Speakers

Dr Musharrat Ahmed-Landeryou is an associate professor at London South Bank University and leads the de-colonising Allied Health Professions education strategy at her university. She is the author of Antiracist Occupational Therapy: Unsettling the Status Quo and has contributed to the book Antiracism in Higher Education: An Action Guide for Change. She is co-founder of BAMEOTUK, a network of Black and minoritised populations occupational therapy students, staff and educators which works to tackle institutional racism and discrimination in the profession. She recently won a national award from the Royal College of Occupational Therapists in recognition of her work.

Steven has worked as a social worker with children and their families since 2000.  He started his career in child protection social work with a local authority for 7 years before moving to Cafcass where he has been employed for the last 17 years, undertaking both private and public law proceedings work.  Steven is currently one of the Assistant Leads in the Cafcass Social Work Academy and has a keen interest in working with students and NQSWs, helping to inspire, shape and develop the next generation of social workers.

Kerie is chair of UNISON’s National Social Care Forum. A Trade Union officer as well as a registered social worker, she has many years’ experience representing social workers employed in local government on a wide range of collective and individual issues.  From grievances and disciplinaries, protecting whistle-blowers, challenging employers on unsafe workloads, pay and grading disputes, through to leading strike action on ‘fire and rehire’. Kerie has also led on numerous community campaigns in east London, working alongside service users, to challenge outsourcing and cuts to public services.

Danni qualified as a Social Worker in 2021 and has since worked at Essex County Council within Adult Social Care. Working within frontline teams, the prison stream, and mental health, her passion for relational practice and recognising the importance of connection and relationship has allowed for positive outcomes within the lives of the adults she has supported.

Danni is now a senior social worker with a deep passion and commitment to promoting trauma-informed principles and empowerment, both within practice and as a development lead. Her career to date demonstrates her dedication and passion to promote practice that truly hears the adults’ voice, placing value in co-production and choice. She is dedicated to advocating for positive change, both within the system she works in and across multi-professional pathways, and within the lives of the adults she supports.

Child Policy Officer in the Child Policy Unit, Consular Assistance Department, FCDO

Previously worked in UKVI, Home Office.

Tim Baldwin is a practising barrister at Garden Court Chambers, is ranked in Chambers UK for social housing and community care and is identified as a leading junior in the Legal 500 for social housing; Court of Protection and community care; and administrative law and human rights. He is known for his fierce commitment to representing vulnerable, marginalised and disadvantaged clients. He is highly regarded for his public and administrative law practice, which includes housing and community care, acting in complex cases involving mental health issues, welfare benefits, social care, asylum support, and persons who lack capacity in all jurisdictions. His current practice is predominantly in the High Court and Appellate courts. He is an editor of the Community Care Law Reports and has contributed to Legal Action Group books by the late Stephen Knafler QC on adult and children’s social care. He worked at the Law Commission and Public law project prior to coming to the Bar. He is co-chair of the Housing Law Practitioner Association and sits on the advisory Panel to the Legal Aid Practitioners Group.

Claire qualified as a social worker in 1992 and an AMHP in 1996 - since then she has worked as frontline social worker in a generic team, a Community Mental Health Team, an Assertive outreach team as well as management posts in Mental Health and most recently in an Emergency Duty Team. Alongside that she written books for AMHPs about undertaking Mental Health Act Assessments, and worked nationally on the introduction to the Professional Capabilities Framework for Social Work amongst other things. Currently she splits her time between organisational development work in Children’s and working for the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services around policy & practice.

Sharon qualified as a social worker in 1997 and she has been working in a variety of settings with children and families since 2001. Sharon a wealth of experience related to risk and safeguarding from her experience of working within the  criminal justice system. Sharon has been employed with Cafcass since 2020 as a Family Court Adviser and Children's Guardian.  Her work covers both public law and private law applications.  Sharon has a particular interest in Contextual Safeguarding and the links to the Deprivation of Liberties (DoLs). Sharon has recently secured the position of Consultant Family Court Adviser to support colleagues develop their practice.

