Sir Richard Bowlby Bt

Richard Bowlby retired in 1999 from medical photography where he produced illustrations for research communications. He now gives lectures and tutorials to health care professionals and promotes a broader understanding of his father’s work on attachment theory.

David Howe Bsc, MA, PhD, CQSW, PGCE

I am Professor of Child and Family Social Work at the University of East Anglia, Norwich.  I have  research interests in emotional development, adoption, developmental attachment theory, and child abuse and neglect.  I am the author of many books including several on adoption: Patterns of Adoption: nature, nurture and psychosocial development (Blackwell Science 1998), Adoption, Search and Reunion: the long term experience of adopted adults  (with Julia Feast, The Children’s Society 2000 and BAAF 2004), The Adoption Reunion Handbook (with Liz Trinder and Julia Feast, published by Wiley 2004), Contact in Adoption and Permanent Foster Care (with Beth Neil, published by BAAF 2004), Child Abuse and Neglect: attachment, development and intervention (Palgrave/Macmillan 2005), and The Emotionally Intelligent Social Worker (Palgrave/Macmillan 2008).

Deborah Ferguson, MA, Dip, SW, MBA

Deborah Ferguson is a director of Adoptionplus and is a qualified social worker.

I qualified as a social worker in 1982. My first interest was child protection and I worked as a practitioner and manager also gaining knowledge and expertise by my involvement as an early committee member of the British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (BASPCAN) a multi disciplinary professional association and on the editorial board of Child Abuse Review.

I then worked in family placement and gained experience on both local authority and voluntary agency Adoption Panels. I was principal officer for Adoption in Bedfordshire for a number of years. Paul Snell and I left the local Authority in 1996 to set up Fosterplus, an Independent Fostering Agency. Fosterplus currently has 11 offices throughout England and Scotland and was assessed by OFSTED as providing an ‘outstanding’ service to children. Paul and I started offering adoption services in 2000, and our aim now is to offer outstanding services to adopted children and their families.

Paul Snell, CQSW, DMS

Having been with Local Authority children’s social work from 1973, I left to establish Fosterplus in 1996 with my fellow director Deborah Ferguson.

I qualified as a social worker in 1982 and followed that with a Management Diploma in 1991.

My experience includes residential social work, child protection and the provision of care for children and adolescents, various management posts including Principal Officer Child Care – Bedfordshire.

For the past 12 years Deborah and I at Fosterplus have steadily built an extremely positive reputation for the quality care of children and young people.

Christopher Cook MBA, FCCA, FAIA, FHEA

Chair of the Board and Panel Member

I am an accountant by training and qualification and have many years high level experience running businesses of various types and sizes – my own and others. My main occupation currently is as Head of Division in the Business School of The University of Northampton.

I am keen to contribute my knowledge and experience to the success of AdoptionPlus, a cause in which I have great faith.

Joanne Alper, CQSW, BA Social Policy, Diploma in Play Therapy, Diploma in Management Studies

Service Director Adoptionplus and Panel Adviser

I qualified as a social worker in 1991, since that time have had considerable local authority experience of working with children in the care system, children requiring adoptive families and children where there were child protection issues. I have worked as a Local Authority Team Manager for a Looked After Children Team, and with an Independent Fostering Agency as a Fostering Team Manager and an Adoption Service Manager. In 2006 I set up Adoptionplus as an Adoption Support Agency offering therapeutic services to people regarding adoption issues. In September 2008 we were registered as a Voluntary Adoption Agency. Alongside my social work and management experience I also trained and qualified as a Play Therapist in 2000.

I have had 7 children’s books published, 6 books in the ‘Billy Says’ series and ‘All About Mummies and Daddies’. These books are aimed at helping children with issues related to adoption and fostering. Following on from this I have been commissioned by 10 Local Authorities to write their “Children’s Guides to Adoption.”

I am committed to using all the skills I have developed over the years to ensure Adoptionplus offers a service that is truly helpful to children and families.

When I’m not working I love to spend time playing with my children.

Elsie Price

Consultant Senior Therapeutic Social Worker

Pippa Bolger MA Applied Social Science with DipSW, BA (Hons), PQSW Child Care Award and PGDip Child Care Studies.

