About Our team

Dr Sam Warner is the chair of the AOCPP. She is a consultant clinical psychologist and holds an honorary senior lectureship at Salford University. Sam has over thirty five years’ experience of working with children, young people and adults who have complex mental health and safeguarding needs. Sam has specialised throughout her career in sexual violence; child abuse, neglect and exploitation; and domestic abuse; their impacts on mental health; and in respect of related issues including attachment difficulties and personality disorders, self-harm and suicide, dissociation and psychosis. Sam works as an expert witness and provides system-wide/ whole family interventions with children who are looked after. Sam has also led a variety of specialist sexual abuse/ exploitation services in the third sector, mental health, child protection and the residential sector. Sam utilises a trauma-informed approach in therapy and safeguarding. Sam has written books, papers and reports on these issues and advised at national and international levels.

Dame Lorna Boreland-Kelly, DBE JP FRSA Lorna has over 30 years’ experience of managing, leading and developing social care services, including a range of Social Care Academies in a number of Local Authorities across Children and Adult Services. Where she also project managed the setup of these Academies to attract, recruit, develop and retain social workers and managers.

Ann Marie is a registered children & families’ social worker practicing over two decades with twelve years of social work management. She worked in a pilot project as a school based social worker in the late nineties for four years and experienced safeguarding of children pre:threshold intervention. Ann Marie evolved and managed cluster social workers in schools and provided safeguarding advice as a safeguarding advisor to schools and Headteachers. 

Steve Myers is a registered Social Worker with a background in child protection and youth justice. He has worked as a Social Worker in both statutory and voluntary organisations and been involved with the education of social workers in Higher Education for the past 25 years, including leadership roles. Steve has researched and written about strengths-based and solution focused practice, working with violent behaviour including sexual violence and assessment in social work practice.

Dr Ciaran Murphy is currently employed as Senior Lecturer in Social Work in Edge Hill University's Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine. Ciaran continues to lead on specialist children and families; research; and safeguarding modules. Before working in academia, Ciaran practised for 10 years in the areas of child protection, substance misuse and education welfare. Ciaran remains a qualified and registered social worker, specialising in child protection and risk assessment. Moreover, he is an active researcher with a particular interest in elucidating the lived experiences of practicing child protection social workers and how we can better promote child-centred child protection and social work practice.

Julie is a registered social worker with 25 years experience in working with children, young people and families. She is a manager in a local
authority; overseeing several social work teams and focusing on practice improvement. Julie has a wide breadth of knowledge and experience in child protection work. Julie’s practice interests include ensuring children’s voices are heard and centred, pre-birth and early years work, substance use, domestic abuse and working with fathers and male carers.

Jermaine Ravalier is a Professor of Organisational Psychology and Social Justice at Bath Spa University, and Director of Programmes at What Works for Children's Social Care. Jermaine's interest and expertise in social work revolves around the social work workforce. He has worked with and led BASW and SWU's campaign for Professional Working Conditions, which is based on his bi-annual national survey of social worker working conditions and wellbeing. He works with the IFSW to run global working conditions surveys, and alongside thousands of social workers across the UK has co-created the Working Conditions and Wellbeing Toolkit, which can be found on BASW's website. At WWCSC, Jermaine oversees the commissioning of independently evaluated research aimed at supporting and improving outcomes for children and young people with a social worker, and the social work workforce.

Kelechi has worked for 15 years in the NHS and brings a wealth of experience in her field, including in Nursing Health Visiting, Safeguarding advising, CAMHS and local Safeguarding boards. She joins AOCPP as an independent Safeguarding Consultant and currently provides expert training and consultation on the topic of: Child exploitation, serious youth violence, extra and Intra-familiar harm, adultification, contextual safeguarding, intersectionality, childhood neglect and think family.

You may recognise Kelechi from a 2021 podcast on child exploitation and one of the speakers at the 2021 University of Kent child exploitation conference.

Sarah is a registered Social Worker and works within Children’s Services, managing a therapeutic service working with adolescents at risk of exploitation and at risk of entering custody or the care system.
Sarah has worked in a number of innovation projects and has experience in both the statutory and non statutory arenas; targeted therapeutic services, strategic practice development, academic input and service management. Sarah has a keen interest in practices and policies that facilitate effective child protection and having previously guest lectured on a Social Work CDP course she feels passionately about bridging some of the gaps between research and practice.

Sarah’s interests lie in working restoratively and therapeutically with families, restorative leadership, innovation in social work practice, effective supervision practices and exploitation, contextual safeguarding and extra familial harm.

Adrian is a Trustee of the AoCPP and Chair of the Practice Learning SIG Chair. Adrian qualified as a Registered General Nurse (1987), Cardiothoracic Nurse (1989) and Registered Health Visitor (1992) and has worked both in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) and East Warwickshire. Has worked in the Safeguarding arena, initially as a Child Protection Nurse Specialist /Named Nurse for Child Protection and from 2004 -2020 as a Consultant/Designated Nurse for Safeguarding Children (incorporating Adult Safeguarding into role from 2011). Adrian managed the Leicester City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Hosted Safeguarding Team (working across LLR). As part of role worked with local safeguarding and has chaired a number of inter-agency subgroups, contributed and authored Serious Case Reviews, Adult Learning Reviews and a Domestic Homicide Review Co-Chaired the LLR Channel Panel for 6 years and worked with partners as a CCG prevent lead. Honorary Principal Lecturer at De Montfort University (1999- 2015) School of Nursing and Midwifery. In April 2020 took on a new role and is currently Safeguarding Professional Lead for NHS England. The Midlands NHSE/I safeguarding team covers both East and West Midlands. Adrian is also a Parent Governor of a local school in Leicester.

Helen Wilson is our Operations Manager and is responsible for leading the office team and managing the day to day activities of the Association.
Helen's background is in third sector leadership and service design and delivery, having worked extensively across drug treatment services, the criminal justice system and in the areas of adult homelessness and children's palliative care. More recently she was Deputy Chief Executive for a women's counselling service, and currently also works in private practice as a counsellor.

Outside of work Helen is a Mum to 4 teenagers and has a long bucket list of places she'd like to visit. When she isn't working, she is usually found outdoors with her dog, Stanley.

Position: Membership and Finance Officer

I joined the AoCPP in April 2023 to look after the membership and finance side of the Association. I thoroughly enjoy my role within the AoCPP and the commitment and dedication of the experts within child protection and adult safeguarding continues to amaze me. Please do contact me should you have any queries or questions; I am always happy to support our ever-growing membership.

Interests: Outside my work for the AoCPP, I am a mother to 2 children who take up most of my spare time! In and amongst family life, I also have my own bookkeeping business and I enjoy socialising with family and friends.

Contact me about: Membership, finance and general enquiries