Our Team

Bishop Mark Tanner was born in Canada in 1970. He went to Loughborough Grammar School and has a degree in mathematics from Oxford, a degree in theology and ministry from Durham, and a Master’s degree in applied theology from Liverpool. Before ordination in 1998, he was a youth worker at Holy Trinity, Coventry. He trained for the ministry at Cranmer Hall.

Bishop Mark was ordained deacon in Chester Cathedral and served his title at St Mary’s, Upton, on the Wirral, before moving to Doncaster as Vicar of St Mary’s and thence to Holy Trinity, Ripon, where he also served as Area Dean and as an army chaplain. He was also an honorary canon of Durham Cathedral until his appointment to Berwick in 2016, and is a member of the Ministry Council.

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The Rt. Rev. Julian attended Radley college in Oxford and read for his MA in Theology at Keble College Oxford. He trained for the priesthood at Ridley Hall in Cambridge and was ordained deacon in 1979.

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Bishop Paul was educated at Kingston Grammar School and received a BA in English and history with honours from Nottingham University in 1977. Bishop Paul became the Bishop of Durham in the Diocese of Durham in January 2014. He was previously Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham.

Bishop Paul also acts as an “Advocate for Children” amongst the bishops of the Church of England and regularly visits Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.

Bishop Paul is married to Rosemary and they have four grown-up children (Caroline, David, Andrew & Sarah).

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Sir Mark Hedley is a former barrister and High Court Judge who made legal history in 2010 by being the first judge to allow journalists into the Court of Protection. Sir Mark was involved in adoption issues for more than 40 years and his own family also both fostered and adopted. Sir Mark is also the Diocese of Liverpool Chancellor, a role he has had since 2002. He retired from his long legal career in 2013 and we are delighted that he brings his wealth of experience to Adoption Matters as our charity Patron.

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Carolyn is a practising family barrister at Cobden House Chambers in Manchester specialising in all aspects of Children’s proceedings. This includes representing Local Authorities, parents, grandparents, Guardians, Children and the Police in public  Care and Adoption cases and private law disputes. Carolyn was elected to the General Synod in November 2015 and is a member of the Legal Aid committee as well as being director of CIDARI the Blackburn Diocese Multi –Academy Trust and Chairman of its Our People Committee.

As Chair of Adoption Matters Board of Trustees, Carolyn is very passionate about the vision and achievements of Adoption Matters.

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David is former Director of Education in Cheshire who was awarded a OBE in 2014 for his ‘contributions to education’ over his long career. David worked in several local authorities and was Director of Education for 15 years. David had a long involvement in the promotion of education partnerships, chairing partnerships of schools and colleges in Blackburn with Darwen and Oldham.

David is also actively involved in charity work as well as Vice-Chair of Board of Trustees at Adoption Matters, David also sits on the board of  a voluntary organisation promoting creativity in learning and his local church.

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Joe is Registered Nurse who now works at the University of Chester following a 26 year career in the NHS. An adoptive parent of two girls for which he is eternally grateful to Adoption Matters.

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David is a retired qualified accountant finishing his long career as Departmental Finance Manager, Cheshire West and Chester Council Children’s Services.

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Annesley was Managing Director of two large  manufacturing subsidiaries of International Companies for thirty years. Now retired, he currently holds many board positions in charities and not for profit organisations to assist with Compliance, Governance and Probity.

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Dave is the Diocese of Blackburn Vision Coordinator and Deputy Diocesan Secretary and a member of the Bishop’s Leadership Team. Prior to joining the Diocese in early 2016, Dave spent twenty-four years in various senior strategic planning and asset management leadership roles at United Utilities and Manchester Airport Group. He is an adoptive father of two teenage children and spent nine years as a trustee on the board and finance sub-group of another voluntary adoption agency until his retirement in summer 2017.

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Elizabeth is an applied social scientist and qualified, registered social worker. With experience in practice, particularly with children and families, she went on to gain her doctorate. She has also studied group analysis with Group Analysis North (accredited by the Institute of Group Analysis) and holds a Certificate in Coaching for Leadership and Professional Development awarded by the Tavistock Institute for Human Relations. In addition to lecturing, she has led social work qualifying programmes of study at the University of Bradford. She was a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Salford and joined the University of Chester as a Professor of Social Work in 2010. With an interest in human relations, particularly as they relate to the organization, management and delivery of services to children and families, she has facilitated organizational developments, conducted theoretical and evaluative research, and published her work in a variety of professional and academic outlets.

