I am a social researcher with particular experience working with charities and other third-sector organisations. In my training, I specialised in statistical methods and I am passionate about producing research that is accessible, insightful and can have impact.
I first became interested in social research when volunteering at a local authority, where I supported projects related to child poverty. I then went on to support a range of research projects around poverty at the University of Leeds, including investigating the impacts poverty can have children and young people as well as their parents, supporting participatory action research with an intergenerational panel of experts by experience, and the relationship between school attendance and poverty. I have also conducted research about access to healthcare with people experiencing homelessness.
Inspired by my previous engagements with research, I went on to study for a postgraduate diploma in Social Research Methods and Statistics at the University of Manchester. This was a valuable opportunity to develop and apply my skills as in quantitative methods. This entrenched my interest in producing insightful and accessible statistical analysis that can inform policy and practice, which I have been grateful to apply in my own research.
I currently work as a Senior Researcher at the charity Directory of Social Change, where I have led on bespoke research projects with and for a range of organisations, from charities and other voluntary sector organisations to the NHS. My research here has covered a range of topics, from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on charities and the communities they support, to analysis of the scope and nature of support provided by charities.