Staff Profiles
This page lists PAC-UK staff profiles. Though split in to geographical teams, many staff work across regions and projects. You can use the hyperlinks at the top of this page or scroll down to view profiles - click on the 'Read More' bolded text or down arrow next to each listing to expand the profile text.
Senior Executives & Leadership Team | Management Team | London & South | North East, North West & Merseyside | Private Intermediary Service | Yorkshire & Humber
Senior Executives & Leadership Team
David Holmes CBE
Chief Executive. David has been CEO of Family Action since 2013 and was previously CEO of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering from 2006-2013. David has worked in health and social care since 1995, has been a Senior Civil Servant in two Government departments (Health and Education) and a Chief Officer Children’s Services in local government. David started his career as a solicitor in the City of London and currently Chairs two other charities – Children England and Naomi House. David was awarded a CBE for Services to Children and Families in the New Year Honours 2014 and won Chief Executive of the Year at the HR Distinction Awards 2016. David is supported by the Family Action Executive Group, comprising of Funke Fatunla (Director of Finance), Ricardo Gomes Da Silva (General Counsel and Director of Systems), Helen Cantrell (Director of Services and Innovation) and Anja Bailey (Director of Development and External Affairs).
Pavlina Georgiades
National Clinical Lead. Pavlina manages services and supervises the London and South east clinical team who work with birth relatives, adopted adults, adopters, prospective adopters, special guardians and other permanent carers. Pavlina is registered with UKCP as a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist and has completed an MA in Psychoanalytic Observational Studies at the Tavistock Institute. Pavlina began specialising in the field of adoption over 20 years ago when she joined PAC-UK’s Child & Family Service and completed the Adoption Counselling Expertise (ACE) training at PAC-UK. She has previously worked in the fields of drug and alcohol services, family assessment and support, and services for young care leavers.
Mike Hancock
National Strategic Lead. Mike is Head of Adult Services (Leeds) at PAC-UK, supervising social workers and counsellors who work with birth relatives and adopted adults. Mike worked with contemporary birth parents for a number of years in Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and Halifax seeing them at community bases and at home. He has run groups for these service users as well as presenting training for professionals around adoption issues. Mike has a Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling and is an accredited member of the BACP.
Jo Mitchell
National Service Lead. Jo is an experienced Child & Family Therapist and Social Worker who joined PAC-UK in 2016. Jo has also previously been a Head of Service (PAC-UK Child & Family Service North) and Adoption Manager. Jo holds a PGCert in Psychotherapeutic Counselling and has also trained as an EMDR Practitioner. Jo has completed further training in Developmental Dyadic Psychotherapy (DDP) with Dan Hughes, Dissociation with the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, Theraplay© and MIM (Marschak Interaction Method) assessments as well as Systemic Family Therapy and NVR (Non Violent Resistance). Jo has been the National Lead for the DfE in developing a regional and national Child to Parent Violence Service. Jo has trained as a Parent Adviser delivering the Enhancing Adoptive Parenting Programme (EAP) as well as training professionals in EAP. Jo is a qualified Practice Teacher and NQSW Mentor/Supervisor. Jo enjoys working collaboratively with parents and extending support to include external and significant people important to the family. This has led to extensive work in schools where Jo has worked for several years with teaching and non-teaching staff to educate in attachment and developmental trauma theory as well as looking at creative ways to enhance the school experience for adopted children.
Leon Elias
National Operational Lead. Since joining PAC-UK in 2011 Leon has worked in a variety of management roles. Based at our Family Action Head Office in London, Leon is part of our Senior Leadership Team, supporting our National Service Lead, National Strategic Lead and National Clinical Lead. Leon works across all PAC-UK services and projects, and is responsible for developing and maintaining PAC-UK systems (including data, monitoring, reporting and evaluation). He also manages our PAC-UK website and social media platforms. Prior to joining PAC-UK Leon worked for a sports development charity supporting young adults across Islington, Haringey and Hackney who were not in education, employment or training. Leon has a BA (Hons) Business Administration degree, and has previously worked in consultancy roles for other charitable organisations and businesses.