Professor Kish Bhatti-Sinclair’s academic career began at University of Southampton with a lifelong commitment to combating racism, shaping debates on black perspectives and de-colonising social work practice. As a professor of social work at the University of Chichester she has developed methodologies and theories such as “modern racism” to test discriminatory attitudes and behaviours and worked on research projects including studies on child sexual exploitation and “hard to reach” children.

She is co-editor-in-chief of the Wiley journal Child Abuse Review owned by the Association of Child Protection Professionals and her books include Anti-Racist Practice in Social Work (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) and Diversity, Difference and Dilemmas (OUP/McGraw Hill, 2017).

She co-ordinates many academic and local authority partnership groups including the Social Work Education Anti-Racist Social Work Education Network. As the co-ordinator for the Centre for Workforce Development she has undertaken a three-year evaluative review on the needs of the health and social care workforce in the south east of England which has contributed to strategic planning.

Dr Wuraola Bolaji is a psychoanalytically trained doctor of social work and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). She is a trauma-informed practitioner, educator and thought leader. She has several years’ experience managing looked-after children and leaving care teams. She is currently a senior lecturer on the University of Hertfordshire’s MSc and BSc social work programmes. She completed her doctorate at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust. Her research interests are broadly around trauma-informed pedagogy, care leavers, higher education, refugees and asylum seekers. Her thesis on trauma and transitions to adulthood of care-experienced young people who are refugees or asylum seekers is available at: http://repository.tavistockandportman.ac.uk/2584/

Dame Lorna Boreland-Kelly is a registered social worker who is an experienced senior manager. Following her retirement she has become a senior partner in Bokell Associates Ltd, for whom she now works offering consultancy and project developement leadership working as a consultant in a number of councils and private sector organisations. Her work with councils have Included setting up a number of social care academies in children's and adults' services -these have included the Surrey Children Services Academy in Surrey County Council and Barnet Children Practice Academy in Barnet Council, Norfolk Social Care Academy in Norfolk County Council, Medway Social Care Academy in Medway Council and the first Children Academy in Croydon Council. She has also advised other councils, including Southwark, Wandsworth and Havering on the development of their workforce service academies as an expert advisor.

Sass Boucher’s research Looking Through a Lens of Terribleness explored and aimed to understand professionals’ needs when working with and listening to those affected by trauma. What she learned resulted in the creation of SelfCare Psychology with co-founder Kate Collier.

As a counsellor and psychotherapist, her practice includes a wide range of work, including referrals from employee assistance programmes within emergency services and health, social care and education settings.

She is currently lecturing part-time on the MSc Counselling Psychotherapy course at Keele University. She previously trained as a social work practice educator while working in domestic abuse services where she had a variety of roles including working in frontline support and service management and as a local authority domestic abuse partnership co-ordinator.

Kaylie qualified as a Social Worker in 2016 and has worked, developed and lead within frontline and hospital discharge teams within Adult Social Care across her career. Recently progressing to Principal Social Worker at Wiltshire Council in 2024. Kaylie is deeply committed to strengths-based practice and values co-production as a key element in achieving positive outcomes for adults.

Shungu Chigocha is an experienced social worker with a strong background in promoting best practices and creating high-challenge, supportive learning environments. With a deep commitment to advocating for equity, equality, diversity, and inclusion, Shungu has dedicated her career to empowering individuals and communities through effective social work practices. Throughout her career, she has consistently championed initiatives that foster inclusive environments, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of background, can access the support and opportunities they need to thrive. Shungu is passionate about driving positive change and remains committed to advancing the field of social work through education, advocacy, and practice.

I joined HCC is 1997 as a Child and Family Support Worker and gained my social work qualification in 2001. I worked within child protection and children in care between 2002 and 2011 when I progressed to Assistant Team Manager and Team manager in 2013. I spent 10 years as a Children in Care Team Manager and this is where I discovered my passion for change, supporting change and being part of Hampshire’s transition towards being Outstanding. I became a District Manager in 2022 at a time where we were moving into our biggest transition in a generation, Family Help. I have really enjoyed being part of this process and seeing the difference that we are making to the children, young people, their carers and families on a daily basis.

