Our People

About Us

Our People

What People Say About Us

Working With Local Authorities

OFSTED

Statement of Purpose

Jobs

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Patrons

Professor David Howe

Patron

Professor David Howe

Patron

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Professor David Howe

Patron

David Howe is Emeritus Professor of Social Work at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. He has had a long standing interest in adoption, as a practitioner, researcher and writer. He has been a keen supporter of Adoptionplus and its excellent work with children and their families since its inception.
Sir Richard Bowlby

Patron

Sir Richard Bowlby

Patron

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Sir Richard Bowlby

Patron

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.

He supports a range of organisations that address challenging attachment issues, and is seeking ways to help the general public benefit from a clearer understanding of attachment relationships.

Board & Senior Managers

Deborah Ferguson

Director

Deborah Ferguson

Director

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Deborah Ferguson

Director

MA DIPSW MBA

After a 22 year career in local authority children’s social services, I founded Fosterplus with Paul Snell in 1996. We then went on to found Adoptionplus in 2000. Our aim has been to provide outstanding services for children which are at the cutting edge of research and knowledge about children who have suffered trauma. We feel we achieved that and took advantage of changes in legislation to develop Adoptionplus further in 2006 and 2008.

With the establishment of our support and placement services Adoptionplus occupies a unique place within adoption services. The appointment of our CEO in 2014 has meant Paul and I now take more of a back seat, which gives me time to spend in my greenhouse, to dabble in renovation of old property, to be a member of a funky choir, and to travel with my partner. I am the proud mother of two sons with whom I enjoy lively but healthy debates about life and the universe.
Paul Snell

Director

Paul Snell

Director

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Paul Snell

Director

CQSW, DMS

Having been with local authority children’s social work from 1973, I left to establish Fosterplus in 1996 and Adoptionplus in 2009, 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.

Over the years working together at Adoptionplus, Deborah and I have built an organisation with an extremely positive reputation for the quality of its adoption related services and its care of children and young people.
Nick Onslow

Non Executive Director

Nick Onslow

Non Executive Director

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Nick Onslow

Non Executive Director

FPFS, Chartered MCipd, DMS, FinstLM, MCMI, FIAB

I am a former Army officer with 25 years military experience. I have a Human Resources background and currently work as a Chartered Financial Planner in the Wealth Management arena.

I am married and have 3 young children.

I am also adopted and hope that both my professional and personal experiences will add value to the continued success of Adoptionplus.
Stuart Campbell

Chief Executive

Stuart Campbell

Chief Executive

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Stuart Campbell

Chief Executive

MBA

I joined Adoptionplus as Chief Executive in September 2014 following seven years as CEO of WDP, a large London based charity which helps people with addiction. Previously I had enjoyed a long career in a variety of roles within the financial sector, gaining wide-ranging senior management experience of diverse organisations, business and finance.

Over the years working in the charity sector, I developed a passion for helping to improve the lives of individuals who are disadvantaged or marginalised within our society, and it is hugely rewarding to have the opportunity to contribute to Adoptionplus’ inspiring work in helping children, who have experienced trauma or neglect in their young lives, to find happy, stable and loving families.
Joanne Alper

Director of Services

Joanne Alper

Director of Services

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Joanne Alper

Director of Services

CQSW, BA Social Policy and Administration, Dip Play Therapy, DMS

I have 24 years social work experience in both local authority and the independent sector. Prior to moving to the adoption and fostering sector in 2002 I worked in local authority child care teams as a social worker and as a team manager. Teams included Generic Child Care, Child Protection and Looked After Children. In 2002 I moved to Fosterplus managing both adoption and fostering teams for the agency. In 2006, with the support of Deborah Ferguson and Paul Snell I led on the development of Adoptionplus as an Adoption Support Agency and then in 2008 its establishment as a Voluntary Adoption Agency. As Director of Services I currently manage the Placement Service, the Child and Family Therapy Service, Training and Conferences and Birth Relative Counselling.

