Fellowship Scheme
Our Fellowship Scheme ran between 2013-16 and gave an aspiring policy worker the chance to develop their skills by being placed in a more experienced organisation. Our aim was to help build core policy capacity in the North East by enabling fellows to develop expertise in policy change practice. IPPR North offered two Fellows the opportunity to research and publish a report under the IPPR brand.
The first Fellowship went to Angela Broadbridge from Gateshead Voluntary Organisations Council. Her publication about whole person care for people with disabilities can be found here:
IPPR Report: Inclusive Integration PDF
The second Fellowship was awarded to Sarah Smart who works with a range of Newcastle organisations on issues concerning refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. Her report advocating a regional policy for immigration can be found here:
IPPR Report: Regionalising Migration PDF
Millfield House Foundation’s support enabled an employer to release the worker for the period of the Fellowship by recruiting a temporary staff member. We were open to suggestions from other hosts, who need not be based in the North East. Our grant contributed to helping the placement holder’s organisation to back-fill in their absence, towards travel and other expenses and towards additional costs for the host organisation. Over time we hoped to build a cohort of placement ‘graduates’ and to encourage them to continue learning through each other.
Unfortunately we launched the scheme at a time when capacity in voluntary sector organisations was under strain as the impact of austerity policies began to have an effect. This resulted in fewer applications than we hoped and we closed the Scheme in 2016.