RESEARCH IN PRACTICE - Key Persons


Abbi Woodman

Job Titles:
  • Events and Projects Officer
Abbi supports the operational planning and delivery of large scale programmes and commissioned workshops, alongside planning the Tailored Support allocations for children and families services.

Alex Kalinowska

Job Titles:
  • Senior Learning and Development Officer - Children & Families
Alex is responsible for the development of the Research in Practice tailored support provision for children and families.

Aline Politano

Job Titles:
  • Events Administrator and Virtual Meetings Host
Aline supports the Tackling Child Exploitation Support Programme (TCE) at Research in Practice, assisting with the administration and delivery of learning events. Aline believes that events are a great way to promote learning and connection between people.

Alisha Fisher

Job Titles:
  • Innovation Designer
Alisha advocates for the user in decision-making about product/website design, user-centred design and design thinking. Whilst designing the product, service and customer experience solutions, she supports the development and implementation of UX strategy and the creation of physical and digital resources, publications and providing specialist support to projects.

Alison Domakin

Job Titles:
  • Senior Research and Development Officer
Alison has worked in the children and families sector for thirty years as a social worker, manager and academic. She is based in the children and families team at Research in Practice and leads on the delivery of resources across a number of topic areas. She is interested in developing new evidence-informed ways of learning from practice, particularly one-to-one and group supervision.

Ami Fullalove

Job Titles:
  • Learning Events Coordinator
Ami is responsible for the delivery of our learning events across the children, families and adult programmes.

Amy Bishop

Job Titles:
  • Events Administrator and Virtual Meetings Host
  • Practice Supervisor
Amy supports The Practice Supervisor Development Programme (PSDP) and Tackling Child Exploitation Support Programme (TCE) at Research in Practice, assisting with the administration and delivery of virtual events. Amy is passionate about learning and is currently in the process of completing a degree in social science.

Amy Holgate

Job Titles:
  • Events Administrator and Virtual Meetings Host
Amy supports the Research in Practice Events Team assisting with the planning, administration and hosting of their current face to face and online events. She has a keen interest in events having completed an Events Management degree.

Amy Rich

Job Titles:
  • Web Systems Officer
Amy works on a variety of projects and activities to develop, implement and maintain effective web systems across a range of platforms that communicate and promote the work of Research in Practice and improve user experience.

Andrea Dyson

Job Titles:
  • Contracts Administrator

Andrea Grimson

Job Titles:
  • Business Support Coordinator
Andrea manages the smooth running of our office alongside supporting recruitment and HR.

Anita Klich

Job Titles:
  • Project Support Officer
Anita supports the project team in the delivery of the projects the organisation is involved in and acting as a point of contact for queries relating to processes and offering specialist advice to support problem solving.

Ann Aston

Job Titles:
  • Project Support Administrator
Ann provides administrative support to the Projects and Contracts team. Working with the team to ensure internal and external customers are well supported and projects are well-managed.

Anna Racher

Job Titles:
  • Partnership Manager - Tackling Child Exploitation Support Programme
Anna has overall responsibility for the Tackling Child Exploitation Support Programme, which is a Department for Education funded partnership, led by Research in Practice with The Children's Society and the University of Bedfordshire. The programme focuses on changing the systems which support exploited children and young people in order to make a greater positive impact for them and their families.

Brian Bean

Job Titles:
  • Finance Coordinator
Brian leads the management and oversight of finance coordination processes, ensuring a focus on efficiency, consistency, quality and value for money.

Catrin Wallace

Job Titles:
  • Communications, Marketing and Engagement Officer
Catrin works on a range of marketing and communication projects for Research in Practice across a number of platforms, including social media, digital communications and publicity materials.

Chris Green

Job Titles:
  • Operations Coordinator
Chris leads our administration team providing organisational support. He provides the Director with diary management and administrative support, supports recruitment and HR, implementation of new business process and procedures and coordinates governance activity, such as Partnership Board and Management Team meetings.

Claire Williams

Job Titles:
  • Research and Development Officer
Claire is currently working on the NIHR Creating Care Partnerships project, supporting the development of Research Practice Partnerships in residential care homes for adults in England. She also leads on the Social Work Organisational Resilience Diagnostic (SWORD) project and supports the Partner Engagement team around the wellbeing and resilience topics. She is interested in co-production and how the perspectives of people with lived experience can be included in service design and delivery.

Conn Doherty

Job Titles:
  • Research Assistant
Conn works in the Research and Evaluation team, assisting on evaluations across children's and adults' social care.

Dez Holmes

Job Titles:
  • Director
Dez is responsible for the overall leadership of Research in Practice. She is interested in knowledge mobilisation, systems leadership, adolescence, safeguarding and participative practice. For enquiries please contact Chris Green.

Dyfrig Williams

Job Titles:
  • Head of Learning
Dyfrig leads the development of Research in Practice learning activities and oversees the national programme of learning events and training courses across children, families and adult sectors.

