This is the website for a research project happening in Glasgow and Manchester in 2009 and 2010. It is about the spiritual lives of young people. Here you can read about our project in detail or explore what some of our young participants have told us. You can use our bibliographic information or follow links to news articles or to local and national groups. As the website grows, you will also be able to explore images and video clips from both cities.

During the two years that the project runs, we will be exploring how young people understand religion, faith, spirituality and belief personally and in the places that they live. We think it is important to find out both about ‘formal’ religion and other less formal ways of believing, understanding the world and making meaning in one’s life. In particular, we would like to understand how religion functions in the lives of young people from neighbourhoods which the government considers 'deprived' in various ways. We are also interested in how religious leadership, the broader community and young people themselves shape spiritual and religious landscapes.

In this study, we are interested in talking not just with those people who might be thought of as conventionally religious, but also those who are non- or anti-religious, as well as those who are exploring alternative religions and those who may not practise or believe in traditional ways.

We hope that our findings will contribute to the body of work exploring young people’s understanding of religion and their spirituality as well as connect with more historicised perspectives of the role of religion in socially deprived places. It is our intention that the findings will provide nsights for faith communities, government, schools, activists and other sectors of society which seek to support or work alongside young people. We hope that our work will help people to listen to the voices of young people who have not always been heard.

This project is funded by a programme entitled ‘Religion and Society’, which is part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Economic and Social Science Research Council. More information about the programme and the research it has funded can be found here: www.religionandsociety.org.uk.