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Catherine is a practicing solicitor at Anthony Collins Solicitors in Manchester specialising in the commercial and governance aspects of charity law. Prior to qualification Catherine gained degrees in English Literature, Human Rights and Law and now mentors students aspiring to be lawyers.

Catherine is passionate about children and families charities and spent 6 years as a volunteer supervisor of a child contact centre in Chester before joining the board of Adoption Matters. As an adopted child herself, Catherine is delighted to be assisting Adoption Matters  in realising its vision.

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Lynn has over 30 years’ vast experience working in Financial Services, specialising in the not for profit sector. Lynn has a maths degree and is a chartered management accountant holding both the ACMA and CGMA credentials

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Jamie is a senior sales consultant at a FTSE 250 IT services firm, and has a degree is Politics & Sociology from the University of Warwick. Jamie was adopted through Adoption Matters and is therefore extremely passionate about the success of the charity.

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Barry practised as a solicitor in Newcastle upon Tyne for 50 years until early 2020 when he retired as a consultant. He had been senior partner of his firm for 25 years. An expert in Medical Law and Ethics, he was Trust Solicitor of Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust from its creation.

Barry has specialised in family and child care law, fostering and adoption. He was a founder member of the Law Society Children Panel and continues as an Interviewer and Assessor of the Panel. He sat as a Deputy District Judge for 10 years and has been sitting as an Employment Judge in Newcastle and London since 1991.

He was Panel Solicitor of DFW for over 20 years as well as solicitor for two other adoption and fostering agencies.

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Paul has worked in the field of children’s services for 21 years. He qualified as a social worker in 1999 and following a short ‘apprenticeship’ in child protection, moved to work in Adoption. He worked as a social worker and manager in a number of local authority adoption teams before joining Adoption Matters in early 2012. Paul has worked with both adopters and children requiring adoptive placements extensively during this time.

Paul manages the teams covering an area from Warrington/Wigan across to Yorkshire and the North East region. He is a panel member, and the lead for the agency’s post qualifying training programme, delivered in partnership with one of the regions universities.

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Jacqui is a qualified social worker who has a Diploma and MA in Social Work. She has worked with children and families for 20+ years and specifically in adoption, since 2004 recruiting, assessing and supporting adoptive families and family finding for children who needed adoptive families. Prior to joining Adoption Matters in March 2015, Jacqui, managed a local authority Adoption Team for six years.

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Hazel has been a qualified social worker for over 30 years, mostly working in children’s services. She joined Adoption Matters in 2002. Hazel has worked in adoption, safeguarding, and has been a children’s guardian. She is a Team Manager with Adoption Matters, Vice Chair of the Chester Panel, and takes  lead within the agency for the Attachment Style Interview and Preparation Groups.

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Clive is a Team Manger with responsibility for the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Clive has worked as a qualified social worker since 1987, initially for 11 years in the field of child protection and then moved into adoption in 1998. Clive has experience of all aspects of adoption work as both a practitioner and as a manager; recruitment, assessment, family finding and adoption support. Clive joined the agency in 2014 having spent the previous 4 years as a team manager and agency advisor for a local authority adoption service.

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Sally has been a qualified social worker since 1994, specialising in the area of adoption for over 20 years. Sally is the Team Manager for the Blackburn team and a member of the adoption panel as well as co-ordinator of the agency’s intercountry adoption service. Sally is also the Chair of Blackburn with Darwen Council fostering panel.

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Julie Hogan qualified as a social worker in 1999 and has over 20 years experience of children and families social work ranging from safeguarding, family support and adoption.

Julie has prior experience of concurrent planning; having previously been employed by Manchester Adoption Society within the Goodman Team (Concurrent Planning). Julie has always been passionate about concurrent planning and achieving early permanence for children and as a result joined the agency to work within Concurrent Planning Service in January 2015. Julie became a Team Manager within the Concurrent Planning Service in March 2016.

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Amreen qualified as a social worker in 2000 with a Post-graduate Diploma in Social Work. Amreen previously worked in a generic Children and Families Team for a Local Authority before specialising in working with Looked After Children with a plan for adoption. Amreen joined the agency in 2004 as an Adoption Practitioner recruiting, assessing and supporting adoptive families.

Amreen is now a Team Manager and also runs our Bespoke Family Finding Service for children with a range of needs.