I have been a qualified social worker for 12 years, predominantly in front line child protection teams across three local authorities. I currently hold the position of District Manager of Test Valley in Hampshire County Council, with a Disabled Children’s Team within the district. I hold the strategic lead for Care Leavers and Family Time across the county, both of which include specific elements for disabled young people and children. I still feel very privileged to be a social worker, there is no greater role than the safeguarding of children and elevating their voices.

Kate Collier is practice and development director and co-founder of SelfCare Psychology. She develops new training and tools and has taken SelfCare Psychology’s training online with the development of interactive live workshops and e-learning. She has a special interest in early intervention in wellbeing through education for social care and health professionals born out of her personal struggle with professional trauma and fatigue. Her experience spans training as a social worker and independent domestic violence adviser and designing, delivering and managing services for women facing multiple disadvantages.

Chickenshed is a theatre company for absolutely everyone.

For 50 years, we’ve created bold and beautiful work from our limitless belief in each other. Through our productions, our performance training, our education courses and our outreach projects, we create wonder out of chaos and change out of challenge.

We succeed together or not at all. This is our vision of how the world should be. We’re here to shake things up by sharing our experience with each other. We do this on stage, off-stage and wherever people come together.

Chickenshed, theatre changing lives.

I earned my psychology degree in 1994 and qualified from Leicester University in 1998. My early career involved working in children’s residential and family assessment units and from 1998 to 2003, I was part of the children’s safeguarding team at Leicester City Council. In 2003, I moved to Hampshire, starting as a Social Worker and advancing to Assistant Team Manager, then Team Manager, and now District Manager. Playing a key role in the development and implementation of our Family Help model, I am passionate about the maintaining the welfare of vulnerable children across Hampshire.

Sarah joined the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) in December 2023 as the Social Work Adviser specializing in vulnerable adults aged 18 to 64, including issues related to homelessness, repatriation and deportation, and rape and sexual assault. Prior to her role at the FCDO, Sarah held both management and frontline positions within adult social work teams in London. In addition to her work with the FCDO, she is as an independent Best Interest Assessor (BIA) and a General Visitor for the Office of the Public Guardian.

Ceri Evans is a senior family keyworker, who has been seconded for the last 2.5 years to the Dads Matter Too research project. He is the lead worker implementing this programme of intervention across the Support and Safeguarding teams. Ceri has over 12 years’ experience in children’s services working across youth teams, family intervention and safeguarding and has a degree in Youth and Community and a diploma in the Charter Institute of Management. Ceri has also been a foster carer for Wiltshire Council for the last 12 years and facilities skills to foster training.

Kayleigh Rose Evans is an accomplished social worker, practice educator, and best interests assessor, specialising in adult services. She holds a master’s degree in professional development in social work and is dedicated to advancing the field through education and advocacy.

Alongside her social work practice, Kayleigh works as an independent trainer, sharing her knowledge and experience with others in the field. She also shares valuable advice, relatable educational content, and reflections on social work through her popular YouTube channel.

Mark Finnis is the founder and director of L30 Relational Systems and has more than twenty-five years’ experience of helping organisations large and small, both nationally and internationally to develop highly connected relational cultures with people at the heart of everything they do. 

Mark has also been involved in the national development of restorative practices since the late 1990s. 

He then became the UK Assistant Director for the International Institute for Restorative Practices.

He then moved to a new and exciting role as the Director of Training and Consultancy at Hull Centre for Restorative Practice in 2007 where he helped the city achieve its position as the world’s first Restorative City. 

Mark then worked with Leeds City Council Children’s Services for five years to develop Restorative practice as part of its vision of a Child-Friendly City. 

Mark has since gone on to work alongside over twenty Children Services around the country helping to improve outcome and impact for Children and Families.

Mark has also delivered keynotes alongside audiences across the UK, Spain, Finland, Canada, US to name a few.

Mark is the author of the number 1 bestselling book, Independent Thinking On Restorative Practice: Building relationships, improving behaviours and creating stronger communities.

In 2019 he received the Chris Donovan Trust’s Restorative Practice Champion award in recognition of his work nationally.
 
Mark has advised on national policy and practice development since 2005 and was part of a small group who rewrote the national best practice guidance for restorative practitioners in 2012.

