of perspectives.

Our volunteers all share a commitment to ensuring that research is ethical, respectful and designed with the protection of the safety, dignity and rights of all potential participants in mind.

Depending on the committee, this means looking at informed consent, participant information materials, recruitment materials, the use of confidential patient information and the impact of the study design on participant wellbeing.

This in turn helps to facilitate ethical research for some of the biggest challenges in health and social care, including cancer and dementia.

Last year our volunteers spent more than 75,000 hours volunteering and have reviewed thousands of research applications and changes to existing and ongoing research studies (modifications).

Research Ethics Committee Members (REC)

RECs review research applications and give an opinion on whether the research is ethical. There are 86 RECs in the UK and more than 800 members in England and 1168 in total UK wide.

In 2025, REC members met over 1300 times and reviewed nearly 4100 applications and over 7700 substantial modifications were reviewed last year too.

Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG)

The CAG is an independent body which provides expert advice on the use of confidential patient information.

There are 23 CAG members. In 2025, CAG members met 40 times and reviewed over 120 applications and over 68 amendments.

Generic Document Review Committee (GDRC)

Our GDRC reviews a whole range of generic recruitment materials and participant supporting materials that could be used to recruit potential participants for Phase 1 Healthy Volunteer clinical trials and later phase clinical trials.

Two experienced members, who are former REC members, make up this committee.

In 2025, the GDRC reviewed 100 new submissions and 95 amendment submissions.

Thank you messages

Thank you once again to our volunteers for the positive impact you make to the health and social care sector. We're very grateful to each and every one of you for your hard work and dedication.

I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to the HRA’s amazing volunteers.