Staff profiles
Sarah Pearson
BA (Hons) MA (Dist)
Phone 0114 225 4902
E-mail s.pearson@shu.ac.uk
Sarah Pearson is a principal research fellow in the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research. She has extensive experience of leading and conducting research and evaluation on a range of issues - project and programme evaluation, neighbourhood renewal and community-based regeneration, community participation, voluntary and community sector, anti-poverty initiatives and welfare to work programmes.
She is currently deputy director of the National Evaluation of the New Deal for Communities (NDC) programme. This study, funded by Communities and Local Government (CLG), started in 2001 and is currently in a second phase which runs to 2009.
Sarah has undertaken research for government departments (CLG and Department for Work and Pensions, DWP), local authorities and national and local voluntary sector organisations and funders (e.g. NAVCA, Big Lottery, Voluntary Action Rotherham).
Research interests
Sarah's research interests include
- neighbourhood renewal and community regeneration
- role and funding of the voluntary and community sector
- community participation
- poverty and social exclusion
Current research projects
Please contact me for further details about these research projects and for summaries of the findings.
2006–2009 New Deal for Communities Evaluation, Department for Communities and Local Government. Role: Deputy director.
Selected reports (2001 onwards)
Please contact me for further details about these research projects and for summaries of the findings.
Pearson, S. (2008) Delivering Safer Neighbourhoods: Experiences from the New Deal for Communities Programme. London, CLG.
Pearson, S. with Coule, T and Macmillan, R. (2008) Valuing the Voluntary and Community Sector in Rotherham in 2008. Rotherham, Voluntary Action Rotherham.
Pearson, S., Batty, E. and Macmillan, R. (2006) The future of neighbourhood level infrastructure in Rotherham.
Pearson, S. (2005) New Deal for Communities 2001-2005: An Interim Evaluation, NRU Research Report 17. NDC Evaluation Consortium.
Pearson, S., Northmore, S., Morgan, G. and Taylor, M. (2003) An Evaluation of Community Fund Grant Making to Voluntary Sector Infrastructure Organisations. Community Fund.
Pearson, S. with Morgan, G. (2001) The Role of Councils for Voluntary Service in the Social Inclusion Agenda. Sheffield, National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service.
Pearson, S. with Yeandle, S. (2001) New Deal for Lone Parents: An Evaluation of the Innovative Pilots. Employment Service Research and Development Report ESR89. Sheffield, ES.
Academic publications (2001 onwards)
Pearson, S. (2001) 'Local Government, Anti-Poverty Strategies and Partnership Working.' In: S. Balloch and M. Taylor, (eds.), Partnership Working: Policy and Practice. Bristol, Policy Press.
Pearson, S. and Craig, G. (2001) 'Community Participation in Strategic Partnerships in the UK'. In: J. Pierson, (ed.), Rebuilding Community: The Policy and Practice of Urban Regeneration. London, Macmillan.
Recent conference and seminar papers
Please contact me for a copy of the following
Pearson, S. (2004) Funding for Civil Renewal: Developing the capacities of local voluntary sector infrastructure. NCVO Researching the Voluntary Sector Conference, Sheffield, September.
PhD supervision
Topics currently supervised are
- The impact of public service delivery on voluntary and community organisations
- Delivering Sure Start in a Multi-ethnic area: Power and Participation in Tinsley, Sheffield
- Community Participation, Power and Democracy: A cross-national comparative study of the participatory budgeting process in Porto Alegre, Brazil and the New Deal for Communities regeneration programme, Hull, UK
Sarah would welcome discussions and enquiries in relation to supervising students in these fields and other areas: neighbourhood renewal, role and funding of the voluntary and community sector, community sector infrastructure.