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Irene has been a social worker for many years qualifying in 2004. Irene worked in child protection for 2 years before moving to the adoption service in the LA where she stayed for 5 years. After completing the child care award in 2011 Irene became a senior practitioner at DFW Adoption and in 2014 a team manager. Irene is also the panel advisor for the Durham Adoption Panel. Irene became a member of the social work management team following the merger of DFW Adoption with Adoption Matters on 1 March 2019.

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Susy is a qualified accountant with ACCA and worked in practice before joining Adoption Matters in 2004.

Susy is part of the Strategic Management Team and is also responsible for the Business Section of the organisation which includes Finance and HR.

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Karen joined Adoption Matters in 2010, prior to this she was Office Manager for a Chester business for 12 years.

Karen works within the finance section and also oversees adoption admin,  IT and manages the facilities.

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Diane is a Chartered Member of the CIPD and has worked in a number different private sector organisations in both operational and HR management roles prior to joining Adoption Matters in 2010, where she now manages the HR Department.

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Gaynor has over 15 years experience in Business Development roles, previously working in in the Higher Education sector where she secured significant funding for and managed a number of projects, programmes and new initiatives. She is a member of the Strategic Managers Team and has an active role in developing the agency’s Business Plan and Strategy.

Since starting work at Adoption Matters in 2012, she has adapted her skills for a different sector and the benefit of the agency, successfully bidding for Government funding to support the work, particularly in the areas of Adoption Support and bespoke family finding. She is fully involved in the agencies partnership activities and in exploring ways to develop and grow these collaborative ventures. Gaynor also manages the Marketing and Fundraising Team and has overseen developments and improvements in the agency’s external communications and customer care, challenging processes and procedures to ensure the best possible service to our families.

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Jenny is a Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) qualified marketing professional with over 23 years experience working in marketing roles in both the private and public sector. Passionate about using marketing skills to make a difference to vulnerable children’s lives, Jenny worked within local authority fostering, adoption services and corporate marketing/PR teams for over 14 years before joining Adoption Matters in January 2015. Jenny is responsible for all marketing, communication and PR functions.

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Sarah is an experienced Fundraiser and has worked in various roles in the sector for many years, before joining Adoption Matters at the end of 2018. Sarah has worked for national and local charities and her main focus is raising funds for Adoption Matters and the services it provides to ensure that we can continue to help and support as many children and families as possible.

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About Me

I have been privileged to work in the field of adoption and adoption support since 1994 . I have worked as an outreach worker, social work practitioner, and latterly as a practice manager for a highly regarded Local Authority in Cheshire before moving to join the Centre for Adoption Support (CFAS) in 2015. The CFAS reputation for excellence was a key factor in my decision to join and help develop the service.

Outside of work

I enjoy spending quality time with my family and friends. I enjoy socialising, dining out and going to live indoor and outdoor music events . I enjoy dancing and have recently re-joined the Gym in a bid to improve my fitness. Over the past 6 years I have been blessed with the arrival of 5 beautiful grandchildren, I simply adore my role as Nannie Annie!

What do you love most about what you do?

It is a real privilege to work with such a strong and passionate team who are exceptionally dedicated and skilled. The best thing about my role is working alongside so many caring and committed families and hopefully being part of their support network. It is a challenge and a joy to work with skilled and experienced colleagues both within the partnerships and with commissioning local authorities to provide a comprehensive range of quality support services in order to deliver the best possible outcomes for children and young people.

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David has a Masters degree in Education and a Masters in Social Work.

David worked as a lecturer and manager in further education for 20 years before adopting his two sons. His interest in adoption then grew, resulting in retraining to be a social worker, David spent his student placement with the Centre for Adoption Support before joining as an Adoption Practitioner and then Team Manager in 2019.

About Me

I worked as a lecturer and manager in further education for twenty years before adopting my two sons. Then my interest in adoption grew, resulting in retraining to be a social worker.

Outside of work

My leisure time is spent with my family and our dog and we spend a lot of time at our caravan on Anglesey.

What do you love most about what you do?

I enjoy meeting lots of people and no day is the same. The best part is being able to use my training and my experience as an adopter to help other parents and their children in a range of different ways.

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Hedwig (known as Hetty) is a team manager and therapeutic social worker  at our Centre for Adoption Support. Hetty became a social worker after spending several years supporting young people with a diagnosis of ASD to live independently and has spent her whole social work career in Adoption Support.  Hetty’s therapeutic work is informed by DDP/PACE and the Nurtured Heart Approach and a fascination with neuroscience. Hetty’s current area of special interest is the role of the mind-body connection in memory, trauma processing and trauma recovery.

