A committed humanitarian, I have 20 years extensive experience of designing, implementing and evaluating strategic programmes with technical expertise across the UK and European refugee sector.
I began my career at the British Red Cross where I established a-number-of needs-led services for refugees in the East of England, including an orientation service, casework advice, International Family Tracing service, and the development of our legal advice services. I then moved to a position at Head Office where I led the national development of our Refugee Services., including the establishment of a national core-training programme, specialist family reunion and anti-trafficking teams, the national development of our Immigration advice work, and the development of a national CRM database to help capture our impact and improve our evidence base.
During my time at the Red Cross I became increasingly involved in supporting and developing our policy and advocacy work, contributing to the development of a refugee policy and advocacy strategy and several policy & research reports. In 2013 I was asked to Chair the East of England Regional Strategic Migration Partnership, a forum bringing together the Home Office, Local Authorities and the voluntary sector to develop a regional migration action plan. I have also represented the British Red Cross internationally at the European Council for Refugees & Exiles (ECRE) core group on resettlement, working groups on family reunion, and at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR) meetings in Geneva. In 2014/15, I made a significant contribution to the development of a new corporate strategy, helping to position our refugee work as a strategic priority.
After 13 years with the Red Cross, I joined the Asylum Support Appeals Project (ASAP) where I was responsible for the leadership and strategic direction of a UK charity specialising in the provision of pro-bono legal support. During my time at ASAP I worked with the board and wider team to develop our strategic response to challenges arising from the Immigration Act, ensuring the organisation was able to respond dynamically to external changes in the environment. In August 2018, I joined the Refugee Council as Head of Advocacy, leading their policy and advocacy work until September 2022.
In January 2023 I joined the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) as their Global Route Based Migration Programme Coordinator for Europe, a 12 month post based in Sarajevo.
Since 2018, I have also been working as an independent consultant, bringing my experience, skills and knowledge to the wider sector. My website contains a number of free resources to support refugee policy and advocacy work, with the aim of creating an environment for progressive, evidenced based policy change.
