Talk presented by Rachael Ainsworth at the RSE Midlands Launch, 8 June 2022, https://rse-midlands.github.io/docs/event-8th-june/ Abstract: Since 2010, the Software Sustainability Institute (SSI) has facilitated the advancement of software in research by cultivating better, more sustainable, research software to enable world-class research (“Better software, better research”). To achieve this, the SSI has engaged a community of researchers; Research Software Engineers and developers; instructors and trainers that deliver research software training; research policymakers; and groups that provide services that support research software development. We will present an overview of the Institute’s main activities to engage the research software community, such as the Fellowship Programme, annual Collaborations Workshop (where the name “Research Software Engineer” was coined in 2012), and Research Software Camps, and how Research Software Engineers can get involved. We will also talk about resources that we have made available (e.g. the SSI Event Organisation Guide and other templates) that people are free to adapt and use to ease their own organisation of activities.