Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary

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Commonweal Housing launched the Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary in 2018, in memory of our late trustee and dear friend, Jane. 

Jane Slowey CBE was a member of Commonweal’s Board of Trustees from 2007, until her passing in October 2017. Outside of her work with Commonweal Housing, Jane held many other senior positions within the charity and third sector, including her time as Chief Executive of the Foyer Foundation as well as a period spent as National Vice Chair of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. Jane studied at the University of Birmingham and was later awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University in 2014.

Jane Slowey CBE

From our early days, Jane brought Commonweal’s vision and ethos to life with her wealth of experience in the housing sector, her imagination and her dedication to helping others. The impact of Jane’s work continues to be felt throughout our organisation and through our work with our partners helping those at the sharpest ends of deprivation.

The Bursary exists to support students at the University of Birmingham’s School of Social Policy with their final undergraduate research. It is available to students conducting research into housing-related fields, and is awarded to two students each year. Recipients are given the opportunity to present their completed research findings to Commonweal staff, trustees and friends at a celebratory event held in the summer.

To find out more about the bursary, visit the University of Birmingham’s website.

The barriers faced by black renters in the north east of England

By Jessica Nsana | July 15, 2024 |

Jessica Nsana is a recent graduate from the University of Birmingham’s School of Social Policy, who received the Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary from Commonweal in her final year. My name is Jessica, and I am a very grateful recipient of the Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary for the academic year 2023/24. Receiving this Bursary from Commonweal…

University of Birmingham students share research delivering critical insights into housing issues and social injustices

By Lauren Aronin | June 4, 2024

Final-year University of Birmingham students awarded the Jane Slowey Bursary Memorial for 23/24 presented their compelling research findings, spanning a broad scope of housing and social policy issues, to Commonweal Housing at a recent University event. The focus of their research included the disadvantages and discrimination faced by Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) renters,…

Four students investigating housing issues and the cost of living receive grant funding

By Lauren Aronin | January 19, 2024

Four final-year students from the University of Birmingham have been awarded grant funding as part of Commonweal Housing’s Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary to conduct their dissertation research on important housing and social policy issues. The successful 2023/24 recipients are Alice Munson, Jessica Nsana, Ellie Ward and Olivia Glenny. Each student received a grant of £2,500…

Understanding the lack of adequate social housing provision for the LGBTQ+ community in the United Kingdom

By Talia Knoble-Gershon | August 31, 2023

It was an honour to be one of four from the University of Birmingham to be awarded the Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary, established in honour of an amazing woman who advocated against social injustices in society. The grant money allowed me to concentrate fully on my dissertation and other pieces of work and conduct many…

The impacts of regeneration on women in the Tower Hamlets

By Grace Hill | July 25, 2023

Grace Hill is a recent graduate from the University of Birmingham’s School of Social Policy, who received the Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary from Commonweal in her final year. The Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary from Commonweal Housing gave me financial freedom. The £2,500 grant money allowed me to devote my time to my studies by drastically…

Birmingham Uni graduates share research into areas of housing and social injustice affecting marginalised groups

By Lauren Aronin | July 5, 2023

Commonweal Housing recently welcomed this year’s Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary students to share their final-year research findings with Commonweal staff, Trustees and friends. In memory of Commonweal’s late Trustee, Jane Slowey CBE, who sadly passed away in 2017, the charity set up the Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary. The Bursary offers four students from the University…

What can the pandemic teach us about ending homelessness?  

By Michelle Anderson | August 24, 2022

Michelle Anderson is a recent graduate from the University of Birmingham’s School of Social Policy, who received the Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary from Commonweal in her final year. Last year it was an honour to be awarded the Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary from Commonweal to help support my final year of studies. The £2,500 grant…

Four more students receive grant as part of 2022/23 Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary as Commonweal signs 10-year partnership with University of Birmingham

By Lauren Aronin | August 10, 2022

Commonweal Housing has agreed to support four students from the University of Birmingham with grant funding to aid their dissertation research around key housing and social policy issues as part of its Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary. The Bursary was set up in 2018 to celebrate former Commonweal Trustee and Birmingham University student Jane Slowey CBE,…

Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary students present compelling housing research in the wake of Covid-19

By Lauren Aronin | June 30, 2022

In memory of the late Jane Slowey CBE, a former Commonweal Trustee, University of Birmingham alumna and an active campaigner against social injustices, Commonweal offers undergraduate students at Birmingham University’s School of Social Policy a bursary to help with their final year studies. Last week, students Michelle Anderson, Ofure Osebor, and Seerut Ladhar, the recipients…

Three University of Birmingham students researching housing and COVID-19 to be supported with Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary 2021

By Megan Fereday | July 7, 2021

Commonweal Housing is proud to present three more students from the University of Birmingham’s School of Social Policy with a bursary, in memory of our late trustee and friend, Jane Slowey CBE.