Joanna Nicolas

As the communist regime fell in Romania, Joanna spent several months there working with children who had suffered extreme emotional and physical deprivation and neglect.

That is what set Joanna on her path.

With over 21 years of experience of working in the fields of safeguarding and child protection, Joanna has an established career as an independent consultant and trainer.

What you won’t get from Joanna is jargon and academic language. What you will get is practical advice delivered in straightforward, layman’s terms.

Working in social care since 1991, Joanna spent many years on the front line as a child protection social worker but has graduated to become a much-prized consultant and trainer. Between 1995 and 2008 Joanna worked with various Local Authorities and London Boroughs, specialising in the most complex child abuse cases and care proceedings.

As the communist regime fell in Romania, Joanna spent several months there working with children who had suffered extreme emotional and physical deprivation and neglect.

In recent years Joanna has worked on a consultancy basis with a range of UK organisations including the Department for Education, Ofsted and various Local Authorities and Local Safeguarding Children Boards. In addition she sits on both the Quality Committee and Board of Cafcass and is the safeguarding advisor to Home-Start UK. More recently Joanna has been working with organisations looking to ensure they have a healthy workplace culture and along with consultancy can offer training in this area.

Joanna is a recognised and sought-after deliverer of bespoke training in the fields of Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults. The classes can be half a day, one day or two day and cover a variety of relevant topics, techniques and legislation. She is also a valued speaker at various conferences around the UK. Other areas of work include; supporting child actors and organisations through outer production.

As far as her media work is concerned, Joanna has become the ‘go-to’ voice for comment on safeguarding issues, appearing regularly across the BBC, ITV and Sky whilst contributing to various professional journals and The Guardian.