Research Reports currently being worked on include;
Financial Inclusion
Sex work peer research update in partnership with Northumbria University
...these will be available to download once completed
Homelessness, Pathways to Exclusion and Opportunities for Intervention
This research was funded by the Webb Memorial Trust and examined the origins of poverty and exclusion among a sample of homeless people. The Webb Memorial Trust was established in 1947 as a memorial to the socialist pioneer Beatrice Webb, who undertook studies of the origins of poverty, most notably through the 1909 Minority Report to the Poor Law Commission.
The key finding of the research was that there were two distinct pathways into homelessness, a clearly into one or other of these pathways, they represented a helpful lens through which to examine respondents
Building Brighter Futures?
The purpose of the review was to explore the work being undertaken by Tyneside Cyrenians and their partners, including Newcastle Futures, on the Tyneside Cyrenians’ Construction Skills Pathway.
The focus of the work was to consult with trainees whilst they were accessing the construction pathway and to explore the views of key stakeholders. The trainees interviewed were part of the first group of individuals to access the 12 week course. Whilst the focus of the review was the construction pathway and the Brighter Futures Construction Skills Training Centre, the intention of the work was to provide recommendations that can be applied, in principle, across all pathways.
Hidden for Survival
Peer Research into the lives of sex workers within Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, South Tyneside and North Tyneside.
The idea for the ‘Hidden for Survival’ peer research emanated from a group of interested professionals working predominantly within the drug field but with a range of backgrounds and experience. It was apparent that there was an increasing amount of anecdotal information being disclosed to professionals about sex work within the Tyne and Wear area. Simultaneously, a qualitative study carried out during 2005 by the Drug Interventions Programme within Government Office North East examined the experiences of women involved in off-street prostitution and drug misuse in the North East. Six in depth interviews were carried out and these identified that in Newcastle and Sunderland sex work was hidden and predominantly ‘off-street’, with the needs of the women largely unacknowledged.
Levelling the Scales
This report looks at the experiences of Tyneside Cyrenians in employing as staff members those who have accessed its own or similar services in the past. A great deal has been learnt through trial and error. This report will identify how the employment of former or current clients1 is impacting on the organisation and will highlight the benefits as well as the areas of difficulty. It is hoped that it will also contribute to the wider debate that is going on within homelessness organisations, substance misuse services and elsewhere about the employment of former clients.
Subject to Status
Subject to Status is a survey of one hundred people in the City of Newcastle who meet the criteria of experiencing chronic social exclusion in their everyday lives. Interviews were carried out in April and May 2008.
Social Exclusion happens when people or places suffer from a series of problems such as unemployment, discrimination, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime, ill health and family breakdown. When such problems combine they can create a vicious circle.
Virginia House Self Build Economic Cost Benefit Analysis
This report highlights the economic cost benefit achieved by training and then employing three formerly homeless clients who had a range of associated difficulties on the re-building of a hostel for homeless people. The report details their costs to the Criminal Justice System, the National Health Service and the Department of Work and Pensions in the five years leading up to when they began their training, the costs during training and those incurred since being in full time employment. It shows that providing training and work opportunities for those who are marginalized from the labour market saves the public purse significant amounts of money through a reduction in criminal activity, medical interventions and dependency upon benefits.