Mark is a trained Family Group Conference Convenor and a licensed NLP Master Practitioner trained and certified under Dr Richard Bandler and has been working with leaders offering coaching for over a decade.

He is also a dad of five children, a proud scouser and loves his dog called Dexter.

Connect with via X @markfinnis and his website is L30Relationalsystems.co.uk

Gail Gibbons is head of change for children’s services and health at the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), where she is responsible for sector engagement activity and partnership development. A social worker by profession, she has over 25 years’ experience of working in the public sector mainly in the fields of mental health, young people, policy development and commissioning. Immediately prior to joining YEF, she was chief executive of Sheffield Futures, a young people’s charity providing specialist support and mentoring for young people in Sheffield and the surrounding region. She has been an Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) Fellow and a Fellow of Practice at Oxford University’s Government Outcomes Lab. An experienced board member and chair, she is especially interested in collaborative partnership working, user voice and participation, and outcomes-based delivery programmes.

Sophie and her team have built an impressive academy for staff in Birmingham Children’s Trust with a focus on supporting career pathways for Newly Qualified Social Workers through a 3 year development plan, the ACFP Accredited Child and Family Practitioner Programme which has been in place since 2021. BCT have been pioneering partners in a number of DFE programmes including the NAAS and are currently advising and supporting in the development of the new 5 year early career framework for social workers.

Dawn has been with Cafcass for more than a decade, starting as a Family Court Advisor and Children’s Guardian, before moving to a role with the National Improvement Service with specialist interests in learning and development and significant incident reviews. In 2022, Dawn was appointed as the Head of Practice with lead responsibility for learning and development. She has been involved in the development of the career pathway for social workers in Cafcass and furthered practice leadership within the organisation. Dawn became the Principal Social Worker in September 2024, combining her experience as a frontline practitioner who knows the challenges faced by colleagues with her understanding of the organisational focus on delivering an exceptional experience for every child, every time and everywhere. Prior to joining Cafcass, Dawn worked in local authority and charitable sector social work teams with children and young people.

 

Jennie Guthrie is a social worker and principal curriculum lead for Frontline. She is an independent trainer and writer and hosts the website Autistic Social Worker. She is autistic and has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). She is a director of Neuro Inclusive Solutions Ltd, providing training and consultancy services to social work organisations on neuro inclusion and working with neurodivergent people.

Helen works for Trevi, an award-winning women’s and children’s charity based in South West England, which provides safe and nurturing spaces for women in recovery to heal, grow and thrive. She facilitates the Freedom Programme for those affected by domestic violence.

I have been a qualified social worker for 23 years and worked in various roles as a social worker, including disabled children’s teams, family support and safeguarding teams, and R&A referral & assessment / Intake teams.  I have also worked as a supervising social worker for an Independent Fostering Agency.  I subsequently gained management experience as a Team Manager of a fostering team, a children’s safeguarding team, and a disabled children’s team before taking up my current position as District Manager with Hampshire Children’s Services. I have a passion for supporting children with additional needs and disabilities and hold a strategic lead for children’s disability service across the county.

A qualified Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP), Chris is the social work adviser for mental health and has been with the FCDO since September 2020. After rewriting the FCDO’s consular assistance mental health guidance in the wake of the global Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to advising on complex mental health cases, Chris also rewrote and now delivers mental health training to FCDO staff both in the UK and abroad. Prior to working with the FCDO, Chris worked as a senior social work practitioner and AMHP for a local authority in England for a number of years. Chris has a wife and two-year-old son who keeps him busy outside of work.

Kelly qualified as a social worker in 2010 and has always worked for Essex County Council. She has worked in frontline practice including mental health teams and the Emergency Duty Service. She qualified as an AMHP in 2014 and spent 9 years in this role. She has been operationally managing the Mental Health and Wellbeing team for the last 6 years but she is currently acting as a service manager focusing on transforming social care within mental health services within Essex.

