Our vision at @YouthEndowFund is that no child becomes involved in violence. We fund trials to find the best way to keep our children safe. But it's pointless knowing what works if nothing changes. A provocative 🧵on change, especially system change. (1/15) There’s no point expecting change for vulnerable children is you don’t focus on the systems that they rely on. That’s why @YouthEndowFund - as part of its work to save lives - will support reform of each system that vulnerable children rely on. (2/15)

My last job was advising a Cabinet Minister. In this job, I seek lots of advice. So what makes a trusted adviser? Here are the 10 qualities I think you need: 1. You know the difference between being wrong and being evil. For you, the third reich was ‘fascist’ and people who disagree with you aren’t.

A boy is punched until he falls. A girl is sexually assaulted while others film. Over half of teenage children saw videos like this on social media last year. Not other people’s children – OUR children. A 🧵on what you need to know about social media and violence (1/) Research conducted by @YouthEndowFund found that 60 per cent of teenage children saw real-world violence on social media last year. A third saw footage involving weapons. A quarter saw content promoting violence against women and girls. (2/15)

🧵 A remarkable story from Glasgow: How the 'murder capital of Europe' cut crime by getting mothers talking to gang members and what we can learn. (1/15) Glasgow was once dubbed the "murder capital of Europe." But in the last 20 years, violent crime fell dramatically. How did they do it? Part of the answer is that they got mothers talking to gang members. (2/15)

A short, positive🧵on how we make our diverse societies flourish. It starts with two professors, Page-Gould & Mendoza-Denton who conducted an experiment that revealed an powerful truth. 👇 (1/8) 🔬 In the study, strangers were paired up and simply asked to talk. Swab tests for cortisol (a hormone related to stress) were taken before and after their conversations. Strikingly, cortisol levels spiked when the strangers felt their partner was "not like them." 😮 (2/8)

Too busy to read the Public Accounts Committee report on vulnerable teens? Here's six things that struck me. 🧵 The first thing that strikes me is that the report doesn't really step back and lay out the problem and why it is so hard to fix. Here's my attempt at doing this in five steps:

Three years ago I took my first charity CEO job. I couldn’t do it without these 25 habits. 👇 1. Apply the 14 year old test: Could a 14 year old read your vision, mission and strategy and explain to their friend the world you want to see, your part in achieving it and how you will do it. No? Then it’s not clear enough.

"How happy are our children?": eight stand-out insights from the annual state of the nation🧵 1. The good news: Most children are happy rather than sad. On average, our children are possibly slightly happier than 5 years ago.

Some great stories about the Queen that might brighten a sad day. First, how she ensured the King of Saudi Arabia accepted a woman driver When she had to host the Trumps and turned up wearing a brooch the Obamas had given her

Over the summer of 2020, something VERY ODD happened in Southend-on-Sea... A surprising 🧵on how to cut crime: (1/19) In parts of the city, violent crime plummeted not by 10% or 20%, not even by 40% or 50%. It fell by a whopping 74%. There were fewer serious assaults, robberies and drug trafficking offences. (2/19)

Today, I became a published author! My book 'Fractured' answers one question: HOW DO WE MEND OUR DIVISIONS? (A thread on the answer). amazon.co.uk/Fractured-soci… Half of Brits and 80% of Americans say that their country is seriously divided. They are right. Most of our friends (if you look carefully) are people ‘just like us’. We tend to cluster with people of the same income, age, education level, race and politics. (2)

Tomorrow, I become a published author!!!! I can't believe I got here :-) My first ever book is called ‘Fractured'. It reveals why we are so divided and how to fix it. 5 quick reasons why you should get a copy: 👇 1. Discover the reality of our divisions: Half of graduates have no friends with degrees, Most pensioners talk to no-one under 35 (bar grandchildren), Half of us have no friends from a different ethnic background.

Wish our society was less divided? Here are 20 things you can do right now. Change who you follow on social media: Follow some new people on social media who are different from you in some way, especially those with different opinions. @MiC_Global @HdxAcademy

How did rich people do something as stupid as the European Super League: a thread about a CURSED shop: The shop was five minutes from my house. Single storey, 10 metres by 5, sandwiched between two side streets and the last in a line of shops. Oh, and it was cursed. (1/n) The first tenant wanted to sell high-end fashion. My mum and I drove past when we saw the sign. “Gone in 6 months”, we said. And it was. The curse was born.

The Government's #racereport is a huge Rorscharch test. You know the one. 10 inkblots – mixed in form, colour and movement – are presented one by one. A single question is asked: “What do you see?”.

So, what do you see? A bird? A bat? A rib cage? (1/) Know this. Your answer matters. We are not assessing your eyesight – we are assessing you. In America, custody battles are settled on your answer, medical diagnoses made, insurance claims declined. This is the Rorschach test. (2/)

Our reaction to the Government’s Race Report tells us more than the report itself. 🧵👇 10 inkblots – mixed in form, colour and movement – are presented one by one. A single question is asked: “What do you see?”.

So, what do you see? A bird? A bat? A rib cage?

Batley Grammar School is locked down in the middle of a lockdown. Protestors gather around the gates. Asian British men standing in small groups. They stare at each other. They check their phones. They watch the nation’s media watching them. (1/) The school is quiet, empty. Pupils stay at home. It is March 7th for them all over again. Laptops out, cameras off, teachers teaching into the void. Apart from one. (2/)

What to make of the situation in Batley? Some thoughts. 1. I’m a person of faith but it should never be illegal to blaspheme or to be offensive. (1/9) 2. There is a category of things that are not illegal but I think it’s reasonable to be fired for. Not turning up to work is one of them. (2/9)

It struck me today that for many of us the pandemic acts like an intensifier. Whatever your life was like pre pandemic - it has become even more like that. (1/n) If in normal life, you live with your family including small kids, your life is even more family dominated. (2/n)

After 40 years, I’ve begged and borrowed a few “rules to live by”. Often mess them up! but here they are ... What are yours? You can always get angry tomorrow.

Governments of all colours have talked the talk of sorting out technical education. Here's how to walk the walk. 1. Fund technical education properly: Despite the noise, we fund schools at the same level as other rich countries. But not our colleges. We need enough £ for every students to get 30 hours of learning a week not 15 and every teacher to be paid as much as a school teacher.