Professor Tony Chapman and Professor Peter Wells

Professor Tony Chapman, St Chad’s College and Professor Peter Wells, Sheffield Hallam University have been commissioned by Charity Bank and Northern Rock Foundation to undertake a study in Cumbria on the interest charities and social enterprises have in borrowing money.

The purpose of loans may include mortgages, investment in upgrading property, buying equipment, or for working capital.  Professor Chapman is undertaking a quantitative study in Cumbria which will produce comparable data for charities in North East England and Yorkshire.

Statistics will be produced on the size of the marketplace for loans in Cumbria for different purposes, and the characteristics of organisations which may be prepared to take loans.  Professor Wells will do interviews with key stakeholders across the county to find out what the incentives and barriers may be for borrowing money by charities.

The quantitative study report was published in January 2015 and is available to download: Assessment_willingness-Third_Sector

An academic article on this project, which drew on more recent data from Third Sector Trends has also been published:

Chapman, T. (2017) ‘The propensity of third sector organisations to borrow money in the UK’, Policy Studies, 38(2), 185-204.

Professor Tony Chapman

This new study, funded by Institute for Local Governance will conclude with a regional seminar on Japanese inward investment in June 2015.  It is hoped that this will take place at Teikyo University Durham. The study aims to get a better understanding of the ‘journeys’ Japanese companies have made in establishing themselves in the North East. In so doing, the intention is to examine:

• Perceptions of the initial impetus to established plants in the North East, the welcome received by the region, and the subsequent efforts that have been made to embed industrial interactions and employee relationships in economic, political and cultural terms.
• Perceptions about the relationships with other Japanese companies in the region and the degree of direct and indirect economic/business interaction with them and indigenous UK firms inside and outside of the supply chain.
• Assess the potential for improving labour market conditions for young people in the region as employees and assess potential for encouraging enterprising activity amongst young people in the region.
• Consider the contribution Japanese inward investment has made to strengthening social growth in North East England.

Interviews will take place with Japanese firms which are well established in the region together with Hitachi which is building a major new plant in Newton Aycliffe.

As the study is interested in cultural and political factors, it will also examine the extent of social assimilation of Japanese firms into North East England and consider the extent to which the indigenous UK population have capitalised on new opportunities (as partners, sub-contractors, local politicians and economic development strategists, employees and families, friends and neighbours).

Sunderland City Council has commissioned Professor Tony Chapman to undertake a review of policy and practice in the city – looking at how well relationships work between the public sector and the voluntary sector.  The enquiry will involve analysis of existing data sets, including the Northern Rock Foundation Third Sector Trends study, and a series of interviews and focus groups with key people across the city.

The study builds on recent work in Stockton on Tees, County Durham and Northumberland for the Institute for Local Governance and is helping to develop a clear understanding on how best to broker relationships between sectors with similar interests in addressing social problems but different ways of tackling them.

The study was completed in November 2014.

Professor Tony Chapman

‘Involve Yorkshire & Humber’ commissioned a major survey of the third sector in Yorkshire and the Humber in the spring of 2013.  The research was funded by Joseph Rowntree Foundation.  An online survey ran from June to October resulting in responses from over 1000 charities, social enterprises and other voluntary and community sector groups and organisations.

The survey drew upon previous work with Northern Rock Foundation so that comparable data could be produced. Additionally, analysis from an earlier Third Sector Trends study by Professor John Mohan of Southampton University and David Kane from NCVO was extended to bring statistics up to date.

The findings from the study was published in May 2014.  Third Sector Trends in Yorkshire and the Humber May 2014, a summary report is also available: third-sector-trends-2014-in-yorkshire-humber-executive-summary-final.

Northumberland County Council is developing its strategy to support Third Sector organisations over the next three years. As a part of a major consultation process, Professor Tony Chapman was invited to undertake a series of 18 confidential in-depth interviews with key stakeholders in the sector in November 2013. The research follows an earlier commission to make recommendations for the development of infrastructure support in the County in 2010.