Emily Smith

Job Titles:
  • Research and Development Officer
Emily helps to produce content for our publications and resources across children, families and adult services. She works with partners across children, families and adult services to support them in using our evidence-informed resources. Emily is a qualified social worker.

Emma Rawlins

Job Titles:
  • Project Coordinator - Practice Supervisor Development Programme

Ena Halford-Toledo

Job Titles:
  • Finance Officer
Ena works closely and collaboratively with various teams, ensuring that they are supported with effective finance administration and support as required.

Fidelma Hanrahan

Job Titles:
  • Senior Research Officer
Fidelma champions the use of research within the organisation and has particular responsibility for ensuring quality research is embedded into all outputs. She is also Account Manager for Partners across the South West region and the topic lead for the monthly Children & families Research Summary and Policy Update.

Gem Kitcher

Job Titles:
  • Partner Engagement Administrator
Gem provides administrative support by maintaining records in our database, scheduling meetings with Partners and supporting engagement activity for both the children, families and adult Partner networks.

Geoff Owen

Job Titles:
  • Partner
  • Head of Partner Engagement
Geoff leads our Partner Engagement team and manages our Account Management service. Geoff's work focuses on developing, maintaining and strengthening the relationships between Research in Practice and our network of Partners.

Georgina Chetwynd

Job Titles:
  • Research and Development Officer ( Maternity Leave )
Georgina helps produce information and content for our publications across children, families and adults services. This includes helping to design workshops, webinars and other digital content. She works with partners to support them in using our evidence-informed resources. She is a qualified social worker.

Grace Akinyemi

Job Titles:
  • Project and Contracts Officer
Grace supports the project team in the delivery of the projects the organisation is involved in and acting as a point of contact for queries relating to processes and offering specialist advice to support problem solving.

Hannah Scott

Job Titles:
  • Research and Development Officer ( Maternity Leave )
Hannah works with Partners in children & families, young people and adult services to support them in using our evidence-informed resources.

Jack Walker

Job Titles:
  • Digital Assistant
Jack assists the Digital Team with work on digital, web development and user experience projects. He also uploads website content and supports marketing activities.

Jessica Broome

Job Titles:
  • Practice Engagement Officer
Jessica works in the Practice Engagement team supporting partners to ensure they get maximum benefit from using our resources in practice. Jessica has worked with Research in Practice for 9 years, both as an Account Manager and in the Tailored Support team. Her background is in designing and implementing workforce development programmes to support the use of evidence in practice.

Jo Bramham

Job Titles:
  • Tailored Support Officer
Jo supports Partners with their Tailored Support allocation as part of their membership offer and is a point of contact for enquiries from Partners and other organisations across children and adult health & social care for new Research in Practice learning and development events. She also works with new and current Associates to grow our capacity to support Partners and other organisations.

Julie Wilkinson

Job Titles:
  • Senior Research and Development Officer
Julie works in the children and families team and leads on the delivery of resources across a number of topic areas. She also works on commissioned research and evaluation projects.

Karen Allen

Job Titles:
  • Research Assistant ( Maternity Leave )
Karen works in the Research and Evaluation team, assisting on evaluations across children's and adults' social care. She has particular interests in quantitative analysis and survey research.

Karen Young

Job Titles:
  • Senior Communications, Marketing and Engagement Coordinator ( Maternity Leave )
Karen is responsible for managing a range of marketing communications activities for Research in Practice. This includes digital communications, publicity materials and public relations.

Kate Kayley

Job Titles:
  • Senior Learning and Development Officer - Adults
Kate is responsible for the coordination and development of the Research in Practice tailored support provision for Adults and also leads on specific topics on the delivery programme. She is also an account manager for several partners.

Laura Bracey

Job Titles:
  • Research and Development Manager
Laura oversees the annual programme of development and delivery of the evidence-informed resources produced for Partners. She also works with individual partners to support the promotion and best use of resources within local areas.

Lauren Chatfield

Job Titles:
  • Personal Assistant
Lauren works closely with the Directors, providing strategic external liaison, diary management and administrative support and coordinates governance activity, such as the Partnership Board and Management Team meetings. Her role is to ensure that the Directors are supported by effective administration and that clear lines of communication are enabled between the teams.

Lauren Slack

Job Titles:
  • Team Administrator
Lauren works with various teams across Research in Practice, ensuring they receive effective administration support as and when required.

Lisa Smith

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director
Lisa leads the Research in Practice adults team overseeing the delivery of our services to Partners, and leading on commissioned projects. She is particularly interested in safeguarding adults, co-production, systems re-design and supporting organisational change.

Lloyd Boone

Job Titles:
  • Senior Communications, Marketing and Engagement Officer
Lloyd works on a variety of projects and platforms to effectively communicate and promote the work of Research in Practice. This includes digital communications, content creation, social media and publicity materials.

