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This course will be held in partnership with GLLM as part of being on their framework.

This four-week evening course examines social challenges facing communities today and explores approaches to address them with limited resources. The course follows a logical progression from understanding social problems and their root causes, through exploring evidence-based interventions, to learning strategic budget allocation approaches.

The culminating activity is a hands-on budget allocation exercise using the fictional case study of "Westsea," where participants work in teams to allocate a £10 million budget across competing social priorities. The course is designed to be highly interactive, with small group activities, discussions, and practical exercises building toward the final challenge.

• Week 1 focuses on understanding key social problems (housing, unemployment, health inequalities, community safety) and their underlying causes and interconnections. 
• Week 2 explores evidence-based interventions across different domains, examining what works and why. 
• Week 3 introduces four strategic approaches to budget allocation: 
•  Week 4 brings everything together in a team-based budget challenge where participants must make and justify difficult funding decisions.
   

Learner outcomes 

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Analyse social problems to identify underlying causes and interconnections
2. Evaluate intervention approaches based on evidence and appropriateness
3. Apply different strategic frameworks to budget allocation decisions
4. Make and justify difficult funding choices with limited resources
    

Benefits of the course

The course provides participants with practical skills in analysing community needs and making strategic resource allocation decisions. For public sector professionals, it offers frameworks for more effective budget decision-making and service planning. For community organisations and charities, it helps prioritise limited resources for maximum impact. For engaged citizens, it provides insight into the complexities of addressing social challenges with finite resources.

The course uses realistic scenarios that mirror the actual challenges faced by local authorities and community organisations. Participants gain experience in collaborative decision-making, evaluating competing priorities, and developing justifications for funding choices. These skills are directly transferable to professional roles in public service, community development, and nonprofit management.
 

Learners will be attracted by:

•  The practical, applicable nature of the skills developed
• The short time commitment (4 weeks) making it accessible to working professionals
• The evening format allowing participation without taking time off work
• The interactive, collaborative learning approach
• The focus on current, relevant social challenges
• The opportunity to network with others working in related fields
• The absence of formal assessment while still providing structured learning
   

Dates for the course

• Tuesday 5th August
• Tuesday 12th August
• Tuesday 19th August 
• Tuesday 26th August

Tutor

Teresa Crew

Dr Teresa Crew is a Senior Lecturer in Social Policy with research interests spanning issues of social inequality, higher education, and policy. More specifically Dr. Crew's research explores the barriers faced by working class people and other disadvantaged groups in society and education. She is the author of various articles and two books

- The Intersections of a Working Class Academic Identity. A Class Apart. *Thanks to funding from Knowledge Unlatched this ebook is open access, and freely available to download https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/93383

- Higher Education and Working-Class Academics: Precarity and Diversity in Academia

Teresa is also currently co-editing a handbook about class and culture and also  co-editing a book on working class people in higher education.

She has also conducted research into graduate employment and regional labour markets, as well as the exclusion and discrimination experienced by Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities.

Dr. Crew's research typically employs qualitative methodologies including semi structured interviews, focus groups, ethnography and autoethnography. 

In 2019 she became a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).

In 2018 Dr Crew was the winner of the Policy Press Outstanding Teaching Award by the Social Policy Association. Alongside this, she was awarded a Bangor University Teaching Fellowship

Her PhD, which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, was completed in 2014. The thesis focused on graduate inequalities in relation to class, gender and place.