Reports and research

Growing interest? Mapping the market for social finance in the youth sector

1 August 2011 | Authors: Bethia McNeil, Cynthia Shanmugalingam, Sophie Moullin,

The 11,000 organisations that comprised the voluntary and community youth sector (VCYS) in 2010 were (and are) under unprecedented pressure. This report considers the potential for social finance to not only address under-capitalisation, but also to grow the capacity and

Productivity in UK public services – what went wrong? What could go right?

1 August 2011 | Authors: Neil Reeder,

Cuts to public spending have hit services hard; and more reductions are on the way. The worst can only be avoided by a step-change in public service productivity services. Much scope for improvement is there – but only if the

Mapping social networks to improve public service delivery

1 July 2011 | Authors: Saffron Woodcraft,

This presentation captures the findings from a project between Neighbourhood Management in King’s Lynn, the Young Foundation and Insight 1st, working with Netform social network analysis software. The aim of the project was to use social network analysis (SNA) to

Informing Investment in Youth Work: Measuring value and strengthening the evidence base

30 June 2011 | Authors: Bethia McNeil, Neil Reeder,

We believe that managing the transition between youth and adulthood better is vitally important in improving outcomes for young people. However there is a lack of evidence about what works in this area. Further, such evidence as exists is not

The Way to Work: Young People Speak Out on Transitions to Employment

1 May 2011 | Authors: Bethia McNeil, Maryanna Abdo, Sarah Hewes, Will Norman,

The world of work and transitions to adulthood and independence are in a state of flux. Young people negotiating their transitions to adulthood are faced with unprecedented choice and opportunity, but also far greater levels of uncertainty and risk. The

Social Impact Investment: The opportunity and challenge of Social Impact Bonds

1 March 2011 | Authors: Geoff Mulgan, Mhairi Aylott, Neil Reeder,

The spending squeeze in the UK from 2008 onwards means that there is more interest than ever, both in tools to achieve greater value, and ones that can tap new sources of finance for social goals. Different approaches to investment

Connect: Patients and the Power of Data

1 March 2011 | Authors: John Loder, Sylvia Wyatt,

Information is the lifeblood of high quality healthcare. There have been huge technological advances about how it can be used and by whom, which have been under utilised by the NHS. It is now possible to give people control over

Study on Social Innovation for the Bureau of European Policy Advisors

1 March 2011 | Authors: Geoff Mulgan, Louise Pulford,

“The financial and economic crisis makes creativity and innovation in general and social innovation in particular even more important to foster sustainable growth, secure jobs and boost competitiveness.” José Manuel Barroso, BEPA Workshop on ‘Europe and Social Innovation’ 20th January

How to Guides

1 March 2011 | Authors: John Loder, Sarah McGeehan,

This series of guides is designed to help funders and project leads to set up and sustain innovative projects across the NHS. The How to Guides draw together the material on supporting health innovation which the Young Foundation delivered and

Rough Nights: The Growing Dangers of Working at Night

1 March 2011 | Authors: Will Norman,

This report explores the lives of those people who work at night: the men and women who keep our hospitals open, clean our offices, allow us to cancel lost credit cards, serve us drinks in a club or drive us

Signing on: Experiences of worklessness in Birmingham

1 December 2010 | Authors: Corinne Cordes, Sarah Hewes, Vicki Sellick, Will Norman,

This report maps the journeys of Birmingham residents seeking work in the second half of 2010 and reflecting on their experiences, makes recommendations for how employability support could be changed in the future – both to improve the rate of

Charm Offensive: Cultivating Civility in 21st Century Britain

1 December 2010 | Authors: Carmel O’Sullivan, Phoebe Griffith, Rushanara Ali, Will Norman,

Civility can seem like an old fashioned concept and the British public tends to think we are on a spiral of decline when it comes to everyday politeness. This report, co-funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and