For my Fellowship in 2016 I researched homelessness, arts, and the use of a trauma-informed approach in the United States, visiting New York, Boston, Detroit and Philadelphia. I used some of my findings in my work as Chief Executive of SIFA Fireside (a Birmingham-based homelessness charity) and since leaving there in 2017 as an independent consultant and researcher.

My previous background was as a mental health nurse and then as a senior NHS manager and commissioner.

In 2019 I did a return to nursing course and have since been working as a part-time staff nurse at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust. I have had three articles published in Nursing Times since 2017, on adverse childhood experiences and trauma-informed care; Safewards, a model to improve in-patient mental health care; and the Five Ways to Wellbeing model.

The Fellowship was an important experience for me, one which expanded my horizons and my thinking and increased my commitment to improving knowledge and good practice across the mental health and homelessness sectors.