Management Team
Tanya Killick
Practice Manager, Adopteens & Projects. Tanya is a qualified Social Worker who has been working at PAC-UK since 2014. Tanya has several roles within PAC-UK, which include supporting adoptees, first families and adoptive parents. Tanya co-leads Adopteens (formerly AT-iD Project), an innovative pilot project designed and led by teenage adoptees, aimed at building friendships and giving teens a space to be themselves. Tanya is passionate about enabling adoptees to have a voice on the issues that matter to them, to improve understanding and the way we work to support people affected by adoption. Tanya supports adoptive families through PAC-UK’s Child to Parent Violence (CPV) Programme co-facilitating PAC-UK’s CPV Parent Groups, and delivering PAC-UK’s CPV Programme to individual families. Tanya has completed training in Non Violent Resistance (NVR) Level 1 and feels it is a very practical and affective way of working with parents to improve relationships and reduce violence. Tanya has also completed training in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) Level 1 and enjoys the non- judgmental use of PACE when working with people affected by trauma.
Judith Ellis
Practice Manager, London. Judith has worked at PAC-UK since 2017 as Practice Manager with lead responsibility for services for Special Guardians and Intermediary Services in the London region. Judith is a social worker and counsellor who has specialised in post adoption support since 2005. Judith has also worked with children affected by parental substance misuse. In previous roles, Judith has worked in the education sector as a teacher and in social care in various positions, including managing adoption support services for local authorities.
Ania Wilcocks
Practice Manager, Child & Family Service. Ania is a qualified Child & Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist (ACP registered) and has many years of experience of working with young people and their families in a wide range of contexts, including NHS CAMHS, social enterprise and more recently in independent practice. Before embarking on training in Child & Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Ania had a long career as a specialist genetic counsellor in Clinical Genetics, working with individuals and families either affected or at risk of having children with inherited conditions.
Marie Williams
Practice Manager, Yorkshire & Humber. Prior to joining PAC-UK in Leeds Marie spent 10 years as an Adoption Support Worker for After Adoption, primarily supporting birth parents. She also provided intermediary support and counselling to both birth parents and adopted adults. Marie is a qualified counsellor and an accredited member of BACP. She also has qualifications in Theraplay and MIM, and has delivered the SafeBase programme and other group-based work for adopters. In her earlier career, Marie worked with adolescents in secondary schools and as an outreach youth worker, as well as a parent support worker, and gained qualifications in both these fields. Her experience of counselling vulnerable adults and victims enables Marie to bring a deep understanding to her role, along with the appreciation of young vulnerable teenagers’ needs and how they are unable to break the cycle leading them to become the birth parents of today. At PAC-UK, Marie will act as a Practice Manager covering the One Adoption contract and also for Lincolnshire Local Authority. She is passionate about supporting interventions in order to change lives for the better.
Janet Tarpey
Practice Manager, Merseyside. Prior to joining PAC-UK, Jan worked at After Adoption. The service provided support for adopted young people, adopted adults, first family birth members and birth family members. The work consisted of organising therapeutic activities for young adopted people, support with Access to Records for adopted adults, providing an Intermediary Services for both adopted adults and birth family members, and support for first family members around issues relating to the adoption of a child or children, for example support around Letterbox exchange. Jan spent 13 years working for The Catholic Children’s Society, (now part of Caritas), delivering parenting courses, both in group settings and one to one. Jan also ran family support groups for vulnerable families to help reduce isolation and establish friendships and support networks. After leaving college Jan spent 15 years working for Action for Children, providing intensive family support and parenting assessments for local authorities.
Emma Crowther-Duncan
North Adult Services Regional Manager. Emma qualified as a social worker in 2008 from The University of Manchester and is registered with the HCPC. Emma has since worked predominantly within Local Authorities including Derbyshire and Manchester as a Social worker and Senior Practitioner within Child Protection teams. Most recently Emma has worked with an adoption and permanence team progressing children’s adoption plans and preparing children for adoption which included life story work with children and birth parents. Emma has also worked as a Social Worker within a residential assessment centre undertaking court directed PAMs Assessments for parents with learning difficulties. Furthermore Emma holds an MSc Psychology which included undertaking research into professionals attitudes when working with service users who have a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and Emma also holds certificate in Systemic Practice accredited by the Institute for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice. Emma has gained a wealth of experience working with and supporting parents who have challenges with mental health, addiction and domestic abuse and has experience of working directly foster carers and adoptive parents around therapeutic parenting and developmental trauma.
Yvette Collier
Business & Admin Manager. Yvette joined PAC-UK in 2014, initially as an Apprentice Team Administrator. After passing her BTEC National Diploma Level 2 & Level 3 in Business Administration Yvette was offered a permanent Team Administrator position, in 2017 was promoted to Operations Assistant and in 2021 was appointed Business & Admin Manager. Yvette manages our Leeds office building and admin team, supporting PAC-UK services in the North. Yvette completed ILM Level 3 in Leadership and Management in 2023.