About Me

I have worked for the Centre for Adoption Support since we set in up the service in 2013. I really enjoy presenting training and meeting with families for consultations or therapeutic session.

Outside of work

I mainly enjoy doing activities which require wellies: walking the dogs in the hills and fields; hanging out with our hens and finding lakes to go for swim in. I also enjoy making cheese and baking, but usually take my wellies off when I do that!

What do you love most about what you do?

I think it is a real privilege to meet families, get to know them really well and work together at making life a little easier. I also find it very rewarding to hear that someone has been able to put something that they learned about in one of our workshops into practice, with a positive result. I am fascinated by our brain and the way our body and brain are connected and love sharing new understanding with the families I work with.

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Nadine manages and supervises our sessional therapists as well as providing consultation to local authorities. Nadine is a clinical psychologist with over 30 years experience of working with children, young people and their families and joined the agency in 2014. Prior to that she was the clinical lead for  the therapeutic foster care team on the Wirral. Previous posts included work with adopted children and their families; CAMHS services and forensic services.

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About Me

I have worked for Adoption Matters since 2014 and have concentrated on the support side through CfAS for the past 18 months. Prior to this I worked in local authority adoption and fostering assessment and therapeutic support teams.

I now work part-time and I concentrate on delivering consultations to families and delivering training programmes. I am particularly interested in the area of child to parent violence and most importantly help reduce incidents.

Outside of work

I enjoy spending time with my family which during the past 12 months has seen the arrival of a new granddaughter and dog. I enjoy walking and spending time at the coast where I have a caravan. Sport is also a big passion, football in the winter, tennis and cycling in the summer.

What do you love most about what you do?

It is such a privilege to meet so many committed families who seek help and from our service and that I am able to utilise my knowledge and experience to understand and provide support.

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About Me

I have worked within children’s services since 1995 and specifically in the field of adoption for the past 13 years. I joined the Centre for Adoption Support in 2015 and it has been a privilege to work alongside a highly skilled, knowledgeable and experienced team within such an innovative service.

Outside of work

Above all else I enjoy spending time with my family out and about having fun. Sport has always been a passion of mine and I love playing hockey. There’s nothing better to clear my head than whacking a hockey ball for my local club at the weekend!

What do you love most about what you do?

I enjoy the variety that comes with my role and I never get bored! I can be delivering a workshop one day, seeing families for consultations the next and supporting the fabulous CfAS choir the day after that. It’s incredibly rewarding to work alongside families who use the CfAS service, some of whom are experiencing real challenges. To even play a very small part in supporting children and families to deal with such challenges and witness their resilience is an honour and I believe I learn as much from them as they do from our service.

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About Me

I joined CFAS in November 2016 having previously worked in another Voluntary Adoption Agency. I have been a Social Worker for many years (too many to admit to) and have been fortunate to have had a varied career working both within the Local Authority, the Independent Sector and the Voluntary sector. The majority of my social work experience has been with children and families and mental health.

I totally embrace the CFAS statement “one size does not fit all” in adoption support.

Alongside being a working mum I am a parent of five adopted children ranging from 26 yrs to 13 yrs. As I am sure you can appreciate there is never a dull moment in our house.

Outside of work

I am a very keen tennis player. Last year I gave myself a tennis marathon challenge playing 54 matches across 4 leagues in the summer period. I am also a member of a book club and enjoy walking and visits to the theatre.

What do you love most about what you do?

Within my role I enjoy supporting adopted parents and being a strong advocate for their needs. From a practitioner point of view I have a passion for delivering Theraplay as a proven intervention with adopted families to build up attachment with their children.

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About Me

I’m Ronnie and I’m one of the therapeutic social workers at CfAS. I have worked in adoption for over 20 years, both in assessment and post adoption support. I have particular interests in training, the impact of exercise on mental health, and the Nurtured Heart Approach.

Outside of work

I enjoy travelling, gardening, reading and spending time with my family.

What do you love most about what you do?

I really like talking about the Nurtured Heart Approach (ask my colleagues!) but the thing that always warms my heart is watching a child snuggle up to their parent and be comforted in their arms. Knowing that they haven’t always had that then seeing our parents offer that unconditional safety to their children is an absolute joy.

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About Me

In 2005 I began my working career in adoption, working in the field of post adoption. In April 2018 I came to work for CFAS because of it’s fabulous reputation in adoption support.