I am a qualified play therapist and have undertaken additional training in DDP and Theraplay. I have had a number of books published, including the Billy Says series; All About Mummies and Daddies; and Assessing Adoptive and Foster Parents: Improving Analysis and Understanding of Parenting Capacity. In 2015 I was appointed to the CVAA Board.

Over the years it has been incredibly rewarding to play a leading role in developing Adoptionplus and to work with our talented team dedicated to improving the quality of life for so many children and families.

Panel

Marion Hundleby

Panel Chair

Marion Hundleby

Panel Chair

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Marion Hundleby

Panel Chair

CQSW, MSc in Applied Social Studies

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.
Jo Meyjes

Panel Advisor

Jo Meyjes

Panel Advisor

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Jo Meyjes

Panel Advisor

BA (Hons) Social Policy and Administration, CQSW

I began my career in social work in 1987 working at the Cotswold Community, a residential therapeutic community for neglected, abused and traumatised boys. In 1992 I qualified as a social worker and started working for Northamptonshire County Council. I spent 10 years working in child care where I placed over 20 children for adoption and developed my interest in working with adopted children and their families.

In 2001 I became a member of Northamptonshire's Adoption panel which I continued for seven years. In 2003 I became the first post adoption support worker in Northamptonshire and spent 10 years working in the Team ending up in the role of Team Manager. In 2013 I became Northamptonshire's Adoption Panel Adviser and Adoption Support Services Adviser (ASSA).

In September 2016 I joined Adoptionplus as the Service Manager. I have responsibility for liaising with social workers wishing to make a referral to Adoptionplus to the Therapy Team for assessment and therapeutic work with adopted families; the Placement Team and I am the Panel Adviser; the Birth Relative Counselling Service.
Wes Cuell

Panel Vice Chair

Wes Cuell

Panel Vice Chair

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Wes Cuell

Panel Vice Chair

BA, Dip Sc.Wk, FRSA

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 Trustee of The Children's Society and of the Papworth Trust. I chair an Adoption Panel for Hertfordshire and I am a Panel Chair for the Independent Review Mechanism.

I was adopted and have always had a very close personal interest in everything related to adoption, which includes 10 years as a member and chairperson of a local authority Adoption Panel.
Veronica Purser

Child Care Social Worker

Veronica Purser

Child Care Social Worker

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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 Local Authority 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.
Dr Deborah Pritchard

Medical Advisor

Dr Deborah Pritchard

Medical Advisor

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Dr Deborah Pritchard

Medical Advisor

MBBS DCH

I am an experienced paediatrician, having trained in mainly community pediatrics initially in London and then in Hertfordshire. In my post in community paediatrics, 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.

Currently, I work as a senior doctor in the field of paediatric regulatory medicines; I have written several research articles in this field. I also have an interest in occupational medicine and undertake regular clinical work. In addition, I have been the Medical Advisor for Foster plus since 2006.
Morris Linton

Childcare Social Worker

Morris Linton

Childcare Social Worker

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Morris Linton

Childcare Social Worker

I am an independent social worker on the Panel and have worked for the same local authority for the last 19 years.

I started as a generic social worker and then moved into the specialism of Children and Families work which I enjoyed. Ten years ago I set up and established the Adoption Support Service for my employing agency and subsequently managed this service. I am now a deputy team manager for the mainstream adoption service, including sitting on my agency's adoption panel.
Scott Casson-Rennie

Independent Member

Scott Casson-Rennie

Independent Member

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Scott Casson-Rennie

Independent Member

I am an adoptive parent of 3 children, aged 18, 17 and 10, adopted on separate occasions.

I was recently appointed Head of Engagement & Delivery at Adoption UK, the largest peer to peer adoption support agency in the UK. Since adopting I have volunteered and worked in the adoption sector, supporting other parents at all stages of their adoption journey, delivering training and organising events for parents and their children for 10 years. I have sat on both Local Authority and Voluntary Adoption Agency Fostering, Adoption and Permanency panels over the years.