Ayshah Essat
Advice Line Coordinator & Adult Services Counsellor. Ayshah is a qualified Social Worker, with a wealth of experience working with families impacted by all kinds of challenges. As a PAC-UK counsellor since 2021, she has developed her expertise towards understanding the intricacies of adoption & permanency. Ayshah is particularly passionate about delivering the advice line service, which touches the lives of the adoption and special guardianship communities across the UK (and sometimes further afield!) With a background in Social Anthropology and Systemic practice, Ayshah’s approach to support always aims to situate individuals within their wider networks and communities, as they decide how best to move forward in life.
Kasia Kurylowicz
Practice Manager, London. Kasia joined PAC-UK in 2021 and is a qualified Social Worker. Based at our Head Office in London, Kasia manages the delivery of our national Child to Parent Violence programme. Kasia has many years of experience of working with children, young people and their families in a wide range of contexts, including statutory social work, therapeutic social work and independent practice. Kasia has worked with children and families affected by parental alcohol misuse, child sexual exploitation, domestic violence, other contexts and has completed training in Non-Violent Resistance (NVR) Level 1 and Level 2. Kasia is neurodivergent and passionate about supporting neurodivergent children and adults.
Sharon Lake
Lead Intermediary & Intermediary Supervisor. Sharon joined our Private Intermediary Service in May 2023 as an Associate Intermediary. She has worked with adopted adults seeking birth relatives and offered support to birth families during the process of reunification. She has been the Lead Intermediary and Supervisor since April 2024. This role includes responsibilities within the FamilyConnect Project which aims to provide support, information and guidance to adults whose lives have been impacted by adoption. Sharon brings professional experience of over 20 years working in children’s Social Care as a Social Worker, Independent Reviewing Officer and manager in Safeguarding, Fostering and Adoption Services within local authorities and the private sector. Sharon is a BACP registered adult Psychotherapeutic Counsellor with a small private practice. She has worked with a national bereavement charity and a charity organisation offering support to members of LGBTQ communities. In addition to training completed to offer intermediary services Sharon has undertaken further training in post adoption counselling for adult. Sharon enjoys bringing her accumulated skills and experience to provide a wide and considered perspective to the Private Intermediary Service.
Jacqui Dowling
North Adult Services Deputy Regional Manager. Jacqui has a social science academic background combined with fifteen years’ experience of working directly with young people and adults across both the private and charity sector. Working across Tyne & Wear and Northumberland for The Children’s Society on the SCARPA (Safeguarding Children at Risk Prevention and Action) project Jacqui worked with children and young people who go missing and are at risk of child sexual exploitation. She provided return home interviews alongside targeted one to one support and ran groups for those most at risk of harm as well as delivering missing and CSE training to professionals including social work teams and school staff. Prior to starting with PAC-UK in 2023 Jacqui worked for 7 years at Barnardos, initially as a senior practitioner and then Children’s Services Manager, providing leadership to Pause North East.
London & South Team
Patsy Bolton
Adult Services Counsellor. Patsy works as a counsellor for PAC-UK. She completed the Adoption Counselling Expertise (ACE) course in 1998 and regularly undertakes trainings to increase her skill base. Patsy previously worked as a senior social worker for five years in Wandsworth’s post adoption service gaining experience with special guardians, adoptive parents, birth parents and adoptees; children and adults. Prior to that she was part of the Wandsworth multidisciplinary tier four CAMHS service for twenty years. Her former social work role was as an approved mental health practitioner. Patsy’s roles within PAC-UK have included delivering training in life story work, self-care skills and caring for children with developmental trauma. She is also a parent advisor for the Enhancing Adoptive Parenting Programme and offers short term intensive assessments. Patsy has trained in DDP – Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy and AIT- Advanced Integrative Therapy.
Rita Cleary
Birth Parent Support Worker. Rita Cleary is PAC-UK’s Birth Parent Support Worker. Within that role Rita provides specialist support for birth parents, during a drop-in service twice a month at PAC-UK. Rita also offers support to birth families where there is direct contact with the child. She has written a practice paper for PAC-UK which reflects on her work with birth mothers at PAC-UK. Rita has an advanced diploma in humanistic integrative counselling. She completed PAC-UK’s specialist Adoption Counselling Expertise (ACE) course and is qualified in cognitive behavioural therapy. She has been associated with PAC-UK for over 15 years.