Outside of work

I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I have three beautiful daughters, full of energy, who like to keep me on my toes!!!

I enjoy spending time in the great outdoors, walking and often getting lost in some fields as my children and husband haven’t noticed my lagging behind!!! I love to cook and sew, and thoroughly enjoyed making my children’s clothes when they were younger.

What do you love most about what you do?

I love meeting people and learning, everyone is so different and have lots of knowledge. It is so nice to work within adoption to see the commitment families have and the determination parent(s) have in wanting the best possible outcome for their children, who have come from a very difficult background. Prior to working at CFAS I worked in a Local Authority and was fortunate enough to support all those affected by adoption from birth parents, birth grandparents to adopters and last, but by no means the least, the children.

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About Me

I work in the post adoption support services and have been a qualified social worker for ten years. My previous experience has been in local authority, assessing adoptive parents and linking and matching children, as well as adoption support services. I also have experience of working with children with complex disabilities.

Outside of work

I love spending time with my family, enjoying walks in the countryside where we live. I am a keen photographer, love to travel and I like to cook and bake and explore new places. I have recently discovered Pilates which I love, and it is harder than it looks!

What do you love most about what you do?  

It is a very specialised role which can be emotional at times. I love the complexity of post-adoption work and am passionate about delivering high quality post-adoption services to adopted adults and birth families. I am keen to develop services further and the exciting opportunities this may present.

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About Me

I qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1994 and have worked in a variety of clinical areas and organisational settings, but I have to admit that working in Post Adoption in the Centre for Adoption Support is my all time favourite role.

My interest in post adoption support grew following becoming an adoptive parent over 10 years ago. I began working part time for the Centre for Adoption Support in 2018 and feel greatly privileged to have had the opportunity to support so many wonderful children and their amazing parents. Working for such an innovative service within such highly skilled and enthusiastic team is inspiring, not only within my work role but also my chosen and most valued role of adoptive parent.

Outside of work

I love spending most of my spare time with my family, often in the outdoors walking our dog. However, have recently been attempting to learn to play the Celtic Harp, although I think I am some way off from being ready for my first recital.

What do you love most about what you do?

As an Occupational Therapist, I enjoy using my knowledge and skills in Sensory Processing to be able help families identify their children’s sensory challenges and support them with helpful strategies, both during workshops and within Therapy Sessions. Using Theraplay Informed Practise enables me to help families build stronger attachments, building loving and trusting relationships within the enjoyment of a playful and fun setting. Being able to support people with needs that I have some personal insight into, is what makes this role so enjoyable and rewarding.

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About Me

I qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 2008 and have worked in various different settings over the years, more recently spending nearly 9 of those years working in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). I am also a qualified yoga teacher, teen yoga and mindfulness teacher and have completed my training in yoga for children.

I am so excited to be part of the Centre for Adoption Support service. The team are so incredibly skilled and experienced. I feel extremely lucky to be a part of the service and uphold the ethos that every child is completely unique and has their own set of individual strengths and needs.

Outside of Work

I love to spend time with my family and friends. I have a love of the countryside and being outdoors, walking and exploring new places. Animals have always been a huge part of my life; from dogs to chickens, rats to guinea pigs, rabbits to horses and more. I practice yoga and meditation as part of my daily routine and love sharing yoga and movement practices with others. I am always up for adventures and trying new activities – most recently I have found a new love of paddle boarding.

What do you love most about what you do?

It is a privilege to work with every single child and their family, each being so beautifully unique. I would have to say that this is what I love most.

Over the course of my career, I have become passionate about sensory processing and understanding how this impacts upon how we can function and cope in a complex world. My other area of passion lies within body-based work such as yoga and movement, emotional freedom technique (tapping) and other practices that support us to re-connect our body and mind.

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About me

Prior to studying for my Masters in Social Work I have been incredibly fortunate to have a diverse range of experience working with children and families with complex needs. My roles have been in a variety of settings in England and Australia. I have enjoyed working alongside families to identify their strengths and overcome challenges and finding creative ways of engaging with children of all ages.

Outside of work

I love spending a day out with my family. I also love coffee, Pilates and paddle boarding.

What do you love most about what you do?

Having completed my student placement at CFAS I could not believe my luck when I joined as an adoption practitioner. I am surrounded by a highly skilled team who are supportive too which is amazing.

The best parts of my job are getting to know families and hearing their story as well as carrying out Therapeutic Life story work with children, it is such a privilege to support them in making sense of their world.

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