People and partners




Dr Claudia Soares
Principal Investigator and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow
Claudia is a Modern British Historian with research interests in the history of childhood, youth, and the family, care, welfare and poverty, Empire, migration and the emotions. Prior to this project, she was British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow and previously held a post at QMUL.
Dr Jade Shepherd
Postdoctoral Research Associate – Family History
Jade is a historian of modern Britain who specialises in the histories of medicine, crime and family. Jade is a Fellow of the HEA and she has published her research in disciplinary-leading journals. Prior to joining Caring Communities, she was a Senior Lecturer at University of Lincoln between 2016-2024.
Dr Jim Hinks
Postdoctoral Research Associate – Qualitative History
Jim’s work spans a range of interlinked themes, including histories of gender, class, families, crime, and deviance. Prior to joining Caring Communities, Jim worked on the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry. Prior to this, he held teaching and research posts at the Universities of East Anglia, Edinburgh and Oxford.
Dr Kate Wilson
Postdoctoral Research Associate – Oral History
Kate specialises in 20th century histories of care, class, and culture. Prior to joining the team, she held posts at the Universities of Mancester, Glasgow, and Stirling, and held an AHRC postdoctoral fellowship at the Scottish Oral Histroy Centre, University of Strathclyde, where she remains an Associate Researcher.




The project partners with The Children’s Society’s Records and Archives Centre, and its collection of records dating from the Society’s foundation in 1881.
The Children’s Society is a national charity working to transform the hopes and happiness of young people facing abuse, exploitation and neglect.
We work with Who Cares? Scotland – Scotland’s only national independent membership organisations for Care Experienced people. It works to secure a lifetime of equality, respect, and love for Care Experienced People in Scotland.
We work with Coram, the UK’s first and longest running children’s charity. It works to better understand what works for children and young people, and communicate with those in a position to make a real difference. Through its specialist support and campaigns it seeks to create positive change that lasts a lifetie for children and young people.
TBC
Interested in collaborating?
The Caring Communities team are always interested in collaborating with organisations and individuals in its research and engagement.
If you are interested in working with the team, please do get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.