Rose Wallace
Adult Services Counsellor. Rose’s role at PAC-UK is as a counsellor in the adult counselling service, providing counselling to adults affected by adoption or other permanent placement. These include adopted adults, care experienced adults, birth parents and other birth relatives, adoptive parents and special guardians. Rose has a particular interest in the impact of early trauma, separation and loss, identity issues and support around search and reunion. Rose was a social worker with over 30 years’ experience of providing adoption support services and post care services for adults. She has an Advanced Diploma in Humanistic Integrative Counselling and has completed PAC-UK’s Adoption Counselling Expertise (ACE) diploma and undertaken PAC-UK’s Enhancing Adoptive Parenting training. Rose – who is also a registered member of BACP – has worked as a research interviewer/team member on several major adoption research studies into the experience of adopted adults and their birth and adoptive families.
Fiona Start
Adult Services Counsellor. Fiona joined PAC-UK in 2013 and works at our Head Office in London and online. She qualified as a social worker in 1984 and is also a BACP accredited counsellor. She has worked throughout her career with children who are fostered, adopted or permanently placed with family members. Fiona worked for 10 years as an adoption social worker and manager, working with all stages of the adoption process. She then joined a London borough in 2007 where she managed the Adoption Support Service and Special Guardianship Team. She has a particular interest in attachment styles in adults and children.
Veronique Faure
Child & Family Therapist. Veronique Faure studied and qualified in France as a Social Worker (HCPC Registered), and in the UK as an Integrative Arts Psychotherapist (UKCP Registered). She also obtained a Diploma in Child Psychotherapeutic Skills, and a Diploma in Clinical Supervision and Consultancy. She works privately with adults, children and adolescents, and as part of the Child and Family team at PAC-UK. She has 25+ years of multi-cultural inner-city professional experience, in the field of child protection, children in care and adoption. Amongst other things, she has managed a Residential and Outreach Family Assessment Centre; she has worked as a Court Expert in Family Proceedings, as a Child Protection Conference Chair and as an Independent Reviewing Officer; she also trained Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists for 7 years.
Joanna Parker
Child & Family Therapist. Joanna is an Integrative Arts Psychotherapist, MA UKCP registered who trained at the Institute of Arts in Therapy and Education. She has a Diploma in Clinical Supervision and is certified in Child Therapeutic Skills. Joanna has trained in DDP (Level One), Theraplay© (Level One), NVR (Level One) and EMDR (Level One & Level Two). Joanna has worked for the past 17 years in a range of settings in both statutory and voluntary services. Joanna joined our PAC-UK Child & Family Service in 2018. In addition to working in our Child & Family Service, Joanna is a tutor in the Well-Being faculty at the Institute of Arts in Therapy & Education, a Professional Adviser for Young Minds and the Co-chair of the Training Standards Committee for the UKCP Child College. For 10 years prior to this Joanna was the Young Oasis Lead developing and managing a multi-disciplinary Child & Family Service as part of the Brighton Oasis Project. Young Oasis supports infants, children, young people and parent/carers affected by familial drug or alcohol misuse. In 2018 Joanna was the clinical lead for a ‘Wellcome’ funded project called the Art of Attachment, which went into depth to consider attachment relationships using the arts.
Jeanine Heismann
Child & Family Therapist. Jeanine is an Art Psychotherapist, and an NVR-UK accredited Group Practitioner and Supervisor. Her background is in education and residential care. Jeanine completed her Undergraduate training as a Creative Expressive Group Facilitator in 2009 and went on to working in residential care with looked after children and young people. During her 9 years of residential work, she became interested in expanding the limited interventions available to staff for supporting the children process their relationships and their experiences. In 2014 Jeanine began working in education across mainstream and specialist settings as a School Counsellor, NVR Parent Group Facilitator, Staff Trainer and Safeguarding Lead. Jeanine’s various roles have given her experience of working with young people with a wide range of needs and presenting difficulties including; young people with SEN, social emotional mental health needs affecting their behaviour, adverse childhood experiences such as abuse, loss of significant people and separation from caregivers. She has also worked with young people who have been exploited by their peers as well as young people who present with harmful sexual behaviour. Jeanine has a BA in Creative Expressive Therapies from the University of Derby and an MA in Art Psychotherapy from the University of Hertfordshire and has HCPC registration. Jeanine has been involved with NVR since 2014 and joined the PAC-UK Child & Family Service in May 2020. Jeanine is particularly interested in experiential group processes and supporting families who struggle with social and emotional mental health difficulties through the use of creative play.
Annie Sharpe
Adult Services Counsellor. Annie has worked at PAC-UK since 2017 working with adoptive parents and special guardians in a variety of services. Annie is a qualified Family Therapist. She has worked in the local authority, voluntarily sector and CAMHS carrying out direct therapeutic work with children and families affected by trauma and abuse.
