Our staff

Lorraine's been a registered social worker for 25 years, and still is. She's always worked with children and families, either in social work or learning and development settings. She remains a huge fan of the potential power of group work to bring out individual and collective strengths, and for solving problems. A dedicated gig-goer and music lover, Lorraine prefers small, sweaty and sticky-floored venues over gigantic arenas, but she'll go to see her all-time favourite band Admiral Fallow any time, any place.

 

 

Carolann has a truly analytical mind. She uses her logical, numerical skills to produce easily accessible data and visuals as baseline to improve systems supporting vulnerable children. Every point on one of her graphs represents a real child, on his or her journey towards a permanent home. Carolann applies her analytical mind and sense of order to everything, including the kitchen sink. Every item on her desk and in her wardrobe is lined up in perfect order, and she simply doesn't do crossed lines on her data charts.

 

 

Sarah is a former Academic Skills Lecturer and Academic Advisor who discovered a passion for online education. She oversees and promotes our online learning options on offer, options which include our unique distance learning 'MSc in Child and Youth Care Studies', our 'Caring for Vulnerable Children' MOOC, and our many learning opportunities for the sector. Sarah moved to Scotland from Australia in 2014 and loves the cool weather and beautiful scenery.

 

Social anthropologist Brandi Lee is a research associate in our Evidence and Innovation Hub. With a background in the youth work sector, she is passionate about working alongside public bodies to use research evidence to inform and improve policy and practice. Her work is driven by children and young people's rights, their experiences of services, and sense of identity and belonging. When not working you'll find her outdoors with her wife and child, either walking in the woods or growing food in their garden.

 

Lynsey is admin for Professional Development Services and works to assist with international projects and provide support for the many learning and development opportunities available at CELCIS. She brings her experience from her various administration roles in the education sector which has developed an appreciation of lifelong learning. Away from work, Lynsey is happiest when spending time with her family and friends.

 

Sharon joined the CELCIS redress team as a Research Associate to work on the consultation with victims and survivors of historic child abuse in Scotland. Previously, she worked on various university and NHS funded research projects, and on research connected with the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry to help chart the development of care services in Scotland between 1900 and 2014. Sharon is also a graduate member of the British Psychological Society with an interest in the psychology of coaching. In her spare time, Sharon can often be found on the side-lines watching her son and husband playing rugby or supporting her national side at Murrayfield or on TV!

 

 

Mairi is the Administrative Support for the Protecting Children Team at CELCIS having been with the Permanence and Care Team (PACT) since 2012. Mairi is also the Secretariat Support for Child Protection Committees Scotland so with her sensible, down-to-earth approach, Mairi keeps the busy team organised and working efficiently.

 

George provides admin support for the Improving Care Experiences hub at CELCIS and brings several years of experience in similar roles with the Scottish Government, Perth and Kinross Council and Community Safety Glasgow. He has previously worked in video production and is currently studying a Masters in Film Curation. In his spare time he enjoys reading books, going to the cinema and listening to music.

 

With a background in local economic development consultancy, Alex plays a critical role gathering and analysing evidence for the Child Protection Improvement Programme and Addressing Neglect and Enhancing Wellbeing programme. He's the person devising and implementing user-friendly recording systems to illustrate the scale of neglect and child protection and the effectiveness of approaches to tackle these issues. Alex is an advocate for active living - cycling, running, swimming, football - and his passion for sport stimulated his PhD on community stadia.

 

 

 

Estelle has over 20 years experience in children and families social work, working in operations and strategy with a main focus on child protection. She uses this knowledge, alongside her skills and sensitivity to lead CELCIS's Historical Child Abuse work and to support external organisations through our consultation services. Alongside a range of national stakeholders which includes survivors, government, Scottish human rights and service providers, Estelle is involved in the Scottish survivor journey towards redress and reparation. Estelle loves spending time with family and friends. She admits that she is much better talking about plans to exercise rather than actually seeing them through.

 

Michael Bettencourt has over 15 years’ experience working with Virtual School Heads and care experienced education services. He is leading on the support and development of Virtual Schools and Care Experienced Teams in Scotland. Michael was previously Research Lead and a Trustee of NAVSH (National Association of Virtual School Heads). He also led on PALAC a knowledge exchange programme at the Institute of Education, UCL. PALAC supported schools and local authorities to implement evidence based interventions in their settings.

 

With a PhD in applied anthropology and a Masters in Social Work, along with a background in child protection social work and youth justice, Melissa brings her passion for the science and practice of implementation and systems improvement from the USA to Scotland in 2015. She continues to be inspired by Scotland's progressive vision for addressing the unmet needs of children and families and is excited to be building a team of implementation specialists at CELCIS to support local areas to address neglect and enhance wellbeing and to fully and effectively implement GIRFEC.

 

 

Emma uses the analytical skills she developed as a criminology student in the wide range of large exploratory research projects, and specific service and programme evaluations CELCIS is involved in. She enjoys working alongside all kinds of professionals to evidence and showcase good practice for looked after children and young people. She loves to travel and escapes to foreign lands as much as she can.

 

Halima has recently taken up the post of Contracts and Compliance Advisor. By way of background, Halima is a qualified solicitor, with a background in litigation. After qualifying from her traineeship, Halima went on to work in private practice before moving In House. Most recently Halima was working as a Lawyer at the Scottish Government before joining CELCIS. Halima is the ‘Go to’ for all things Data Protection/GDPR and Contracts. Outside of work Halima is a keen sewist, designing and sewing a range of clothes and accessories.