Meet the Team

The IDVA team consists of 7 people. We currently have three IDVAs broadly serving each of the three Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences  (MARAC) areas in Oxfordshire – these are Cherwell and West, Oxford City and South and Vale, as well as a Young-Person’s IDVA. In addition, we have two IDVAs who work based out of the Court both at Crown and Magistrates helping victims navigate within criminal, civil and family matters. The whole team is overseen by our IDVA manager who was central in setting up the service in 2007.

This caring and compassionate IDVA team brings together a wealth of experience. Team members  come from backgrounds in the police service, law, children and families, social care, mental health, housing, modern slavery, welfare and benefits which makes the combined pool of knowledge and experience deeply rich. We have diverse hobbies and interests from boxercise to playing pool, and our South and Vale IDVA makes particularly excellent sausage rolls!

Working as a nurse and midwife, specialising in neonatal intensive care, I became involved in safeguarding and child protection. After specialising in Domestic Abuse as a Thames Valley Police Domestic Violence Co-ordinator and County Domestic Violence Lead, I held roles at an LSCB as Business and Quality Assurance Managers and a Regional Government Safeguarding Advisor. As the County Domestic Violence Lead, with a colleague, I developed and initially rolled out the DA Champions Network and was part of the original team that set up Reducing the Risk of Domestic Abuse.

In 2012, I joined the NSPCC, where I was Development Manager in the areas of neglect and child sexual abuse and more latterly Theme Lead Development Manager for Early Years. At the NSPCC, I led on the development of a number of evidence informed assessments and interventions in relation to neglect, including the only authorised update of the Graded Care Profile and Graded Care Antenatal . My work on implementation has led the way for the updated version, GCP2, to be adopted in over 95 areas in the UK.

I undertook primary research in 10 London Boroughs reviewing provision for children who have been sexually abused and exploited and have published a number of articles on neglect and child protection. Additionally, I was on the tender and mobilisation team of the Lighthouse (the first Child House in the UK) and am the co-author of the updated version of the GCP2 and a contributor to The 2019 Edition of The Child’s World focusing on multi-agency working. I have received awards from Thames Valley Police on my work on Domestic Abuse and from South Yorkshire Police for my work on neglect.

I come from a policing background, but my real passion is fostering closer collaboration among agencies to develop better support for those affected by domestic abuse. No single person or agency has all the answers, but everyone brings valuable expertise to the table. The DA Champions network is a fantastic example of individuals coming together to share knowledge, experiences, and practical ideas. I became a DA Champ myself in 2005 and have always found it supportive, informative and useful- it is effectively a family of like minded practitioners who can all help and call on each other.

I’ve spent many years working specifically with high-risk domestic abuse cases and managing medium-risk cases and apparently retired in 2014 (never been busier). I became an IDVA with Reducing the Risk. When the charity took on the DA Champion network in Oxfordshire, I transitioned into the training team.

I’m incredibly proud of the work my Prevention and Training teams are doing:

• We’ve been hard at work developing a wide range of training sessions and resources across various levels and areas of domestic abuse.
• Our new initiative to bring awareness to rural areas has been especially rewarding.

Both parts of our team work together seamlessly, complementing each other beautifully. Our staff do an amazing job, and we’re all committed to delivering our very best to reduce the risk for those we support.

I have a background in Psychology, specifically mental health in BAME communities. I am passionate about advocating on behalf of minoritised groups and working to foster an inclusive approach towards tackling a Domestic Abuse.

Before joining the team at Reducing the Risk I worked in the mental health sector. Whilst volunteering in my local community I developed an interest in working in Domestic Abuse.

I most recently worked for Healthwatch Oxfordshire as the Community Involvement Officer supporting the Patient Participation Groups to not only work with their individual practices but also to begin working within their Primary Care Networks. I also supported the Healthwatch Oxfordshire team by organising, promoting and running the Outreach for both the visits to the Oxford University Hospital Foundations Trust and in local communities. Before this, I worked for 20 years as the HIVE Information Support Officer for the Armed Forces community, which saw me supporting Army families and serving personnel across Oxfordshire. Providing information and support for those who were moving into and out of the county.

My role as Reducing the Risk’s Communication and Friends Officer involves engaging and empowering local communities and individuals to help raise awareness of Domestic Abuse and the support available to those who need it.