Deborah Mayhew
Adult Services Counsellor. Deborah (Debs) is an integrative psychotherapeutic counsellor who prior to clinical training, worked for 14 years in Local Authority Child, Family, and Targeted Youth Support Services, including Adoption and Fostering, Youth Justice, and Young People’s Homeless Support. Undertaking restorative youth justice and working with young people separated from their families, Debs managed the Child in Need and Early Help work in a large multi-disciplinary amalgamated Youth Support Services team. Whilst in counselling training, Debs moved into the charity sector, as lead advice worker for a national charity for children in care, designing and delivering trauma informed training for professionals and young care experienced adults whilst also undertaking direct work with young people. Prior to joining PAC-UK, her clinical placement was in the NHS within a busy London GP practice, and it was at this time she moved into a role within Family Action’s London Young Carer Services, before being seconded into a lead role delivering an emotional support service for care-experienced young adults during Covid-19 lockdown, where she oversaw the work of volunteers and their supervisors. Debs is in the London Clinical Team at PAC-UK and also works on the advice line. In her counselling work Debs draws on several therapeutic approaches, holding the view that our past continues to affect us, and it is by developing insight and understanding that we can begin to gain compassion for ourselves and our choices.
Bethany Lambert
Adult Services Counsellor. Bethany joined PAC-UK in 2021 as an Adult Counsellor, providing support to adults affected by adoption or other permanent placement. Bethany qualified as a social worker in 2015 following successful completion of a Postgraduate Masters in Social Work and is registered with Social Work England. After qualifying, she joined After Adoption, a Voluntary Adoption Agency in the Midlands. Alongside providing post adoption support including access to records and intermediary services, Bethany was involved in the development and delivery of several pilot projects, most notably an innovative and therapeutic programme called Breaking the Cycle. This programme supports women who have lost children to adoption to reflect on their lives in order to make positive and informed choices for their future. Bethany relished this opportunity to work therapeutically with birth parents, supporting them to reflect, rediscover self and flourish. She was thrilled to be able to share some insights from the Breaking the Cycle programme by contributing to Joanne Alper’s edited works ‘Supporting Birth Parents whose Children have been Adopted’.
Jan Shine
Adult Counsellor. Jan has been part of the Private Intermediary Service since April 2020, having previously worked with two other Voluntary Adoption Support Agencies, Norcap and Adoption Services for Adults. Together with another colleague in the team, Jan designs and delivers specialist training across the UK for professionals working with adults affected by adoption, and is a qualified counsellor and member of BACP. Alongside her intermediary work, Jan works as a counsellor in the PAC-UK London Clinical Team. Prior to working in the adoption field, Jan has a background in higher education where she worked as a self-employed HR/Learning and Development specialist.
Jin Hwang
Data and Business Support Administrator. Jin joined PAC-UK in 2023 and is based at our Family Action Head Office in London. Jin’s role includes administrative, data collection, data reporting and analysis, financial management and monitoring tasks, working closely with our National Operational Lead to manage these functions across all PAC-UK services and projects. Jin has a Bachelor of Science in Business Studies and sees his role at PAC-UK as a great opportunity for growth and personal development.
Monaliza Amanuel
Adult Services Counsellor. Monaliza joined PAC-UK in 2023 as an Adult Counsellor. Monaliza qualified as a Pedagogue in 2003 and worked over 20 years in a range of settings including with looked after children, refugees, asylum seekers and women survivors of domestic and sexual abuse. Monaliza worked holistically using pedagogical relationship-centred approaches with a continuing focus on mental well-being, and implementing positive changes, personal growth, and re-empowerment. Monaliza is a qualified integrative counsellor and is registered with the BACP and the Black African and Asian Therapy Network. Monaliza has experience in working with the traumatic impact of attachment breakdown, loss, identity issues, intergenerational trauma, discrimination, racism, and violence against women and girls.
North East, North West & Merseyside Team
Ricia Hopkinson
Adoption Support Worker. Ricia qualified as a Social Worker in 1987 and is based in the North East in PAC-UK Adult Services. Ricia has experience in various local authority teams including Community Mental Health teams in Sussex and Northumberland, Residential Services and in Adult Social Care. Ricia worked as an Adoption Support Social Worker with After Adoption for ten years, providing support for people affected by adoption, which included supporting birth relatives, children and families, access to records and intermediary work. Ricia is trained in Theraplay® Level 1 and has experience in working with adoptive families using Theraplay® influenced practice to promote parent/child attachments.
