Our Team

My role at the Helen Bamber Foundation is to manage our Community and Integration Programme. For the survivors we work with, it is so important to have safe, welcoming spaces to connect with others and learn new skills. I believe that community instils in all of us a sense of belonging and support. It provides us with a solid foundation, from which we can gradually develop the confidence to pursue our goals. At HBF, we offer a Creative Arts and Skills Programme, made up of classes such as yoga, textiles, and digital skills. We also provide individual casework, supporting clients to access Further and Higher Education opportunities, mother-and-baby support services, and volunteering and training courses.

My approach to running programmes is inclusive, co-participatory and creative. I studied English and American Literature at Goldsmiths University before completing the CELTA qualification and volunteering as an English teacher and youth worker on education projects with refugees and asylum seekers in Greece and France. Before joining HBF in 2022, I spend four years at Refugee Education UK, where I led on an educational mentoring programme for young refugees and asylum seekers in South London. Prior to this, I worked at the British Red Cross (Young Refugee Service) where I coordinated a life skills project for unaccompanied minors in Camden.

I’m the Welfare and Housing Manager at the Helen Bamber Foundation, and joined the organisation in April 2017. I lead on our welfare and housing casework, working with and for our clients to make sure they and their families have somewhere safe to live and receiving enough support to meet their needs and any financial support they’re entitled to. I studied Arabic and German at the University of Manchester, and then an MA Migration and Diaspora Studies with Arabic at SOAS. Before coming to HBF, I worked at City and Hackney Mind as a mental health advocate and at Maternity Action, and have volunteered with a number of organisations supporting undocumented people including people seeking asylum, including Hackney Migrant Centre, Akwaaba, NELMA (North East London Migrant Action), the Children’s Society, Crisis and the Refugee Council.

Housing and welfare support is an integral part of HBF’s multidisciplinary care for survivors; we provided experienced and accurate advice and tireless casework to keep people safe. I am very passionate about this work, trying to help our clients and their families safely housed and fed, which is increasingly difficult in the context of the hostile environment affecting people’s ability to access shelter and financial support, whilst someone is still seeking legal protection in the UK, and once they have refugee status.

After completing my undergraduate at the University of Warwick, I earned a scholarship which allowed me to complete a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and work clinically in the United States. I then returned to the UK and worked as an assistant psychologist in Older People psychology services before pursuing my doctoral degree at King’s College London. 

During my doctoral training, I chose to do my specialist placement at the Helen Bamber Foundation. The strong ethical stance of the organisation as well as the resilience of the clients I worked with inspired me and I was therefore delighted when I was offered a job as a Clinical Psychologist after qualifying. I’ve been in my role since January 2019. Along with my other responsibilities, I have been leading HBF’s partnership with Young Roots supporting the mental health needs of young asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors.

I have worked in NHS specialist trauma and complex trauma services across London. Apart from working with asylum seekers and survivors of trauma, I am interested in understanding and treating mental health difficulties in sexual minority populations often resulting from sexual-minority stressors.

I feel privileged that my clients entrust me with their life stories and I am passionate about honouring that privilege by accompanying people in their journeys of healing from trauma and injustice. I feel proud to be part of an organisation that cares for clients holistically, and aims to empower them and repair their sense of trust and belonging.

As the Volunteer and Training Coordinator at the Helen Bamber Foundation, I manage and provide support for the volunteers across the organisation, who play such a vital role in assisting the delivery of services to our clients. I am also responsible for the development and implementation of our organisation-wide training. I am proud to play a part in the fantastic work that HBF does and witness the life-changing impact that both volunteers and staff have on our clients.

Before joining the Helen Bamber Foundation, I spent time studying in Japan, and have previously worked and volunteered across the social care, youth work and charity sectors.

Queenie Sit is the Community of Practice Fellow for the Modern Slavery Core Outcome Set (MSCOS). Her role sits within the Counter-Trafficking Department at the Helen Bamber Foundation, where she is a member of the Counter-Trafficking team.

Queenie has a strong background in large-scale programme and events planning and management, as well as stakeholder co-ordination and engagement. Her role provides a focal point of contact and co-ordination for the MSCOS Community of Practice which brings together survivors, academics, frontline practitioners and policymakers in a dedicated Community, developing online forums, content, podcasts, meetings and workshops to embed the MSCOS model, and take the project forward.