Public involvement in clinical translational research is increasingly recognised as essential for relevant and reliable research. Public involvement must be diverse and inclusive to enable research that has the potential to reach those that stand to benefit from it the most, and thus address issues of health equity. Several recent reports, however, indicate that public involvement is exclusive, including in its interactions with ethnic groups. This paper outlines a novel community-led methodology – a community sandpit – to address the inclusion of ethnic groups in public involvement in research, reports on its evaluation, findings, legacy and impact.