Job Description

About INQUEST

INQUEST is the only charity providing expertise on state related deaths and their investigation to bereaved people, lawyers, advice and support agencies, the media and parliamentarians. Our specialist casework includes deaths in police and prison custody, immigration detention, mental health settings and deaths involving multi-agency failings or where wider issues of state and corporate accountability are in question. This includes work around the Hillsborough football disaster and the Grenfell Tower fire.

INQUEST’s policy, parliamentary, campaigning and media work is grounded in the day to day experience of working with bereaved people. Employing an integrated model, this brings together casework support, family participation, identification of thematic trends, statistics and analysis that feeds into the organisation’s work on campaigning, information sharing and policy and parliamentary work. At the heart of this unique model are the experiences and needs of bereaved people. This integrated approach is crucial to families, not only in making sure their voices are heard and holding the state to account for individual deaths, but also in changing policy and practice to prevent future deaths.

About the Unjust Deaths Project 

Unjust Deaths is a project by INQUEST, helping communities bereaved by state violence to memorialise the people who have died and encouraging the public to meaningfully engage with this difficult and ongoing history. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, this project seeks to memorialise death and resistance by unlocking the INQUEST archive at the Bishopsgate Institute. Unjust Deaths will engage volunteers in researching and raising awareness of deaths in detention since 1980. Using INQUEST’s archive and connected collections (e.g. Women in Prison, Bernie Grant, Clean Break, Hackney Community Defence Association) volunteers will uncover stories, develop digital resources, and contribute to public engagement activities.

We are recruiting six volunteers to support the project through archival research and the creation of research guides. Each volunteer will receive training and mentoring support throughout their involvement.

• Conduct in-depth research using the INQUEST archive at Bishopsgate Institute.
• Develop thematic digital archive guides on key topics (e.g., racism, women in prison, deaths of children and young people, community organising).
• Summarise key case studies, thematic areas, and historical events for public engagement.

Key Information

• Commitment: We ask volunteers to commit to 6 months (April – September 2025) and contribute at least half a day a week e.g. one morning/afternoon each week or one day a fortnight.
• Location: Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, City of London, London EC2M 4QH.
• Expenses: Travel and lunch
• Application Deadline: Monday 31 March midday

Join us in remembering, resisting and reshaping the narrative.