Lorna Trend

Job Titles:
  • Research Assistant
Lorna works in the Research and Evaluation team, assisting on evaluations across children's and adults' social care.

Louise Johnstone

Job Titles:
  • Senior Partner Engagement Officer
Louise is one of our most experienced Account Managers and was also a Link Officer in a past life. She is passionate about building strong relationships with our network of Partners, and working with them creatively to ensure they get maximum benefit from using our resources in practice.

Louise Rea

Job Titles:
  • Senior Projects Coordinator
Louise manages the delivery of the Research in Practice project portfolio as well as managing and supporting other programmes the organisation is involved in.

Luciann Blake

Job Titles:
  • Research and Development Officer
Luciann produces content for our evidence-informed resources on children & families, young people and adult services. She is interested in embedding participatory research strategies in service design and holds two degrees in anthropology which inform her person-centred approach to topics in care.

Mairi-Anne Macdonald

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director - Business Development

Marion Chan

Job Titles:
  • Contracts and Compliance Officer
Marion oversees and manages the contracting process for the organisation including ensuring quality assurance processes are in place, risk is monitored, measured and mitigated and contractual compliance is maintained.

Mary Robson

Job Titles:
  • Research and Development Officer
Mary works with partners across children, families and adult services to support them in using our evidence-informed resources. She also leads on specific topics for the annual delivery programme.

Melika Malone-Lee

Job Titles:
  • Research and Development Officer ( Maternity Leave )
Melika works with Partners across adult services to to embed knowledge, skills and resources into their organisations and wider networks. She also works closely in producing information for our publications and in designing workshops, webinars and other digital content. She is interested in human rights and social justice.

Melissa Vernal

Job Titles:
  • Social Worker
  • Practice Engagement Officer
Melissa is a qualified social worker and former children's rights advocate. Joining Research in Practice as a Practice Engagement Officer, her focus is supporting partners to ensure they get maximum benefit from using our resources in practice. Melissa's background has predominantly been with children in care and care leavers. Her past career experience means she has an excellent understanding of how to support practitioners to engage with research.

Neeta Chauhan

Job Titles:
  • Programme Manager - Practice Supervisor Development Programme
Neeta is responsible for the smooth delivery of the Practice Supervisor Development Programme within budget and timescale, and maintaining relationships with all consortium and local delivery partners, as well as the commissioner.

Phil John

Job Titles:
  • Events Administrator
  • Support to the Learning Events Coordinator
Phil provides administrative support to the Learning Events Coordinator and Events Officers, with the delivery of all events across the children, families and adults programmes.

Rachel Fitzsimons

Job Titles:
  • Research & Development Officer
Rachel helps to produce content for our publications and resources across children & families, young people and adult services. Working with our partners to support them in using our evidence-informed resources.

Raquel Vieth

Job Titles:
  • Senior Consultation Lead - Tackling Child Exploitation Support Programme
Raquel is the Senior Consultation Lead for the Tackling Child Exploitation Support Programme (TCE), which is a partnership funded by the Department of Education with the University of Bedfordshire and The Children's Society. The Programme aims to support and change systems responding to child exploitation and extra familial harm by learning from the expertise of those with lived and professional experience.

Rhian Creber

Job Titles:
  • Finance Officer
Rhian is responsible for our purchase ordering system, the processing of purchase invoices and raising all sales invoices. She also assists in the finance and budget monitoring of larger projects.

Robin Wooller

Job Titles:
  • Digital Design Coordinator
Robin oversees the design and production of Research in Practice resources in different formats, including publications and digital materials, such as podcasts, videos, webinars and tools. He ensures everything that reaches our Partners is high-quality, clear and consistent.

Sarah Simpson

Job Titles:
  • Team Administrator
Sarah offers administrative assistance along with her colleagues in Business Support to ensure the smooth day to day running of Research in Practice.

Simon Rose

Job Titles:
  • Senior Products and Resources Coordinator
Simon oversees the production of publications and resources at Research in Practice, liaising with the authors, editing drafts and working with our brilliant design team.

Susan Ridpath

Job Titles:
  • Research and Development Officer
Susan supports a number of Partners to embed Research in Practice into their organisation. She also helps to ensure the voice of children and families informs our resources. Susan is a qualified social worker and she is interested in addressing extra-familial harms, participation and co-production.

Susannah Bowyer

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director
Susannah leads the Research in Practice children and families team on core delivery to the Partnership network, as well as a range of commissioned project activities.

Susannah Ferguson

Job Titles:
  • Project Support Officer
Susannah supports the project team in the delivery of the projects the organisation is involved in and acting as a point of contact for queries relating to processes and offering specialist advice to support problem solving.

Yousrah Beedassy

Job Titles:
  • Events Administrator and Virtual Meeting Host
Yousrah supports the Research in Practice Events Team assisting with the administration and hosting of their current online events across the children, families and adult programmes.