Paula McCann
Adoption Support Worker. Prior to joining PAC-UK, Paula worked at After Adoption for over 3 years supporting young people and adults affected by adoption offering first family support, access to records, intermediary services as well as coordinating the letterbox service. Paula spent 15 years with Action for Children conducting parenting assessments on behalf of local authorities for submission to court proceedings. Paula has also spent some time as a Duty Social Worker for Wirral MBC Fostering Team finding placements for children coming into local authority care. Paula qualified as a Social Worker in 1999.
Lisa Cannon
Adoption Support Worker. Lisa joined PAC-UK in January 2022 and is part of our Adult Services Team delivering services in the North East. She qualified with a counselling diploma in 2013 and is trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Lisa a registered member of BACP and is currently in the process of completing her BACP accreditation. Lisa has over 8 years experience working with survivors of sexual violence, having previously worked with the Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre and in 2016 qualified as an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor – providing support to survivors through the legal process. Lisa has also facilitated group work for survivors of domestic abuse.
Julie Wilson
Birth Parent Service Counsellor. Julie qualified as a Social Worker in 2002 from the University of Sheffield. Since then, Julie has worked in varied roles within local authorities and charities in England and Scotland including Youth Justice, Permanence, ChildLine, Early Help and Adoption Support. Julie has many years’ experience supporting all parties involved in adoption including children and young people, first families, adopted adults and adoptive parents and credits her understanding of adoption to the individuals she has worked with as much as to formal training. Julie has completed Level 1 training in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) and has found this framework for understanding developmental trauma and use of PACE fits her none-judgmental, calm and friendly way of working.
Jane Allen
Birth Parent Service Counsellor. Jane joined PAC-UK in 2023 and has eighteen years of experience in post adoption services across Kent. Jane has covered most areas of post adoption support from working a duty line taking enquires to supporting with intermediary services and reunions. Her main role in Kent was supporting birth relatives through the adoption process, alongside holding a caseload of post adoption contact cases. During this time, Jane qualified as a psychodynamic therapist with the view of counselling with adoption related issues. Early in Jane’s career she worked as a support worker with a private fostering agency and also worked as an intensive family worker with Family Action. Her role changed within Family Action once she qualified as a counsellor – she was then recruited as a child and young person counsellor for the Young Healthy Minds Project, delivering counselling to children and young people aged between 8-18. Jane feels her role with PAC UK is an opportunity to use her work, life and counselling experience in an area she specialises in – she is passionate that birth parents and relatives have quality and meaningful support and counselling.
Samantha Sunners
Birth Parent Service Counsellor. Samantha joined PAC-UK in 2023 and has worked predominantly as a counsellor with both adults and young people who have experienced significant trauma – in particular domestic abuse – within a variety of settings across schools and also online. Prior to becoming a Person-Centred Centred Counsellor in 2019, Samantha’s career has always been embedded in working with children, young people and their families. After qualifying as a Primary School Teacher in 2005, Samantha spent eight years working within youth justice alongside other agencies including CAMHS, probation, social workers and education to support young people and their families both on a one-to-one basis and also delivering group sessions and parenting support. She has vast experience in working with loss and bereavement after spending two years at a bereavement service and in 2022 Samantha completed her MSc Family and Child Psychology at the University of Chester. Samantha feel privileged to be doing the work she does, and is passionate about providing a space for people to be able to tell their story and feel heard in doing so.
Private Intermediary Service
Carolyn Jones
Associate Intermediary. Carolyn joined PAC-UK as an experienced intermediary in 2020. Many of her cases involve working with sibling and complex family relationships. She highly values diversity and the importance of understanding each service user’s individual hopes and needs. Carolyn also works on the PAC-UK FamilyConnect Advice Line. She is an experienced Psychotherapeutic Counsellor and member of BACP with a special interest in attachment, early separation, and adoption related issues. While training as a counsellor, Carolyn worked at Norcap in various roles, gaining experience within the full range of post adoption service provision for adults. Subsequently she joined Adoption Services for Adults as a specialist counsellor and intermediary until 2020. Carolyn gained her counselling experience at two community counselling services in Milton Keynes. Her previous roles have included working in post-compulsory education, and she particularly enjoyed having responsibility for worldwide alumni liaison at the University of Buckingham during its earlier years.
Clare Spencer
Intermediary Supervisor and Associate Intermediary. Clare joined PAC-UK in 2020 as an Associate Intermediary, having previously worked as Intermediary at Norcap. In 2022, Clare took on an additional Intermediary Supervisor role at PAC-UK and – as well as continuing to deliver intermediary support – works closely with our Lead Intermediary & Intermediary Supervisor and our Intermediary Coordinator. Clare offers empathy and compassion when supporting adults affected by all aspects of adoption and brings an extensive knowledge of family dynamics from her previous roles as a Coordinator for Home-Start UK and as an Education Welfare Officer for a Local Authority.