I am the Principal Social Worker for Children Education and Families Directorate in Cambridgeshire County Council. I have 17 + years of experience as a qualified Social Worker. I was born in Zimbabwe and moved to England when I was a teenager. When I think about my Social GRACES, I see the PSW role in the lens of African village where the community is at the heart of everything. The PSW’s role in the community is one of a facilitator within the village and to support the community to adopt the values of Ubuntu-  The ties that bind people together are strong, the welfare of everyone is paramount and there is an interconnectedness of the community. There is an African proverb that says, “it takes a village to raise a child”. Everyone in the village is important and we all have a part to play to ensure that we offer the children and families a good service.

Anoop has extensive local authority social work experience, particularly in supporting children & families and young people. Anoop also works at Heathrow Travel Care, the airport social work charity. His airport role includes working with various vulnerable individuals including: deportees, rough sleepers, those suffering from mental health problems, international repatriations, asylum seekers and more. Anoop is also an experienced in emergency response supporting those in crisis who have experienced traumatic incidents.

Rt Hon Mike O'Brien KC is a senior barrister practising in the Court of Protection. He has dealt with cases involving hoarding and covert medication for a number of years. Before practising as a barrister, he was a government minister for 13 years and is a former Solicitor General for England and Wales.

Millie Kerr qualified as a social worker in Oxford in 1994 and has 30 years’ experience working as social worker, team manager and children’s services manager within local authority children’s services, adult social care and the charity sector. She has worked across a range of fields including safeguarding and child protection, HIV, palliative care, child asylum, child trafficking, leaving care, and within a specialist Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and safeguarding service. She has worked in the area of anti-racist practice and racial equity since November 2020 in Brighton & Hove. She is also a practice educator and delivers training on anti-racist practice, racial equity and cultural competence/humility within social work and more widely.

Alex Laidler is an occupational therapist with over 30 years’ experience in health and social care in practitioner, operational management and strategic leadership roles. She has led teams and services comprising a wide range of professionals and is committed to ensuring practitioners maintain a strong professional identity while promoting interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary practice. She joined Essex County Council in 2015 as director of adult social care and after two periods of maternity leave took up the position of principal occupational therapist when the role was first created in 2019.

With two decades of experience as a social worker, I specialise in supporting children and families. Currently, I am the Service Manager for separated children and the Homes for Ukraine initiative. My portfolio includes strategic leadership for refugee children and families, Family Help, and my primary area of interest, domestic abuse. My dedication to these causes drives my commitment to making a positive impact in the lives of the most vulnerable in society.

Anne Manning qualified as a Social Worker in 2006 and has since worked at Essex County Council in the Children and Families Service.  Anne’s first role as a social worker was in a Family Centre setting.  Anne took a Senior Practitioner role in the Family Group Conference (FGC) Service in 2009, and for the last eleven years has been a Team Manager in the Divisional Based Intervention Team (DBIT).  Within her time in DBIT, Anne has Managed an Edge of Care Team, and took a project lead role in establishing a Connecting and Uniting Team, An Emotional Wellbeing Team, and now is Managing and developing the Essex Solution Focused Centre Training Service.  

Anne is a Practice Educator and has a Level 3 Award in Education and Training. Anne was trained in the Solution Focused Approach with BRIEF and has completed the Advanced Certificate in Solution Focused Practice with the Essex Solution Focused Centre.  Anne’s passion is to provide the best support to clients that Essex Social Care work with through ensuring the professionals who serve them reach their potential in their own development and skills and are able to put this into practice.

Jenny Molloy is an author, motivational speaker and a patron of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW). She spent most of her childhood in care and is now a married mother, grandmother and care leaver. She wrote her bestselling books Hackney Child and Tainted Love under her pen name Hope Daniels. She is also patron of Trevi, an award-winning women’s and children’s charity based in south west England, which provides safe and nurturing spaces for women in recovery to heal, grow and thrive.

Guy has worked in the adult social care sector for over 30 years and qualified as an occupational therapist in 2000.  He has a diverse range of experience that includes frontline clinical work, team and operational management, project management and private practice. 

Guy is passionate about sensory processing disorders and in helping services understand the impact that they can have on care provision, particularly when people may be unfairly labelled as having challenging behaviour.  Guy is currently working as a Team Manager for the Local Linked Support Team which is part of the Essex Council’s Adult Social Care Learning Disability & Autism service.

Dr Tanya Moore has worked in social work and social care for more than 30 years as a practitioner, educator and practice leader. She has published research and articles and edited two recent books: Principles of Practice by Principal Social Workers and The Anti-Racist Social Worker. Formerly research lead and programme lead for the social work/social care doctorate programme at The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, she was also principal social worker at Hertfordshire County Council and senior lecturer and programme lead at the University of Hertfordshire. She joined Essex County Council in April 2023. She is committed to thoughtful, relational practice and is determined to see practice front and centre of leadership and decision-making in adult social care.

Colin Morgan has practiced in the family courts for 30 years, mainly in the area of child protection but also in the Court of Protection and withdrawal of treatment cases in the High Court. He is the head of Pallant Chambers, Chichester.

Greg has been a Social Worker since 2006. He has worked in a Leaving Care team as a Social Worker, Senior Practitioner and a Team Manager. Greg has also worked as part of Essex’s front door triaging referrals into Social Care and for the last ten years, he has worked with the D-BIT Service helping to keep families together using the Solution Focused approach. Greg’s passion and enthusiasm for the SF approach has led him to being part of the Essex Solution Focused Centre focusing on supporting others to learn and develop their own use of SF practice. Greg is a published author, and is the co-lead for Solution Focused Accreditation with the United Kingdom Association for Solution Focused Practice (UKASFP).

Donna is an ex-local authority head of law, now an independent reviewer, consultant and specialist in safeguarding and domestic abuse cases, involved in three types of serious case review – Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews, Safeguarding Adults Reviews and Domestic Homicide Reviews.  

She has also trained hundreds of blue light professionals to become independent reviewers in their own right in her university accredited SILP School. (She created the SILP model, Significant Incident Learning Process, for reviews back in 2010)

Vivian Okeze-Tirado is a social worker, practice educator and author and runs VOT Training and Consultancy. The service, which is provided across the UK virtually and face-to-face, aims to empower professionals with knowledge and information in the fields of social work, social care, foster care, equality, diversity and inclusion. Its robust, dynamic and interactive training sessions combine emotional intelligence with cultural sensitivity to ensure safeguarding of vulnerable service users is at the heart of practice.

Sarah Parsons has worked throughout her professional life in the family courts in England and has worked for Cafcass since its inception in 2001. She led Cafcass services in East Anglia and the London Private Law service until 2019. She is currently Cafcass’ principal social worker and as deputy director for improvement, leads the organisation’s National Improvement Service. Sarah played a key role in leading the development of the Child Impact Assessment Framework which includes the Domestic Abuse Practice Pathway and guidance and has been part of the team developing and implementing the Together practice framework.

Professor Andy Phippen is a professor of digital rights at Bournemouth University and a visiting professor at the University of Suffolk. He has specialised in the use of information communication technologies (ICTs) in social contexts and the intersection with legislation for almost 20 years, carrying out a large amount of grassroots research on issues such as attitudes toward privacy and data protection, internet safety and contemporary issues such as sexting, peer abuse and the impact of digital technology on wellbeing.

Rebecca Regler is an expert by experience and an associate lecturer in social work at Oxford Brookes University. She has an undergraduate degree in social work and an MSc in mental health recovery and social inclusion. She works within several lived experience projects. She is passionate about lived experience being used to improve services.

Luke is an award-winning social entrepreneur, recognised through the award of the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. He has 10 years’ experience co-designing projects that enhance the experience of children in and leaving care. As a facilitator, Luke has worked with the Department for Education, The Fostering Network and in 2020 was invited to be a Fellow at the Saïd Business School, Skoll Centre for Social Enterprise, at the University of Oxford.

Kellie Salter was called to the Bar in 2019. Before she became a lawyer, she qualified as a social worker and worked in various roles within local authorities. Her practice focuses on all things social care – children and adults and private children’s matters. She is keen to assist practitioners with confidently navigating the law even when it appears unclear.