 Senior Social Worker

Pat Gibson BA (Hons), PGCE

 Team Administrator and Panel Administrator

I have worked for a great variety of companies – as a graphic designer, a secretary and an administrator, fitting work around raising my family of three daughters. I have a degree in graphic design and am also a qualified early years teacher. In my last incarnation I worked for a bank, but since late 2009 I have been working at Adoptionplus as a team administrator and this has been a fascinating experience.  It is such a pleasure to work with dedicated and nurturing colleagues and if I’ve helped the team in their work to improve the lives of families and children then I feel absolutely rewarded.

Sadie Hursey

Team Administrator

Irene Pugh - Certificate in Adoption Counselling ; Certificate in psychodynamic counselling; Diploma in Integrative Psychosynthesis Counselling; Diploma in individual and group supervision.

I have been counselling for about fifteen years and am a BACP Senior Accredited Counsellor and a trained Supervisor. Alongside working for Adoptionplus, I also work in private practice offering both counselling and  counselling supervision.

Ian Orr-Campbell (Dip Person Centred Counselling, RMA,NVQ4 Management, NEBS)

I qualified as a person centered counsellor in 1999. I have worked for Mind, Barnardos Link, Voice of the Child in Care and the National Youth Advercacy Services. Alongside my counselling work, I have also worked for 18 years with people with learning difficulties in both residential and day care settings.

I joined Adoptionplus’s birth relative counselling service in 2004, and have worked with a number of birthparents and grandparents on feelings related to the loss of their children. I have also provided counselling services to adopters and adult adoptees.

I am passionate about the work I do and believe that all people regardless of their circumstances, have an innate ability to maintain and constructively change their lives for the better.

Mary Ward, CQSW, GSCC registration, ADVANCE Award in Social Work, Diploma In Counselling [Person Centred], Diploma In Couples and Family Therapy -Institute Of Family Therapy.

I have worked with Children and Families in a variety of settings; residential, and local authorities for over 25 years. I have been a manager for a Child Protection and Child Care Team, working with looked after children and children placed for Adoption. I was Head of the Conferencing and Reviewing Service for a local Authority  up until 2001, when I began to work independently.
 
I have always been interested in working therapeutically with individuals, children and families and I continue to work in this way. I have been a counsellor for The Independent Birth Family Counselling Service provided by Adoptionplus for 2 Local authorities, since the beginning of the service in 2005.
 
I am a counsellor for staff in a primary school, and I am a Deputy Chair and Chairperson for 2 Fostering panels for 2 Independent Fostering Agencies.

Louis Sydney

Consultant Senior Child and Family Therapist

Amalia Brightman, SRAsT (M) MA music therapist / Level One DDP, Level One Theraplay

Music Therapist

Jude Coad, Cert Ed, AdCert Autism, Diploma in Child Counselling using the Arts, Certificate in Child & Family Therapy, Level One DDP, Level One Theraplay

Child and Family Therapist

Julia Davis, M.A. in Social Work, C.Q.S.W., Diploma in Play Therapy / Level One Theraplay

Child and Family Therapist

My name is Julia Davis and I am one of the Children's Therapist with Adoptionplus.I started working in children's homes and residential schools before qualifying as a social worker in 1989.I then undertook a number of roles working in child protection, with looked after children and children being placed for adoption with an emphasis on direct work with children. In 1996 I completed my Diploma in Play Therapy and specialised in working with children who had experienced trauma. Over the last decade I have worked primarily with children placed for adoption and their families focusing on the impact of their trauma and attachment experiences. 

Nicki Williams BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy, SROT, Level 1 and 2 SI and Level 1 SAI

Paediatric Occupational Therapist

I have worked as an OT in the NHS since 1999. The last seven and a half years have been spent working in a busy Community Paediatric OT Team. My experience to date has included both mainstream school, special school and pre-school work. I have spent the last seven years focusing on sensory processing difficulties as well as co-ordination, learning based disorders and Chronic Fatigue. When I am not working, I love to travel, particularly 'off the beaten track'.

My heart is to see people of all ages happy, secure and enjoying life. Any part that I may play in helping people to reach that place, continues to be an enormous privilege.

