Sutton Hoo
August 2024
I had every good intention to write this in June, but as always life gets in the way, for every good day there are weeks of crap. Anyway, I digress, this is an account of my birthday, well the day after. I don’t normally celebrate birthdays. I have never seen the purpose, why celebrate a day that you didn’t really have any say in, it was just sort of pushed on you. However, I have wanted to visit Sutton Hoo for as long as I can remember, I should point out I have sort of been there twice before. Let me clarify, I went to an open-air film screening of the film ‘The Dig’ and on another occasion to watch a production of ‘Macbeth’ both in the evening. So having been there twice I had never seen the burial mounds, museum, house or indeed any of Sutton Hoo in daylight. Luckily ‘M’ had offered to take me and never being one to miss an opportunity I meekly inquired if we could also go and look at Basil Browns house as it had recently got a blue plaque, and the veritable jewel in the crown of this day out? ‘Time Team’ would be starting an excavation at the Hoo, yes you read that correctly ‘Time Team’.
Let the quest begin……….
Chasing Shadows: Young People, Homelessness and Covid-19
'Youth Voice Journal'
Critical Youth Voices on the COVID 19 Pandemic : International Perspectives.
04 December 2021
Abstract
Purpose: This paper examines the effect the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the homeless by concentrating on the younger members of this population from the first lockdown in March 2020 to what was referred to colloquially as ’Freedom Day’ in July 2021.
Design/Methodology/Approach: This has been achieved by using an auto-ethnographic approach set in a town in Essex, England with local stakeholders and the young homeless. Conducting interviews with the homeless is problematic as this population by its nature is fluid, and inhabits the ‘shadow lands’ of society. The sample cohort is therefore small; however, the paper gives a snapshot on the lived experiences of the people both working and living within this field.
Findings: It examines this in two broad sections: firstly, giving an overview of looking at who is classed as ‘the homeless’ in the United Kingdom (UK). It will then go on to explore the concerns being raised with regards to the increasing number of rough sleepers and those who are considered as homeless before the onset of the pandemic. Secondly, in early 2020 as the destructive scale of the virus became apparent there were urgent calls for ‘something’ to be done to protect the homeless. It will look at the British Government’s policies to get all rough sleepers off the street and into emergency accommodation, and to protect those vulnerably accommodated from eviction. Whilst these policies were intended to alleviate the destructive nature of the virus, they also created problems in the provision of services to this cohort.
Building Back Better
or Business as usual in the UK?
Lost opportunity, Covid-19, and Homelessness
March 2022
Abstract
When Covid-19 swept through the United Kingdom (UK) at the beginning of 2020 it created a paradigm shift in how the population enacted their daily lives. As the government put the country into its first lockdown in March 2020, it was forced into thinking how to protect the population from the virus while maintaining a functioning infrastructure. In the early stages of the lockdown there was a feeling within the UK of all ‘pulling together’ and everyone was ‘in the same boat.’ This coming together was demonstrated in the desire to protect the National Health Service (NHS) and the recognition of ‘key workers,’ those who could not work from home such as: care home workers, shop workers and public transport employees. This solidarity was displayed by placing pictures of rainbows in windows and the weekly doorstep clapping for key workers. One excluded group that came to the fore, as people were told to ‘stay at home’ were the homeless. As public and some political disquiet grew concerning this cohort the government introduced ‘Everyone In’ to get rough sleepers off the street. This article will examine this policy’s implementation and potential effects in alleviating homelessness in the UK in the future through a Social Harm lens. Was the ‘Everyone In’ policy an act of tokenism? Is it sustainable under neo-liberalism? Did it actually tackle the core issues leading to homelessness? Or was it a ‘sticking plaster’ to obscure the harsh realities of inequality within society in the UK? It will utilise a Social Harm perspective.
Keywords: Covid-19, Homelessness, Poverty, Neoliberalism, Tokenism.
Is Nothing Sacred: The creation of a Criminal Other
The Open University
Harm and Evidence Research Collaborative
(HERC)
30 April 2021
On 24th May 2020, two ancient rock shelters in the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia were destroyed by blasting. The Anglo-Australian multinational mining corporation Rio Tinto carried out the blasting work. This was to increase the size of their open-cut iron ore mine named Brockman 4. These shelters were sacred sites to the indigenous population and of great archaeological/spiritual importance. This was the only site in Australia to show continual human occupation stretching back forty-six thousand years.
After the Pandemic: Criminology and Social Harm after Covid-19
British Society of Criminology
02 June 2020
We are in the extraordinary position of being able to observe the genesis of change that is affecting all aspects of our social world.
We are living in exceptional times as Covid-19 appears to be running out of control throughout most of the world. The death toll rises daily at a frightening rate, the fear and tragedy touches everyone’s lives. It feels ever more difficult to get clear and trustworthy information as scientists and politicians in England and indeed from around the world give out contradictory statements. Globalisation has never felt more real or terrifying. How do we keep ourselves and loved ones safe? Will life ever return to ‘normal’ again? Our collective ontological security is fast slipping away.
Contribution to Society: A Footnote for the Care Act 2014
Practice (Social Work in Action)
A footnote for the Care Act 2014
13 March 2016
Abstract
Between 1 April 2015 and 1 April 2016 local authorities in England have to introduce a new system of needs assessment, carer’s assessment and care and support planning for adult social care. The new legislation changes the eligibility criteria and with it a definition of ‘well-being’ that must be considered in all adult care-related activity. Part of this definition is the individual’s contribution to society. There is no explanation of what this term means, and so ahead of relevant case law by the courts, this article discusses interpretations which may help practitioners discharge their legal duties and abide by professional standards.
Book Citations
The Care Act 2014
Wellbeing in Practise
Edited by Suzy Braye and Michael Preston-Shoot
Sage 2022
Stories of Care: A Labour of Law
Gender and Class at work
LJB Hayes
Palgrave 2017