Local Level - resolving community issues

We’re currently finalising some written output from a few projects we’ve been working on, so here’s the heads up for three publications which should be available over the next 4 weeks or so. They’re listed here in the likely order of publication. They will all be announced here and on the Neighbourhoods blog - but if you can’t wait, send us a message!

Lost possessions – a playful essay with photographs exploring the phenomenon whereby people pick up dropped possessions (scarves, gloves, hats etc) and place them in a prominent position for rediscovery by the owner. These are gestures of consideration for people we are never likely to meet and whose gratitude we are never likely to receive. Lost possessions will be published by Local Level using Bookleteer.

‘A series of doors’ Young people talking about the experience of poverty – this paper derives from the work we carried out with Breslin Public Policy and the Office of the Children’s Commissioner earlier this year. The full report contributed to the OCC’s submission to government on the measurement of child poverty; but inevitably the breadth and sharpness of the young people’s contributions was diminished. This paper repackages much of what we heard, minimising the surrounding context, so that the dominant voices are those of the young people themselves. The paper will be published by Breslin Public Policy.

Social technologies, poverty and ethnicity – this is a spin-off paper by Kevin Harris as part of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation project on poverty, ethnicity and social networks. The project is led by the Third Sector Resource Centre. It is based on workshop and interview comments and will be published by the TSRC.

Following a study tour made by Kevin Harris to the Netherlands in 2011, which included a visit to a lively and inspiring self help network in Eindhoven, we have been asked to prepare a short summary review of self help in the UK.

The work will consider the range and vitality of self help groups, the degree of support they appear to receive, and the relation of self help to policy.

Today Kevin Harris was in conversation on drivetime with Radio London’s Eddie Nestor, following the news that Royal Mail plans to deliver mail to neighbours if the addressee is out.

What is striking is the proportion of people – 21 per cent – who told researchers that they don't want neighbours to handle their post.

You can read Kevin’s blog post when the idea originally emerged back in the autumn of 2011; and a more recent update on the neighbourliness question it raises.

On 23 November Kevin Harris and Martin Dudley ran a lunchtime seminar for the University of Leicester's School of Museum Studies, on our work with museums and young people looked after, following our report earlier this year.

Our study found consistent, sustained benefits for young people in the innovative projects we observed. Yesterday we emphasised the need to research and develop the argument and business case for museum services, and to call for political support for programmes of engagement with young people looked after.

Following the response to our report on museum-based activities with young people looked after, we have been asked to give two more presentations.

The first was at the Group for Education in Museums conference in Norwich in early September where Kevin Harris spoke alongside two practitioners.

In November, Martin Dudley and Kevin Harris will lead a seminar at the School of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester.