Born in Bradford Centre for Social Change launches at York

Born in Bradford Centre for Social Change launches at York

Posted on 3 December 2024

A new centre established at the University of York will support the work of the renowned Born in Bradford research programme, which seeks to understand what keeps families happy and healthy.

The Born in Bradford Centre for Social Change will build on the University of York and Born in Bradford's partnership by focusing on creating opportunities for children and young people to collaborate in research projects, as well as using research to inform policy to improve health and wellbeing.

The internationally-recognised programme has been tracking the lives of over 40,000 Bradfordians for the past 17 years, and has helped to uncover the harm of air pollution, the impact of people's diet and exercise, how the urban environment affects health, and the early causes of diabetes and heart disease.

Most recently a new seven-year project, called The Age of Wonder was launched to extend the work of Born in Bradford, focused on the journeys of 30,000 Bradford schoolchildren from adolescence to adulthood.

Policy and practice

The new centre will be further supported by the York Policy Engine, which brings researchers and policymakers together to use research evidence to drive changes in policy and practice.

Professor Kate Pickett, Director for the Born in Bradford Centre for Social Change, said: "The new Centre is an exciting opportunity to bring researchers, families, young people and children together with decision makers to bring about real and meaningful changes to health and wellbeing

"The Born in Bradford programme has shown that 90% of children aged between seven and ten in Bradford are exposed to issues affecting their wellbeing such as bullying, a lack of three meals a day, no internet access at home and constant worrying about money.

"It is this kind of evidence we want to bring to the attention of policymakers, which adds to the broader picture of what it is like to be a young person in a fast-changing economic society, with social and environmental challenges."

The new centre was launched at a special event at the University of York on Tuesday, 3 December.

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