Our Team
Dr. Jonathan Blagbrough
Founder and Director
Helen Veitch
Founder and Director
Jonathan has 30 years’ experience of working with exploited children, specialising on child domestic work. From 1992 to 2006 he coordinated Anti-Slavery International’s child labour programme, and since then has been an independent consultant on child exploitation issues for a range of organisations. He has recently undertaken doctoral research on intra-generational relations between child domestic workers and the children they serve in Tanzania. Jonathan is currently working part-time for Family for Every Child and is undertaking consultancy for organisations such as the Freedom Fund and Anti-Slavery International as a technical advisor on child domestic work issues.
Education
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PhD in Human Geography at Dundee University
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Masters of International European Comparative Law, Keele University
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BA Sociology, University of York
Helen is a children's rights activist with over 25 years experience of working in the children’s rights field, focusing on the rights of exploited children and young people. Helen began her career working with a community of street children in Indonesia and has worked as a consultant for various campaigning coalitions and working groups of international and national organisations, focusing on sexual exploitation and participatory research and advocacy. For the past ten years Helen has increasingly worked with philanthropic donors, such as Oak Foundation, as a technical advisor on children’s participation and safeguarding for youth activism. Helen is currently working part-time for the Consortium for Street Children.
Education
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Masters in Sociology of Childhood and Children’s Rights, UCL Institute of Education, London
Associates
Dr. Alphonce Omolo
Alphonce is the director of Lensthru Consultants in Kenya, is a consultant in the field of children and youth safeguarding, practicing at the local and international levels. He has previously worked with children and youth living and working in the streets in Kenya and Tanzania for over two decades. As a consultant Alphonce works with organisations in conducting needs assessment and baseline studies, project design and review, policy development and policy audit/analysis, capacity assessment and capacity building, developing practice handbooks and training contents amongst others.
He is a recipient of the pontifical decoration of BENEMERENTI for exceptional service to the Catholic Church and Civil Society by Pope Saint John Paul II. Alphonce is among the Commonwealth specialist pool of consultants for youth projects and a member of the faculty training Ministers and Permanent Secretaries on Strategic Leadership Management. He is an associate of the African Institute for Children Studies (AICS) and the Thematic Coordinator for Education and Youth at the AICS, and is a member of the Youth Workers Association, Kenya. He is an adjunct lecturer at the Loyola Institute for Ministry, Loyola University in New Orleans USA and a visiting lecturer at Tangaza and Hekima University Colleges in Kenya.
Education
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Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Education, Ruhr University, Germany
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Masters in Sociology of Childhood and Children’s Rights, UCL Institute of Education, UK
Rabia Gungor
Rabia has over 18 years’ experience of children's rights, participation and safeguarding. A key theme in her career has been protecting high-risk children and young people such as children living on the streets, ex-child soldiers, sex workers, young women and girls and those with disabilities or long term health conditions such as HIV and AIDS. Rabia has significant experience of safeguarding and has developed policies, tools, led training and investigations for a variety of international organisations.
Rabia has worked and lived in Sierra Leone and has experience of working on safeguarding for organisations such as Oak Foundation, Global Fund for Women, Anti-Slavery International, Deaf Child Worldwide, Womankind Worldwide, African Initiatives, ChildHope, Girl Effect, Kings Global Health Partners, Leonard Cheshire, and Schistosomiasis Control Initiative Foundation.
Education
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MSc in International Childhood Studies, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
Dr. Silvie Bovarnick
With over 20 years of work experience, Silvie has a particular expertise of conducting ethical and participatory research on violence and abuse issues with vulnerable groups both in the UK and internationally. Silvie has worked at the Safer Young Lives Research Centre at the University of Bedfordshire undertaking and advised on a number of projects promoting the participatory involvement of children and young people in decision-making and knowledge generation on sexual violence in the UK, Eastern Europe and South East Asia.
She has previously served as a Senior Research Officer at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and as a Research Associate at the Department of Health (England) undertaking a national research programme on the health and mental health implications of violence and abuse. Silvie has worked for a number of NGOs in Europe and Latin America including Amnesty International. With a background in International Relations, Silvie has expertise in a range of women’s and children’s rights issues.
Education
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PhD in Politics, University of Bristol, UK
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Masters in International Relations, University of Warwick, UK
Kirsche Walker
Kirsche has over 10 years experience of working with children and young people affected by sexual violence with a focus on campaigning, advocacy and youth voice in strategic decision-making. As an expert by experience Kirsche has experience of campaigning on child sexual abuse, and of co-creating and co-facilitating campaigns with peers who have been indirectly or directly affected by sexual violence. She has also worked as a consultant on survivor-informed safeguarding.
Kirsche has significant experience of public speaking and campaigning, winning the runner’s up award for best speaker at the 2017 Sexual Violence Research Initiative conference in Brazil. While studying for her BSc Kirsche created a survivors support network at Nottingham Trent University which supports students that have suffered from sexual or physical violence, including hate crimes. Kirsche is a passionate environmental campaigner on key green political health issues such as; how young people’s health is affected by cities and countries with high emissions and whether Clean Air acts have a place in supporting young people’s general health and wellbeing.
Education
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BSc in Politics and International Relations at Nottingham Trent University