I have championed FGC since I began my Social Work career in Children’s services ten years ago. I recognised the power of bringing people together and giving them an opportunity to make the decisions relating to the person they know best. By empowering the adult and their chosen network to tell professionals what they will do to address concerns and support the person to live a better life, we effectively turn meetings on their head! Adults and their chosen networks are the experts on their own situations, and if we work with and support their strengths, we are more likely to achieve a good outcome.

Kar-Man is a research assistant and peer researcher who works for CASCADE, Cardiff University and Birmingham University. She is involved in various research projects funded by NIHR-Family VOICE led by Jonathan Scourfield (Cardiff), FGC in Adult Social Care and Mental Health led by Jerry Tew (Birmingham), and a Nuffield Foundation-funded project on Parental Advocacy led by Clive Dias (Cardiff). She also collaborates with Royal Holloway University London, Exeter University, and the University of Sussex. Additionally, she holds multiple positions for the LB Camden, including Parent Advocate for Child Protection and Family Group Conferences and Coordinator of the Camden Family Advisory Board. She is a lay member of the Safeguarding Children Partnership. Furthermore, she is an activist and works for Relational Activism.

Michael is based at the London School of Economics and in the NIHR School for Social Care Research. He undertakes a range of research across social care, mental health social care, homelessness and dementia. He has particular interest in strengths-based working and integrated care, and generally in understanding the impact of complex interventions. He is also very active in developing research capacity across social care and links to practice.

Katy Evans is a researcher and advocate with extensive experience working on co-produced disability and mental health research. She is part of the national research team at the University of Birmingham exploring how Family Group Conferences can be used in adult social care and mental health services. Katy also worked on the Living Life to the Fullest project at the University of Sheffield, focusing on the lives and experiences of disabled young people with life-limiting conditions. She is passionate about disability rights, inclusion, and amplifying lived experience in research and practice.

Tim is a social worker, a local authority manager and a specialist in participatory methods. A researcher of empowerment models in social work with published writing on community approaches, he has collaborated with organisations to develop more inclusive practices, shining a light on ‘relational activism’ in our human services; meaning achieving change through informal relationships. He introduced Adult FGCs in the London Borough of Camden in 2014 and supports local and national development of this work in many different, unique and exciting ways.

An experienced FGC coordinator, Azara has facilitated many hundreds of FGCs throughout her career, empowering families to take responsibility and create action plans that promote the best possible outcomes for the individuals in need of support. Azara has dedicated the majority of her time to the London Borough of Camden where she has made a significant impact. Prior to her work in Camden, she gained valuable experience working in the Greenwich area. In addition to her primary role, Azara has demonstrated her commitment to expanding her expertise by supporting other FGC services throughout the UK through supporting networks and delivering workshops. By expanding her expertise to include adult FGCs, Azara displayed her determination to make a difference and go the extra mile for those in need, irrespective of their age or life stage.

Phil is a Senior Lecturer in Health Economics at the University of Birmingham, where he has worked since 2012. Phil is interested in identifying both the costs and benefits of health and adult social care services. With this information, decision makers can decide how best to spend their budgets – which services they feel offer good value for money and are of benefit to individuals and to society. Phil works on a range of research projects that are funded by the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research.

Sharanya Mahesh is a research fellow at the University of Birmingham. She is an early-career researcher with a broad interest in studying practice models in adult social care. Her current research involves evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of strengths-based approaches such as Community-led support and FGC. Within the NIHR FGC project, Sharanya will provide overall research support and be actively involved in data collection and analysis.

Peter Marsh is Emeritus Professor of Child and Family Welfare at the University of Sheffield. He has, for many years, led research and development work in FGC in the UK and abroad. This work has often been closely involved with partner authorities, in particular Kent, and Camden. He is also a neighbourhood planner and a grandfather.

Zoe is Programme Catalyst at Community Catalysts. She initially joined the organisation in October 2018 as the Community Enterprise Catalyst for Birmingham where she worked with local people to set up new community-based activities and creative support options for people in the city.

Since 2021, Zoe has been supporting our work nationally across a variety of projects. In early 2025 this included supporting Community Catalysts’ role as hosts of the FGC for adults Research and Practice Network. Over this time, she has become increasingly passionate about the power of the FGC approach to enable adults to have a real say over how they live their lives.

Dr Mary Mitchell is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Edinburgh, Director of the Master in Social Work programme and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Qualifying as a social worker in 1998, Mary practised in children and family services until completing her PhD in 2018. Much of her research focuses on applied social work practice and outcomes within family support; child welfare, maltreatment, justice and recovery; children’s participation in decision making and multi-disciplinary working. Mary has research expertise in using mixed methods, realist evaluation, action research and case studies to explore the multi-dimensional nature of many practice problems. She has an international reputation as an expert on two specific child welfare models: Barnahus and Family Group Conferencing.

I have a role in the FGC research that recognises my experience of mental health issues. My interest in FGC stems from working with Jerry Tew on a two-year-long project exploring different models of family-focused interventions that support the re-ablement of adults living with long-term mental health problems. FGC was one of the approaches we investigated.
I’m now working on the strand of the current project focusing on gathering information from FGC coordinators and carrying out a literature review. Later this year I will be the lead researcher in Essex, one of the sites where we have permission to interview participants and practitioners in FGCs locally.

Nick is Programme Director of Community Catalysts. He joined the organisation in 2018 to lead the development of Local Area Coordination across England and Wales. He supports councils, NHS organisations and local communities in exploring, understanding and establishing the approach. Nick works closely with Tom Richards who convenes the Local Area Coordination Network of areas who have already established the approach.

In 2020 Nick started ‘New Social Leaders’, a learning experience and network for people leading change in the social sector.

Before joining Community Catalysts, Nick worked with organisations supporting people facing homelessness.

Lyndsey is a mental health nurse with twenty years of experience in managing and developing the Family Group Conference (FGC) model within adult mental health care. She is also on the verge of becoming a systemic psychotherapist activist. Lyndsey has actively embraces supporting liberation approaches in adult mental health care, challenging pathologising and colonising practices while prioritising people’s lived experiences, community, and culture.

She continues to support both local and national initiatives to develop the FGC approach in adult services. Additionally, Lyndsey has taught this model in the Think Ahead programme for social work, designed and coordinated training for FGC in adult mental health, and facilitated its implementation across inpatient and perinatal mental health services. She is enthusiastic about promoting this model within the NHS and local communities.

Jerry Tew is Professor of Mental Health and Social Work at the University of Birmingham.
I am a social worker by background and have led a number of research projects looking at family inclusive and strengths based ways of working. I am now leading a national research project looking at FGC in adult social care and mental health, exploring how it works and what difference it can make in people’s lives.

I am a Social Worker, who recently joined the FGC Team as an Assistant Team Manager (Adult Social Care Directorate).
We have 6 fantastic in-house FGC Co-ordinators who cover our “super-diverse” city (and largest local authority in Europe)!
FGC was set up in BCC in 2019 to enhance our offer around strengths-based practice and we have seen some fantastic outcomes for citizens and their networks. We are excited to continue expanding and making a positive difference.