Debbie Webb
Associate Intermediary. Debbie has worked as an intermediary for over 15 years, including working with Norcap and Adoption Services for Adults (ASFA) prior to joining PAC-UK. She has extensive experience of supporting adults on all sides of the adoption triangle and regularly supports people living overseas.
Jan Smaje
Associate Intermediary. Jan has been an intermediary for over 25 years. She also has knowledge of a few different languages which has been really helpful when working with reunions across countries!
Joanna Howe
Associate Intermediary. Joanna has been working as an intermediary with PAC-UK since 2021. She has a special interest in adoption and passionate about the service and the importance of the work. Joanna also has experience working with the Donor Conceived (DC) community working as an Intermediary and counsellor for the DC and their donors and has recently been involved with and featured on the ITV documentary, Born from the Same Stranger, which documented the unique journeys of several donor conceived contributors discovering information about themselves and genetic relatives. Joanna is a qualified Counsellor (MBACP) and Couples Counsellor and has additional experience working with clients with acquired brain injury(ABI) and does voluntary work with her local hospice, as a Bereavement Counsellor, which she finds hugely rewarding.
Kathy Wilshaw
Researcher and Associate Intermediary. Kathy has worked in adoption for over 30 years, in both intermediary and research roles. She began as a volunteer with NORCAP, running the in-house search room and leading the team of researchers. She worked as a Helpline Adviser at Adoption UK and as a researcher and intermediary with Adoption Services for Adults. Kathy has a special interest in how the analysis of DNA can help locate previously unknown family. She is a member of the professional genealogist organisations AGRA and RQG.
Lyndsey Marshall
Associate Intermediary. Having previously worked at PAC-UK in a senior leadership role, Lyndsey is delighted to be back at PAC-UK in this voluntary role. Lyndsey feels this role enables her to continue to contribute to the sector and the wider work of PAC-UK, supporting all parties affected by adoption and permanency.
Yasmin Hewison
Intermediary Coordinator and Associate Intermediary. Yasmin’s main role is to co-ordinate our Private Intermediary Service and she has been part of the team since May 2020, having previously worked with another Voluntary Adoption Support Agency, Adoption Services for Adults. She has a special interest in adoption and is passionate about the service and providing the best possible support to applicants. She is also a qualified counsellor and works on the Family Connect Advice Line.
Jenny Brooks
Associate Intermediary. Jenny has an extensive professional background in psychology, and adult guidance and counselling, working for over 30 years in schools, post-16 and university education, pastoral care, training, and lifelong personal/emotional development. She is a member of the British Psychological Society and holds an M Ed (Lifelong Learning) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Integrative Psychotherapy. She is also an experienced professional in disability, with particular focus on Autism and a range of mental health issues, latterly in the university context, since the early 2000s. Jenny has been drawn to intermediary work more recently through a personal interest in supporting others on their reconnection journey, and a deep understanding of the emotional complexities this often involves.
Kathy Drake
Associate Intermediary. Kathy has a professional background in social work: for many years working as a children’s guardian and independent social worker. As well as her social work qualifications, she also has a Certificate in Counselling and has held specialised posts in fostering and adoption teams across London. The dynamic of adoption and the relationship between the parties involved has been a key area of interest throughout her career and Kathy is pleased that through her role at PAC-UK as an intermediary she will be working directly on these issues.
Monica Dallas
Associate Intermediary. Monica – who joined our Private Intermediary Service team in 2023 – has over 38 years experience as a registered Social Worker and Team Manager in children’s services, mainly specialising in the areas of fostering and adoption. She has also attained a number of qualifications over the years to support her various roles, including systemic practice, counselling and further education teaching. Monica currently sits as a panel member with two Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs) and is keen to extend her interest in the area of adoption by applying the training completed with PAC-UK, to support those with lived experiences of adoption.
Yorkshire & Humber Team
Laura O’Clee
Adult Services Counsellor. Laura has been involved in services for Children and Families since graduating in 2002, particularly with Looked after Children and Care-Leavers. She began working in adoption when she joined the organisation in 2012 and specialised in working with contemporary birth parents and with people affected by adoption who are in prison. She also provides adoption support for adults from our outreach base in Halifax. Laura is a qualified Integrative Counsellor/Psychotherapist and currently offers counselling to adult adoptees at the PAC-UK Leeds office.