Samia Premjee MA Counselling, Adv Cert Systemic Practice with Families & Couples; Cert in Relationship Therapy

As a counsellor for the birth relative counselling service in North London, I provide therapeutic support to birth relatives whose children are being adopted. Counselling offers them the opportunity to talk about their various thoughts and feelings in a safe and supportive environment, which helps them to come to terms with past events and the reality that their child is being adopted. We often also look ahead and explore what they want for their future.

Marion Hundleby, CQSW, MSc in Applied Social Studies

Panel Chair

I have been a qualified social worker for over thirty years and have extensive experience of adoption, fostering and work with families. I have worked in the statutory and voluntary sectors and my experience includes social work practice, research, resource development, training and project management. I am a published author and since 2001 have been a member of the British Association for Adoption and Fosterings Publications Advisory Group. As well as participating in many conferences and seminars, I also gave evidence to the House of Commons Standing Committee in relation to the Adoption and Children Act 2002.

I currently work independently. As well as providing consultancy for social care organisations, I chair several adoption and fostering Panels in the Midlands and South of England.

Wes Cuell BA; Dip Sc.Wk; FRSA

Panel Vice Chair

I have worked as a social worker since 1971 and for most of my career I have specialised in working with children and young people, working for local authorities in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Luton where I was Head of Children's Services from 1997 till 2004, when I joined the NSPCC as Director of Services. I  am a Board member of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety and the Child Exploitation and On Line Protection Service(CEOP).

I  was adopted and have always had a very close personal interest in everything related to adoption, which includes10 years as a member and chairperson of a local authority Adoption Panel.

I have two grown up children and two grandchildren in the USA one of whom has a severe learning disability. When I'm not at work I am usually to be found running, sailing or walking somewhere remote and mountainous.

David Goosey, RSW, BA(Hons), MSocSc, CQSW, AASW, PGCE, FHEA

Independent Member

I qualified in social work in 1987 and have worked in children and families social work and in teaching ever since. I am currently a Principal Lecturer in Advanced Social Work at the Westminster Business School (University of Westminster) where I lead a masters programme in leadership and management for social workers and other post graduate leadership and management training for health and social care staff.

I also work as an independent social work consultant with the Change Agency. I am the vice chair of the Adoption and Permanence Panel for the London Borough of Merton and the Chair of Board of Trustees for Community Foster Care, a independent fostering agency in Gloucester.

Veronica Purser

 Child Care Social Worker

My Social Work career started in me working in the Residential sector working in homes and Assessment centres in both the public and charitable sectors. Since qualifying in 1986 I have worked for Cambridgeshire LA firstly as a generic social worked in an area team and then in the youth offending service. In 1999 I was made redundant and decided to become a self employed social worker undertaking work with children, young people and families for a number of different local authorities including completing reports for courts in criminal proceedings. During this time I delivered training in all aspects of social work to residential workers. I also worked with a company who work with Adolescent sex offenders where I undertook therapeutic work in addressing the sexualised behaviour of these young people. I was also involved in assessing and working with victims of sexual abuse, which included writing reports for court.

Sharrone Duff

Child Care Social Worker

Deborah Pritchard MBBS DCH

Medical Advisor

I am an experienced pediatrician, having trained in mainly community pediatrics initially in London and then in Hertfordshire. In my post in community pediatrics, I gained considerable experience in developmental disorders, adoption and fostering and child protection in children and adolescents. I was also the designated member of the child protection team for 2 years.  

Joan Brown BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Systemic Psychotherapy

Independent Member

I am a qualified and UKCP registered Systemic Psychotherapist working predominantly as a Family Therapist, helping children and their families resolve problems of childhood, unhelpful patterns of interaction and build better family relationships and friendships. In my private practice I also work with individuals and couples with difficulties such as depression, self-harming, chronic fatigue syndrome, anxiety, sleep disorders etc and am expanding my practice with carers of dementia sufferers.

Tina Moore

Adoptionplus feature on BBC Look East

Adoption Plus feature on BBC Look East. Please visit the link below to watch:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7702441.stm

"Children’s Guides" and "MP3 players" covering Adoption Support

Adoptionplus is currently in the process of producing new Guides to Adoption Support. They are designed in a comic book style and have had input from adopted young people.

The MP3 players include interviews with adopted young people who speak about what support they found helpful growing up.

If you are interested, please contact Adoptionplus on 01525-405281