Since January 2023, a collaboration between Inquest and the Centre for Social Justice Research (CSJR) has given students at the University of Westminster an opportunity to undertake a work-based learning project with one of the UK’s leading legal justice charities. Established in 1981, Inquest is the only organisation in England and Wales that provides expertise on state related deaths and their investigation to bereaved people, lawyers, advice and support agencies, the media, and parliamentarians. They have supported families and friends whose loved ones have died in circumstances where issues of state violence, neglect, and state and corporate responsibility are in question, always fighting for truth, justice, and accountability. Through the collaboration, Westminster students from have been able to learn from and promote Inquest’s vital work, gaining skills and experiences that will help them in life beyond university.
Unlocking the Truth for 40 Years
The collaboration was initially set up to support a National Lottery Heritage Fund project documenting Inquest’s 40 year history. A key part of this project was the preservation of the charity’s material archive at the Bishopsgate Institute, a cultural venue in the City of London whose special collections focus on documenting the lives of those who have campaigned for social, political, and cultural change. It also included the recording of a series of oral history interviews with Inquest’s founders, bereaved families, affiliated lawyers, journalists and activists, and a public exhibition at Brixton’s 198 Gallery in May 2023.
During the course of the project, students had the opportunity to visit INQUEST's offices and learn about the vital work of the charity, from casework to policy and parliamentary work, campaigning and media to supporting and empowering families. Westminster students received a guided tour of the Bishopsgate Institute from the special collections archivist, Stef Dickers, and later helped catalogue some of material deposited in the archive.
Students benefitted from a workshop with the life-long campaigner, Lee Lawrence, who’s award-winning book, The Louder I Will Sing, details his 35 year fight for justice and accountability after his mother, Cherry Groce, was shot by an officer of the Metropolitan Police in 1985. In support of the Inquest project, students received training in oral history methods from the organisation On the Record, learning to use the transcript coding software Nvivo in preparation for a three-part podcast series about Inquest’s history.
Over the course of the semester, students also developed their own research projects using the Inquest archives, which were then presented at a number of events, including the Westminster Applicant Experience Day and the Festival of Social Sciences. The project culminated in a large public event, with students inviting a panel of experienced Inquest supporters, researchers and campaigners to discuss the role the organisation has played in the fight for truth, justice and accountability.
Unlocking the Inquest Archive: Memorialising death and resistance
The next stage of the CSJR x Inquest collaboration will focus on the charity’s new National Lottery Heritage Fund project, which makes use of the Inquest archive to reflect on how the UK remembers state-related deaths and resistance. The project will bring together families bereaved by state violence, historians, and activists to remember those who died while in state care over the past 45 years. This will include a number of public events, exhibitions, workshops, and the creation of online guides, all focused on remembering and continuing the fight against state violence.
The project with Inquest is one of a number of collaborations that Dr Jac St John has established through the CSJR work-based learning programme, which is funded by the Quentin Hogg Trust. Dr St John would like to extend his thanks to Mo Mansfield and Deborah Coles at Inquest, Lee Lawrence and Rosa Schling, Imane Benatallah and Kevon Jones (CSJR project coordinators), and Kian Richardson (student videographger).
CSJR x Inquest interns 2024: Francesco Biot, Jackson Kayongo, Owen Upaka, Ruwayda Mohamed, Saba Malik, Yeliz Mustafa, Chantel Kearney, and Hasan Mahmood.
CSJR x Inquest interns 2023: Alen Melero Yerinkova, Artemis Rabello, Bruno Okafor, Cain Varley, Elina Souris, Euan Southwell, Jake Beasley, Jenna Richards, Nadiya Sabrye, and Sila Uyan.