Carol Fellowes
Adult Services Counsellor. Carol qualified as a social worker is 1989 and working extensively with children and families in a local authority setting, before specialising in adoption work. She has worked as a freelance social worker and lecturer for several years and in May 2016 began work as an adult services counsellor.
Gaiena Stead
Adopteens Project Worker. Gaiena joined PAC-UK as an Adopteens Project Worker in 2016. Gaiena has a 15 year background in youth work, working with looked after young people and also adopted young people and their families within a local authority post-adoption support team. Gaiena also has several years of experience supporting first families around adoption and contact and adopted adults who wish to access records and undertakes trace and intermediary work. Gaiena is a person centred counsellor with an understanding of issues around adoption from all parties involved. Gaiena enjoys working with adults and young people and feels the most precious part of this work is seeing people grow and move forward in their lives with the right environment and support.
Charlene Campbell
Child & Family Therapist. Charlene is a PTUK qualified Play Therapist and has a professional registration with BACP. Charlene has worked with children and young people for 20 years. Some of this time was spent helping primary aged children break down barriers to learning within an educational context. This consisted of delivering sessions to groups of young people to help tackle difficulties such as self-esteem, confidence, bullying and friendship. She has spent a number of years working with Looked After Children who display extremely challenging behaviour and experience social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Charlene currently works as a play therapist, supporting children/young people improve their mental health and wellbeing and also supports families and schools who need advice about difficulties experienced by their pupils. Charlene delivers NVR to groups and to individual parents and is an intermediate Theraplay© Practitioner.
Gillian Cowling
Child & Family Therapist. Gillian is a HCPC and BAAT registered Art Psychotherapist. She qualified in 2011 and has since worked with adults, children and adolescents in a variety of contexts. Gillian has experience of working with looked after children and adolescents prior to working for PAC-UK, and worked with looked after children and adolescents in a therapeutic setting before qualifying as a therapist.
Selina Conway
Adoption Support Worker. Selina qualified as a Social Worker in 2012 and has since worked primarily within services that support children and families. Selina has also worked within safeguarding services, and has worked supporting children who were cared for by the Local Authority Children’s Services. As an Adoption Support Social Worker Selina gained further experience of working with children that required therapeutic care approaches and post adoption support. Selina is trained in using Level 1 TheraplayⓇ principles which supports the child and caregiver relationship, and aims to improve attachment through play and interaction. Selina’s work within Children’s Social Care has included working with children and young people who were placed in foster care, residential care and who were adopted. Selina has also provided support to children’s parents and carers. Selina’s experience involves working with different forms of permanency for children within the fostering and adoption services. Alongside her role with PAC-UK, Selina is also an independent fostering panel member for a Local Authority which involves making recommendations on the suitability of carers to meet children’s needs. Selina’s role within the organisation includes providing support to people affected by adoption, which includes adopted people and birth relatives. She also provides support around helping people to access their records and intermediary work which involves helping people establish contact with members of their birth family.
Jarrod Fontaine
Adoption Support Worker. Jarrod qualified as a Person Centred Counsellor in 2003 and is registered with the BACP. Prior to joining PAC-UK in 2021, Jarrod worked for After Adoption for 16 years providing a full range of post adoption services including counselling, access to records, letterbox and search and intermediary services through to reunion for adopted adults and birth relatives. He also has experience of working for national EAP services providing counselling and wellbeing support. Jarrod also has experience working for a Mental Health charity providing counselling and mentoring university students within Salford University and the University of Manchester, supporting students with a diverse range of mental health needs.
Victoria Myers
Adopteens Project Worker. Victoria graduated with a BA (Hons) Health & Social Care in 2020 and has a keen interest in post-adoption support work following her own adoption and reunion experiences. Her dissertation ‘An exploration of adult adoptee experiences of adoption through implementation of a storytelling approach’ was published through Bishop Grosseteste University’s journal, ‘Solertia’, and has catapulted her desire to further explore the means by which voices in adoption can influence service and policy change.
Charity Telfer
Child & Family Therapist. Charity is a qualified person-centred counsellor, having undertaken extensive counselling studies, including a Post Graduate Diploma and is registered with BACP. She has additional training in, and experience delivering, non-directive play therapy utilising an array of creative resources and is deeply invested in practising in a trauma informed way. Charity has worked with young people (age 3-21) and their families/carers on behalf of charities and as part of a community Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) team and a CAMHS team working within a secure children’s home. She has a particular passion for working with the care-experienced community and those caring for and working with them.
