Our Team

I am the CEO of the Helen Bamber Foundation and I joined in May 2018.

I started my career at the Refugee Legal Centre and as a trainee at Bhatt Murphy Solicitors. Moving into international humanitarian work, I was posted in Ethiopia and Columbia for the International Committee of the Red Cross before returning to work as a Gender Adviser at Amnesty International UK focusing on trafficking. This is when I first came across the work of HBF. I then moved to work on children in conflict at Save the Children before joining Plan International UK as Head of Girls Rights and Youth and developing a new area of work on girls rights in the UK.

I have headed the Helen Bamber Foundation's Fundraising and Communications since 2014, with a fantastic team of professional fundraisers. We owe our impressive income growth over this period to the dedication and generosity of our incredible supporters.

I have held several Director positions within the charity sector over the past two decades as well as offering support as a trustee and with pro bono fundraising consultancy. In my role as Director at HBF, my work extends to shaping the strategic and programme development of both the Helen Bamber Foundation and Asylum Aid, so that we can maximise the impact of the services delivered by our amazing clinicians and caseworkers.

What I love most about being part of the Helen Bamber Foundation is showing our amazing supporters what a huge difference each one of them can make.

It is my passion for working with asylum seekers, survivors of torture and human trafficking from both a clinical and research perspective that led me to re-join the Helen Bamber Foundation as Executive Director of Clinical and Counter-Trafficking after working as the Director of National Clinical Services at Freedom from Torture.

A consultant clinical psychologist by background, I have worked in specialist trauma services within the NHS, NGOs and INGOs and have directed regional trauma services across conflict and post conflict settings. I have led the development of adaptations of specialist psychological treatments for this client group and have frequently provided expert evidence. I have an extensive publication record and continue to be involved in research, with a special interest in both trafficking and peace building. 

Trauma from Human Rights abuses silences survivors, and at the Helen Bamber Foundation we seek to not only heal these wounds but also to empower survivors to tell their stories, seek justice, and obtain the legal protection they require.

I am the Director of Finance and Operations of the Helen Bamber Foundation, (HBF), and I joined in January 2021.

I began my finance career within the commercial sector, but I realised that my passion lay within the charity sector and in particular human rights work. I made my transition into the sector over a decade ago and have worked for several organisations before joining HBF.

I came across the work of HBF and was inspired by their passion and dedication for advocating for human rights and offering direct assistance to victims of abuse and I am delighted to have joined them.

I am the Foundation’s Honorary Medical and Research Director. I oversee the Foundation’s research and write expert psychiatric reports in the context of our clients’ asylum claims. I am the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ lead on Refugee and Asylum Mental Health. I am an honorary Professor in the Division of Psychiatry at University College London, where I was a full professor for many years. I was a member of the Committee that recently updated NICE guidelines on PTSD. I have published over 250 peer-reviewed papers and written/edited 16 books. In 2019 I was awarded the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Honorary Fellowship, the College’s highest honour.

I love hearing about the complexity and individuality of our clients’ lives and working with colleagues to ensure that their stories are heard and that their need for protection is properly considered.

I lead the Counter-Trafficking Department which includes a long-term, specialist Counter-Trafficking Programme, providing contact, safeguarding, advocacy/liaison and documentary evidence for our clients throughout the multiple challenges and legal procedures they face after trafficking. We learn so much from survivors in our daily work at HBF; many years of frontline experience, together with a wider lens on the need for professionalisation of counter-trafficking work has led me to advocate for simple, practical, trauma informed, standards of care and support for survivors across all disciplines.

I am lead consultant/author for the recent OSCE/ODIHR National Referral Mechanism Handbook, and co-author of the Trauma Informed Code of Conduct, which I teach at St. Mary’s University as a Visiting Fellow, and internationally for multi-disciplinary stakeholders. I am privileged to work with the OSCE/ODIHR International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council (ISTAC) and to co-host the survivor-led Modern Slavery Core Outcome Set Community of Practice (www.mscos.co.uk) with my HBF colleague Queenie Sit and the MSCOS Research Advisory Board (professionals with lived experience).

