Our Fellowship programmes are guided by Working Groups of subject specialists. They are led by members of our Advisory Council and supported by Fellows, and partner organisations. Each Working Group identifies a topical issue around which to focus a programme of Fellowships, and then supports its delivery and promotion. Members are available to help Fellows in that programme with advice and networking.
Our Children in care Working Group has helped to design our current programme focused on Children and young people with experience of care.
Working Group member Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang CF
Emmanuel is the Director of Lighthouse, a charity focused on improving outcomes for looked after children by setting up education focused children's homes. His 2018 Fellowship focused on social pedagogy - a relationship based way of working with children in children's homes.
Working Group member Laurelle Brown CF
Laurelle Brown is Founder and Principal Consultant of Laurelle Brown Training and Consultancy. The multi-disciplinary team work with organisations across the UK to support the delivery of high quality, intersectional practice and services for children and families. Her Fellowship in 2018 focused on foster care for adolescents with 'complex needs'.
Working Group member Geneva Ellis CF
Geneva Ellis is a Director at St Christopher's Fellowship, a charity which cares for and supports children and young people in care. Her Fellowship in 2012 focused on learning from international children's home models.
Working Group member Professor Carlene Firmin MBE CF
Dr Carlene Firmin is a Churchill Fellow and a Professor of Social Work at Durham University. In 2016 she published the Contextual Safeguarding framework, a term coined by Carlene in 2014. This framework has been used to advance policy and research concerned with safeguarding adolescents in the UK and internationally, and has led to changes in social care responses to extra-familial abuse. In 2011 Carlene became the youngest Black woman to receive an MBE, for her seminal work on gang-affected young women in the UK.
Working Group member Sophie Gross CF
Sophie Gross is a foster carer looking after babies and supporting mothers. Her Fellowship in 2017 focused on supporting care experienced mothers when they had their babies.
Working Group member Kate Hulme
Kate Hulme is a Trustee at the Hadley Trust, our funding partner for this programme. The Hadley Trust is a grant making charity with a focus on improving the lives of disadvantaged people, mainly in the UK. Kate has a particular interest in working with young people.
Working Group member Callum Lynch CF
Callum Lynch is a care experienced public affairs worker based in Scotland. His Fellowship in 2018 focused on giving a voice to young people in care.
Working Group member Juliet Lyon CBE
Juliet Lyon is a member of our Advisory Council. She chairs the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody and is a visiting professor in the School of Law at Birkbeck, University of London. She was formerly director of the Prison Reform Trust, director general of Penal Reform International and a Women’s National Commissioner. Working across mental health and education, she has headed a school psychiatric unit, directed community education in a comprehensive school and managed therapeutic communities. Juliet was a founding advisor to ChildLine.
Working Group member Lorna Stabler CF
Lorna Stabler is a researcher with CASCADE, Cardiff University, focusing on children's social care research across the UK. She is also care experienced and was a kinship carer. Her 2019 Fellowship focussed on support for kinship carers in policy.
Working Group member Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang CF
Emmanuel is the Director of Lighthouse, a charity focused on improving outcomes for looked after children by setting up education focused children's homes. His 2018 Fellowship focused on social pedagogy - a relationship based way of working with children in children's homes.
Working Group member Laurelle Brown CF
Laurelle Brown is Founder and Principal Consultant of Laurelle Brown Training and Consultancy. The multi-disciplinary team work with organisations across the UK to support the delivery of high quality, intersectional practice and services for children and families. Her Fellowship in 2018 focused on foster care for adolescents with 'complex needs'.
Working Group member Geneva Ellis CF
Geneva Ellis is a Director at St Christopher's Fellowship, a charity which cares for and supports children and young people in care. Her Fellowship in 2012 focused on learning from international children's home models.
Working Group member Professor Carlene Firmin MBE CF
Dr Carlene Firmin is a Churchill Fellow and a Professor of Social Work at Durham University. In 2016 she published the Contextual Safeguarding framework, a term coined by Carlene in 2014. This framework has been used to advance policy and research concerned with safeguarding adolescents in the UK and internationally, and has led to changes in social care responses to extra-familial abuse. In 2011 Carlene became the youngest Black woman to receive an MBE, for her seminal work on gang-affected young women in the UK.
Working Group member Sophie Gross CF
Sophie Gross is a foster carer looking after babies and supporting mothers. Her Fellowship in 2017 focused on supporting care experienced mothers when they had their babies.
Working Group member Kate Hulme
Kate Hulme is a Trustee at the Hadley Trust, our funding partner for this programme. The Hadley Trust is a grant making charity with a focus on improving the lives of disadvantaged people, mainly in the UK. Kate has a particular interest in working with young people.
Working Group member Callum Lynch CF
Callum Lynch is a care experienced public affairs worker based in Scotland. His Fellowship in 2018 focused on giving a voice to young people in care.
Working Group member Juliet Lyon CBE
Juliet Lyon is a member of our Advisory Council. She chairs the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody and is a visiting professor in the School of Law at Birkbeck, University of London. She was formerly director of the Prison Reform Trust, director general of Penal Reform International and a Women’s National Commissioner. Working across mental health and education, she has headed a school psychiatric unit, directed community education in a comprehensive school and managed therapeutic communities. Juliet was a founding advisor to ChildLine.
Working Group member Lorna Stabler CF
Lorna Stabler is a researcher with CASCADE, Cardiff University, focusing on children's social care research across the UK. She is also care experienced and was a kinship carer. Her 2019 Fellowship focussed on support for kinship carers in policy.
