JRF Newsletter

JRF newsletter - November 2007 (view on website)

* News and latest research

• People of North Wales asked to share their rural housing concerns with independent Commission
• Current governance systems are failing to meet the needs of people living in disadvantaged areas
• New report highlights impact of heavy cannabis use on vulnerable young people
• Using 'Talking Mats' to help people with dementia to communicate
• Attachment to place, social networks, mobility and prospects of young people
• Political devolution, regional governance and tackling deprivation
• Providing Gypsy and Traveller sites: contentious spaces
• Comparing models of housing with care for later life
• The use and impact of dispersal orders
• Rewarding young people for pro-social behaviour
• Youth poverty in Europe

* Fran Abrams awarded JRF Journalist Fellowship

Author and journalist, Fran Abrams, has been awarded our Journalist Fellowship. She will explore why many young people in Britain fall outside of education, employment and training systems.

Abrams will go behind the headline figures to analyse the underlying causes and potential solutions. Despite rising staying-on-at-school rates, university expansion and a large injection of cash over the past ten years, the number of young people who remain out of school remains a concern. There are over 1.25 million 16- to 24-year-olds in England alone who are out of education or training and without a job.

Fran Abrams has been reporting on social policy for more than 20 years. Her most recent book, Seven Kings, featured a year in the life of a successful urban comprehensive school and seven of its pupils. She says:

"I saw it as a picture of how children succeed. This book will present the other side of this coin – looking at how our education system and society are failing so many young people. The book will also give a voice to ordinary parents and youngsters to capture what they think would transform young people’s struggles to find work, education or training into success stories."

Given every two years, our £50,000 bursaries enable experienced journalists to take time out from their schedules to write a book about challenging areas of social policy. Read more on our website.

* Forthcoming publications (November):

• Street policing of problem drug users (20 November)
• The impact of poverty on young children's experience of school (21 November)
• Ward councillors and community leadership: a future perspective (23 November)
• The housing pathways of new immigrants (26 November)
• Drinking places: social geographies of consumption (28 November)

Please note: publication dates are subject to change.