I have written for Modern Slavery Law and Practice (Bloomsbury), the UK Slavery and Trafficking Survivor Care Standards (Human Trafficking Foundation) and Human Trafficking equating to torture and other forms of ill-treatment (OSCE).   In 2015 I received the national Marsh Trust award for ‘outstanding contribution to the fight against Modern Slavery’.

I am a Clinical Psychologist and the Director of Therapy. I started my research career in Australia working with young people living with psychosis. I became a psychologist, working first with refugees and asylum seekers and then at a cancer hospital. In the United Kingdom I investigated state crime in Turkey and then worked at Amnesty International as a researcher campaigning to end gender-based violence. During this time I completed my doctoral studies on factfinding in cases of torture. I also worked for the NHS with people living with complex trauma. I joined the Helen Bamber Foundation in May 2018.

Being part of the Helen Bamber Foundation is all about people. It is about creating community, no matter how far from home you are I stopped working as a psychologist for a while to become a researcher and campaigner as I wanted to prevent the atrocities people tell me about on their recovery journey. I’ve returned to being a therapist now because I’m passionate about standing beside people who are facing their struggles. They will change the world and their words are important.

I joined the Helen Bamber Foundation as Head of Fundraising and Communications in March 2021, and I am delighted to be a part of an organisation that delivers fantastic impact and is rooted in such inspiring values. I got my first introduction to the charity sector working for an American organisation supporting sustainable development in Haiti, and I then continued my education with an MSc in Development Studies at the LSE. After working in the disability sector, I progressed my career in the international development space by working at Christian Aid, and then became Philanthropy Manager at the International Rescue Committee, a global charity that supports refugees and displaced people in over 40 countries. As Head of Fundraising at the Helen Bamber Foundation, I work closely with our valuable supporters, making sure they get to share our journey of giving Survivors the strength to fly and rebuild their lives.

I am Head of Policy at the Helen Bamber Foundation and I joined in April 2021.

I started my career at Freedom from Torture, which is when I first encountered Helen Bamber, and I have worked to promote and protect the rights of refugees and migrants ever since. I was Assistant Director at Women for Refugee Women and for over a decade I ran the Migrant Children’s Project at Coram Children’s Legal Centre, which supports young refugees and migrants through the provision of legal advice and representation, guidance, training and policy advocacy. I also co-chaired the Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium, a coalition of over 60 NGOs, and various stakeholder groups with the Home Office. I am currently the Chair of Trustees for Project 17, an organisation striving to end the forced destitution of families with No Recourse to Public Funds.

I am passionate about social justice and about influencing policy makers to create systems that are fair, uphold human rights and provide protection and support to all those who need it. I feel very privileged to be working alongside such committed and expert human rights advocates and to be able to help HBF have a positive impact on the lives of all survivors.

I am the lead doctor for the medical advisory service and I joined in October 2020.

I qualified as GP in 2018 and travelled abroad to work in refugee camps in Jordan and Greece. Since returning, I have been working with homeless populations, asylum seekers and refugees across the London. As part of Vita Network, I provide safeguarding training to advance the health response to human trafficking and modern slavery.

Being part of the HBF team means working with dedicated, talented and compassionate people who are committed to providing the best possible care for the those who need it most.

I graduated as a doctor from UCH, London and, after a few years working in emergency medicine in London and Singapore, I went on to work for two decades as a GP in inner-city London. Ten years ago a patient introduced me to HBF and I was quickly drawn into volunteering for the foundation. Eventually I set up the Foundation’s Medical Advisory Service which provides medical assessments, advice, and the co-ordination of external healthcare for clients. I also write medico-legal reports documenting the physical and psychological effects of ill-treatment. One of my passions is to disseminate the information I’ve gleaned from working with such inspirational survivors and so have taught widely on refugee health, human trafficking issues, trauma informed care and the documentation of torture and trafficking.

The most valuable thing I have learnt at HBF is the art of listening. As a doctor, I think I had always felt that I needed to “fix” things – a referral, a prescription or just advice. Observing Helen Bamber work taught me that listening or “bearing witness” is probably one of the most powerful things that you can do for someone. This has revolutionised my working and my personal life.