In 2016 I won the National Adoption Week 'Adoption Champion of the Year' and I am the national lead for Adoption UK's 'Adopter Voice' service.
Olu Lamond

Independent Member

Olu Lamond

Independent Member

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Olu Lamond

Independent Member

BSc Psychology ( Hons), PGCE, MEd Educational Psychology (Professional Training)

I joined the Adoptionplus Panel in the summer of 2014. My background combines education, psychology, child development and those 'looked after'.

I have worked with a diverse range of children, young people, parents and professionals in a variety of settings and authorities. Following a career as a teacher of secondary aged children, and particularly those with special needs, I worked for almost 20 years as an Educational Psychologist, four of which as Senior Psychologist and Associate Tutor at the University of London Institute of Education. I also served in Croydon on the Adoption Panel for 8 years, where I was also the Specialist Senior Psychologist for behaviour, and service representative on multi-professional working parties.

Currently I serve as an Independent Panel Member on two local authority fostering Panels.

Support Services

Ros Brown

Birth Parent Counselling Administrator

Ros Brown

Birth Parent Counselling Administrator

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Ros Brown

Birth Parent Counselling Administrator

I have worked within administration since 1998, mainly within Local Authorities. I have worked for teams involved with Social Services, Intake and Rehab, Education, Community, Planning and the Environment. I hold a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and Criminology.

I joined Adoptionplus in June 2011 because I wanted to work for an organisation that makes a positive difference to people's lives.
Alice Hollingdale

Training Administrator

Alice Hollingdale

Training Administrator

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Alice Hollingdale

Training Administrator

I joined Adoptionplus in December 2014 as Training Administrator, following several years at home with my children. Prior to that I worked within HR and Training in both local authorities and private companies. I very much enjoy working in a company that cares so passionately about helping children and their families.
Sophy Osman

HR and Office Manager

Sophy Osman

HR and Office Manager

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Sophy Osman

HR and Office Manager

MA in HR Management

I joined Adoptionplus in 2013 as HR and Office Manager. I have an MA in HR Management and have worked in HR for many years, both for large international organisations such as Ernst & Young in London and for smaller businesses locally. I took a career break to bring up my two young children and during that time I worked on the Lower School PTFA and became a Brownie Leader for Girlguiding. I feel privileged to work for a voluntary adoption agency which values its employees so highly and where everyone is passionate about supporting children and families.
Joy Cooper-Watson

Placement Service and Therapy Service Administrator

Joy Cooper-Watson

Placement Service and Therapy Service Administrator

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Joy Cooper-Watson

Placement Service and Therapy Service Administrator

I joined Adoptionplus in January 2016 as the Therapy Team Administrator. Previously I was part of a team for 10 years at St John's Hospice, helping to raise much needed funds to help patients and their families at the most difficult times in their lives.

I have also spent over 25 years working for local companies in accounts and payroll.

I feel proud to be part of a team that helps support children and families.
Jessica Honnan-Mellett

Team Administrator - London Service

Jessica Honnan-Mellett

Team Administrator - London Service

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Jessica Honnan-Mellett

Team Administrator - London Service

I have worked within schools for several years and have over 8 years experience in administration.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with children and young people and look forward to working for an organisation that provides valuable support for children and their families.

Our People

Social Work & Therapist Teams

Claire Grady

Pippa Bolger

Mary Kennedy

Dr Ben Gurney-Smith

Jo Meyjes

Julia Davis

Jess Christopher

Yvonne Milton

Hannah Ford

Patricia Downing

Rachel Staff

Rebecca Atkins

Rachael Underhill

Carol Frazier

Benjamin Hargrave

Jane Gould

Ian Orr-Campbell

Carole Green

Louise Bomber

Dr Kim Golding

Patrons

Professor David Howe

Sir Richard Bowlby

Board & Senior Managers

Deborah Ferguson

Paul Snell

Nick Onslow

Stuart Campbell

Joanne Alper

Panel

Marion Hundleby

Jo Meyjes

Wes Cuell

Veronica Purser

Dr Deborah Pritchard

Morris Linton

Scott Casson-Rennie

Olu Lamond

Support Services

Ros Brown

Alice Hollingdale

Sophy Osman

Joy Cooper-Watson

Jessica Honnan-Mellett