With a background in Accountancy and Practice Management I made a conscious decision to move into the voluntary sector in 1995. I have had a number of roles in the sector, including Finance and Administration Director at a charity supporting long term residents of mental institutions to move out into the community and begin lives as individuals with choice and freedom. I worked for over 16 year in Family Mediation including six years as a Trustee of National Family Mediation. My passion for social justice was honed working with the issues surrounding the introduction of LASPO and the outcomes for families with the loss of Legal Aid and along with it the loss of legal aid solicitors who acted as a gateway to the family courts. I was part of an MOJ working group on the effect of LASPO on family mediation. In the later end of my work in this area I was Co-Chair of a working group supported by the MOJ to provide common practice and registration of Alternative dispute Resolution /Mediation in SEND tribunals. I am currently the CEO of Support Through Court which provides procedural and emotional support for LIPS and a member of the Litigants in Person engagement Group (LIPEG).
