Luke Billingham
lbilli91.bsky.social
Luke Billingham
@lbilli91.bsky.social
Youth worker & academic reseacher. Primary focus in both roles is to address the structural harms affecting young people.
https://www.open.ac.uk/people/lb28572
Pinned
On this @brisunipress.bsky.social webpage is a few resources related to me & Keir Irwin-Rogers' book Against Youth Violence, incl:

➡️ Book launch video
➡️ Podcast
➡️ Policy briefing

We must reduce both social harm & violence in young people's lives.
bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/against-yout...
Against Youth Violence
Against Youth Violence - A Social Harm Perspective; Youth violence dominates headlines and politicians’ attention and many organisations invest considerable resources in an attempt to reduce it. This ...
bristoluniversitypress.co.uk
Reposted by Luke Billingham
"I don't want to rise 'above' my community. I want to rise *with* it."

This sentiment is often expressed to me by young people. They want individual success *and* to see improved conditions for all in their communities.

This is a theme I explore in this blog:
mabdallah.substack.com/p/mattering-...
Mattering is not just inside people’s heads: Mattering, inequality, schools and solidarity
Luke Billingham is a youth worker for Hackney Quest and a Research Associate for the Open University.
mabdallah.substack.com
June 7, 2025 at 9:31 AM
"I don't want to rise 'above' my community. I want to rise *with* it."

This sentiment is often expressed to me by young people. They want individual success *and* to see improved conditions for all in their communities.

This is a theme I explore in this blog:
mabdallah.substack.com/p/mattering-...
Mattering is not just inside people’s heads: Mattering, inequality, schools and solidarity
Luke Billingham is a youth worker for Hackney Quest and a Research Associate for the Open University.
mabdallah.substack.com
June 7, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
New @nuffieldfoundation.org funded research exploring racial disparity in diversion from the YJS. Sig findings and recs across education and the CJS.TY to my fellow researchers Isabelle Brodie Joe Kiff John Pitts + Timi Osidipe @manmetuni.bsky.social

www.nuffieldfoundation.org/project/raci...
Exploring racial disparity in diversion from the youth justice system - Nuffield Foundation
www.nuffieldfoundation.org
May 13, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
👀 Are you passionate about tackling inequality? Do you want to be part of a leading organisation in the social mobility space in the UK?

Applications are currently open for a handful of roles in different teams at the Trust!

Find out more 👇
Vacancies - The Sutton Trust
Look at all jobs and vacancies at the Sutton Trust.
recruitment.suttontrust.com
May 13, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
Incredibly proud of this new podcast with @robbiejourno.bsky.social and the Big Light. Young people are demonised on the street but what happens if we look through the stereotype and listen instead?
May 13, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
🚨 We're looking for a Head of Research & Policy!

This is a key role in our integrated Communications, Research and Policy team, and it's a great opportunity to play a meaningful part in effecting change for disadvantaged young people.

Apply by 21st May ⤵️
recruitment.suttontrust.com/jobs/5909323...
Head of Research & Policy - The Sutton Trust
Do you have a deep interest in issues of educational equity, social mobility and increasing opportunity? Apply to be our Head of Research & Policy!
recruitment.suttontrust.com
May 8, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
🔊NEW EPISODE

This week @lucybrisbane.bsky.social & Lee talk to Sandra Ruiz from the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission about the importance of collective community action & how that has helped relatives & survivors take ownership of the ways Grenfell is memorialised.

www.inquest.org.uk/podcast
April 2, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
🧵We learned today that a record 4.5 million children faced poverty this year, but we also learned that policy change can make a difference.

changingrealities.org/writings/cut...

New analysis with @cpaguk.bsky.social for @nuffieldfoundation.org
The latest Household Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics show that poverty continues to affect millions of children in the UK, with 4.5 million affected by poverty during 2023-2024, an increase of 100,00 on the year before. These figures should shame us all, and must be examined alongside the UK Government’s proposals to take £4.8 billion in social security support from some of the most vulnerable, and indeed poorest, among us. The Government’s own Impact Assessment suggests that 50,000 more children will be pulled into relative poverty as a direct result of these changes. But another way is possible. For the past five years, almost 200 parents and carers living on a low-income from all four nations of the UK have been working alongside researchers at the University of York and Child Poverty Action Group to document everyday life in poverty and to push for change. The project started life as Covid Realities in the pandemic and became Changing Realities in a cost-of-living crisis that has never gone away. In our work together, we have contributed real-time evidence to policymakers, challenged harmful media narratives, and developed co-produced recommendations for change.
changingrealities.org
March 27, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Richard Yeboah's book about Hackney & gentrification is out soon. Pre-order here:
www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/from-h...

I reviewed it & said:
"Neither a lecture nor a rant, [the book] guides the reader through the contours of controversy with gentle tenacity, careful balance & a lot of heart"
From Hackney, With Love
The London Borough of Hackney is one of the poorest areas in the country and a cultural epicentre for London’s diverse, working-class communities. It is also under threat. From Hackney, With Lov...
www.bitebackpublishing.com
March 26, 2025 at 5:28 PM
📢 Against Youth Violence, the book me and Keir Irwin-Rogers published in 2022, is now fully open access! 📢

Link here:
bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/display/book...