Professor Tony Chapman and Emma Dunkerley

Policy & Practice has been co-funded by Cabinet Office and O2/Teléfonica Foundation, via the National Youth Agency to undertake an evaluation of the Government’s Social Action Fund in four English regions. The project, which runs for 18 months, compares the experiences of young people who have recently graduated from the National Citizen Service with other young people who join the programme.

Young people who join the programme create an O2 Think Big project where they gain £300 to spend on their work together with support from youth organisations or O2 mentors. The aim is to find out how to embed commitment to stay involved in social action, especially amongst young people who are new to volunteering.

The final report will be published in December 2013.

Professors Fred Robinson and Tony Chapman

This action research project aims to: encourage social enterprises to assume responsibility, through asset transfer, for community buildings in County Durham; produce an environment which is conducive to the development of social enterprise in the delivery of public services in Northumberland; explore ways of examining the contribution of the third sector to ‘social growth’ in Northumberland; and, improve understanding about the relationship between the public sector and third sector in Northumberland

The project was commissioned by the Institute for Local Governance in collaboration with Durham County Council and Northumberland County Council. The first phase of the research took place in 2012-2013 and has been extended for a further year in County Durham.
A report on the Northumberland project will be published in January 2014.

Professors Tony Chapman and Fred Robinson

This longitudinal study, which begun in 2008, is exploring the impact of social and economic change on the structure and dynamics of the third sector in North East England and Cumbria.

The project is co-directed by Prof Fred Robinson and Prof Tony Chapman at St Chad’s College, with colleagues from Social Futures Institute at Teesside University. The project has already produced many reports, available here.

• Assessment_willingness-Third_Sector
• The-Reality-Check-Final-0613
• NRFTST-organisational-self-appraisal-framework
• The-Crystal-Ball-Finalon-the-money-final
• on-the-money-final
• Walking-a-Tightrope
• NRF-TSTS-Taking-the-temperature-report-September-2012
• Journeys-and-Destinations
• Measuring-Impact-easy-to-say-hard-to-do
• Taking-Stock-Moving-On
• Building-better-boards
• Keeping-the-show-on-the-road-Report
• Forearmed-with-Foresight-Report
• NRF-TST-Report-What-makes-TSO-tick
• Mosaic_Jig_or_Abstract_Report
• NRF-TSTS-Taking-the-temperature-report-September-2012

The project is now in its final phase, running from 2013-2015, including a major survey of the third sector in June 2014 and a third phase of case studies with 50 organisations across North East England and Cumbria.

Professor Tony Chapman

This is a collaborative project working group including, Professor Tomoaki Shibukawa (Tohoku University of Community Service and Science), Dr Tomohito Nakajima (Sanno University) and Professor Tokihiko Takatani (Tohoku Koeki University).

The project is a cross-national study of social enterprise funded, initially, by the Japanese Government from 2007-12. The study is continuing, involving a series of annual visits and collaborative research which aims to explore:

● different ways that social enterprises have been established in their cultural, economic and political context;
● identify how social enterprises produce innovative solutions to encourage the development of sustainable communities.
● how areas which have suffered from significant restructuring adopt different approaches to the development of social enterprise in order to encourage economic regeneration.

As the project evolves, new members have joined the study group and engaged in visits to North East England and Yamagata and the Tokyo metropolitan area of Japan. Findings from the study were recently published in Leary and McCarthy The Routledge Companion to Urban Regeneration 2014.

Professor Tony Chapman and Stephanie Rich

Tony Chapman led an evaluation of the social impact of O2/Teléfonica Think Big corporate social responsibility programme between 2010-2013 culminating in a final report published in November 2013.

The evaluation involved a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods to assess how the project contributes to the building of young people’s confidence, resilience and pro-social behaviour.

Findings from the research were published at regular intervals to show how the project contributed to individual and community wellbeing. Evidence from the research has been used by the OECD and Education Select Committee on young people and has been widely reported in the media.

The final report can by found here: Think Big Evaluation Report 2014