Pam Shodeinde is an advanced social work practitioner working with children and families in the East Midlands. Since qualifying as a social worker in 2019, she has worked to ensure her practice is embedded in fairness and equality for those she works with and more widely through her work with the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) as a founding member of the BASW BPS (Black professional Symposium) group. She is a speaker and an advocate and her work has focused on anti-racism and cultural sensitivity in social work with a particular interest in supporting students and newly qualified social workers.

Florence Smith is a director of Neuro Inclusive Solutions Ltd, providing training and consultancy services to social work organisations on neuro inclusion and working with neurodivergent people. 

She is dyslexic, dyspraxic, autistic and has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and uses her lived experience to inform her work. She hosts the website and blog The Neurodivergent Social Worker where she writes to both neurodivergent social workers and social work employers, advocating for cultural and system changes to facilitate neuro-inclusion within social work.

Tim is a lawyer who specialises in mental capacity, mental health and social care law. He works for the Government Legal Department (Department for Health and Social Care) where he advises on mental capacity and mental health law. He is also the legal editor of Community Care Inform (Adults) and a senior lecturer at Kingston University where he teaches on the best interests assessor course.

Louise is a Principal Social Worker at Telford and Wrekin Council Children’s Services a main part of this role is strategic lead for practice development across Children’s Services.

Louise has a commitment, passion and experience of working alongside children, young people and their families to co-produce innovative approaches to practice development and service delivery.

Louise has 16 years’ experience of statutory children’s Social Work within various frontline and managerial roles. Louise also has experience of practicing as an Independent Social Worker across the West Midlands Region.

Louise is the current co-chair of the West midlands Regional PSW network and has maintained this role for 18 months.

Louise is the incoming Co-chair of the National PSW network and commences this role in September 2024.

Louise has a passion for engaging in practice development from a trauma transformational lenses.

Kathryn Swinney is a member of the Health and Wellbeing Team at CAFCASS, working to support over 2,500 staff across England. Kathryn has covered a range of wellbeing topics in her experience supporting staff wellbeing in public sector organisations in both the USA and UK since 2017, with more recent projects covering areas of mental wellbeing, stress and resilience, and financial wellbeing.

John has worked as a social worker with children and families since 2011. John has worked in a variety of roles primarily within local authority settings including initial response; long term child protection and Public Law proceedings and has done so as a social worker; advanced practitioner and then as a team manager for a busy initial response team. John joined Cafcass as a Family Court Advisor and Children’s Guardian in June 2021 and is currently based within the South West; working predominantly in private law in Plymouth, Devon and Cornwall. Alongside his role as a Family Court Advisor and Children’s Guardian, John is also a Practice Educator and holds a key role within the South West in supporting the learning and development of new colleagues joining Cafcass; as well as supporting student social workers on placement with Cafcass. John’s specific areas of specialist practice include working with complex Leave to Remove (international relocation) private law cases; working with families where asylum and immigration are key elements; international social work and working with unaccompanied minors. In 2023, John was a Finalist in the National Children and Young People Awards, in the category of Safeguarding Children.

Gary Vaux has been employed in welfare rights work for over 40 years. He is also a writer, trainer, consultant and broadcaster on social security matters for the BBC, GB News, the Local Government Association, numerous social care organisations and Rightsnet. He is regularly consulted by, and liaises with, the Department for Work and Pensions on welfare reform. He is the author of the A-Z of Benefits for Community Care Inform.

Vicki works for Trevi, an award-winning women’s and children’s charity based in South West England, which provides safe and nurturing spaces for women in recovery to heal, grow and thrive.

Stephen Wey has worked as an occupational therapist since the early 1990s and much of this has been in hospital and community settings working with people with dementia. He was part of a pioneering intensive home treatment and rehabilitation team for people with dementia and during this time was actively involved in pilots and evaluations of emerging assistive technology and some of the first telecare services. He has been an advocate for person-centred, strengths-led approaches rather than a risk/problems-led perspective and for enabling and rehabilitative approaches to dementia.

Dan Wilkins is the Head of Transforming Adult Social Care and Quality, with a career spanning over two decades in health and social care. A qualified social worker and former nurse, Dan has been dedicated to improving services since 2000. He is passionate about ensuring that the voice of service users is central to practice and service development.