Contents list in image. You can download chapter by chapter, or the whole thing.

Please share!
March 19, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
1) Grey Play - taking down the no ball games signs on a Lambeth Housing Estate. Good to see the urban debate on play gathering momentum... www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Yes, ball games: drive to take down signs warning against play begins in London
Charity says thousands of signs on capital’s estates deter children from being active, and is covering some of them up
www.theguardian.com
March 18, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
Fancy a life changing opportunity?
We're looking for a person with character and chemistry.https://www.oasisuk.org/job/lead-youth-practitioner-ae-oasis-hub-waterloo/
February 13, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
The Who is Losing Learning Coalition raises urgent concerns about exclusions and attendance in England’s schools.

Luke Billingham @lbilli91.bsky.social makes a powerful case for a four-sided approach to tackling exclusion. Read more: www.the-difference.com/blog

#WhoIsLosingLearning
February 12, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
Drug Policy Constellations: The Role of Power and Morality in the Making of Drug Policy in the UK. An introductory thread. 1/11 bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/drug-policy-...
Drug Policy Constellations
Drug Policy Constellations - The Role of Power and Morality in the Making of Drug Policy in the UK; Drawing on the author’s participation in high-level policy discussions, this book presents three key...
bristoluniversitypress.co.uk
February 11, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
Now out in Critical Criminology. #Interventionitis in the Criminal Justice System: Three English Cases. By me,
@schreeche.bsky.social, @lbilli91.bsky.social & Keir Irwin-Rogers. 1/? link.springer.com/article/10.1...
February 7, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
Time is running out to save 50% on ALL our books in the January sale! ⏰

You have until Friday 31 January to get 50% off all books using code BUP2S at the checkout.

#BristolStudents #50Off #JanuarySale #BookSale

Find out more: https://buff.ly/3C3FV88
January 27, 2025 at 5:07 PM
The UK Government ‘mission’ to prevent violence: What should it involve?

Blog by me & Keir Irwin-Rogers -

societal-challenges.open.ac.uk/blog/the-uk-...
SocietalChallenge
societal-challenges.open.ac.uk
January 27, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
At The Children’s Society, we aim to consult young people on the issues that affect them as much as possible.

Our latest report consulted 324 young people to understand what may be preventing adults from taking effective action around child exploitation.

childrenssociety.org.uk/information/...
January 23, 2025 at 2:15 PM
📢 YOUTH WORK INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY AT HACKNEY QUEST - PLEASE SHARE! 📢

Great opportunity for someone who wants to dedicate their career to supporting young people.

Info below. DM me for general info on HQ. Email Janita (address in webpage) re role.

Info:
www.hackneyquest.org.uk/blog/job-adv...
Hackney Quest
www.hackneyquest.org.uk
January 17, 2025 at 9:59 AM
📢 In a new policy briefing, Keir Irwin-Rogers & I assess recent violence reduction policy in Britain & suggest a way forward.

We argue that there's been progress, but more must be done at national level to address macro-social determinants of violence:
changingviolence.org/publications...
A Safer Society for Young People: Advancing a public health approach to violence prevention - Public Health...
changingviolence.org
January 16, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
Grim reality of life inside Manchester prison. Death, self harm and dehumanising regimes.
@hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social latest inspection of HMP Manchester reveals the grim reality for the people inside:
- little time out of cells
- rat infestations
- one of the highest rates of self-harm in men's prisons
- 7 self-inflicted deaths since 2021
HMP Manchester – HM Inspectorate of Prisons
hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk
January 14, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
New OPEN ACCESS paper by Stephen Crossley, Gijs van Campenhout and me, about the past, present & future of informal youth football in the UK.

Provides a history of informal football and highlights the dangers of formalisation, containment & instrumentalisation.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
‘It’s a far cry from small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts. Isn’t it?’ the changing space of informal youth football in the UK
It is often remarked that all that is required for children to play football are ‘jumpers for goalposts’. Space is also required, however, and so is permission to play, and to see the game through....
www.tandfonline.com
January 11, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
Gloria Morrison, the founder of the campaign group @jengba.bsky.social said: “The idea we are locking up young people that have their whole lives ahead of them, who haven’t played any real role in a crime, is incredibly depressing.” www.theguardian.com/law/article/... #jointenterprise
Murder and manslaughter charges under joint enterprise rise despite concern
Nearly 1,000 people charged in five years in England and Wales under doctrine that supreme court said had taken ‘wrong turn’
www.theguardian.com
December 23, 2024 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Luke Billingham
This work is political: it is about whose lives are valued, the impact of poverty and racism, and the under resourcing of communities in contrast to the billions we pump into failing institutions.
www.inquest.org.uk/end-of-year-...
INQUEST's end of year message✨
An end of year message from our Director, thanking our supporters and looking forward to 2025.
www.inquest.org.uk
December 20, 2024 at 5:51 PM