I have worked in the specialist domestic abuse sector for over 20 years and am currently the Director of Wearside Women in Need (WWiN), a specialist service in Sunderland. My 2011 Fellowship explored the relationship between state and civil society in responding to domestic abuse, an interest that stemmed from experience of the implementation of the Co-ordinated Community Response Model, the professionalisation of the voluntary sector in the UK in the early 2000s, and the change in relationship with the communities they served.

The Fellowship experience reshaped my thinking about service provision, priorities and different ways to conceptualise outcomes that really matter to people. I have applied this learning to the development of new approaches and the redesign of services. This work has led to some influential national projects with Women's Aid England, as a commissioner on the Barking and Dagenham Domestic Abuse Blueprint, and the development of the national Drive project, to name a few.

My current focus brings me back again to my Fellowship learning – the role of family, friends and communities in early intervention, a neglected area that I want to enable and activate.