Staff

Our staff are friendly and here to help.

Key members of staff

Jill Merrall

Jill worked as an administrator in a local authority social services department before taking up managerial roles in industry. Jill joined Compass in 2001.

Jane Greenhalgh

Jane worked as a secondary school teacher for 5 years before qualifying as a social worker. She managed a local authority's leaving care service for 9 years before setting up Compass with Bill Walker.

Bill Walker

Bill worked as a social worker and manager in local authority children's services for over 20 years before setting up Compass in 1996.

Kathy Swift

I have been with the  company Since February 2010 and am proud to be associated with an agency that has at its core a child focused ethos and offers high quality placements and services to children and carers.
I qualified as a Social worker in 1987, gaining a BA (Hons) Degree in Applied Social Studies, as well as my SW qualification (CQSW . I have  since gained a level 5 NVQ award in Operational Management.
I have 24 years of social work experience, all of it has been concentrated within Children and Families Services. I spent 15 years  working in the statutory setting of the Local Authority as both a Social Worker and a Team Manager. This time included managing Safeguarding Teams, Looked After Children's Teams and a significant amount of court work. I have also undertaken the  role as Independent Reviewing Officer, managing both Child Protection Conferences and Looked After Reviews.
I moved into the Independant Fostering Service in March 2004 and have undertaken the role as a Senior Manager and Registered Manager since this time. I thoroughly enjoy being involved in the fostering service and my main motivation is to deliver high quality services to children. I am clear that the fostering task is to ensure that children receive the best standard of care possible which in turn provides them with the opportunity to achieve their full potential in life. I see it as my role within Compass to develop services, policies and practice for staff and carers to deliver these outcomes for children.  

Mel Aked

Mel has substantial experience within the child care social work sector as a Social Worker and for the past 10 years as Social Work Manager specialising in fostering services. Mel has particular experience of recruitment, assessment, supervision and support to foster carers. She has developed services for disabled children and through reviewing research has developed social work practice and Social Workers' understanding of permanence and working with siblings.
Mel is passionate that children and Young People are able to experience stability and permanence within a family environment. In her last role as a Team Manager, Mel developed a team of Supervising Social Workers who specialised in providing permanent placements for children.

Joy Hunt

Joy has worked in a range of health and social care settings and was a manager for the Local Authority before joining Compass in 2002

Glenda Barratt

Glenda has a broad range of educational experience gathered from working in mainstream school and special schools. She has worked with children and young people from pre-school to post 16 in a variety of settings for young people with severe physical disabilities, with learning difficulties, with autistic spectrum disorder and emotional, social and behavioural difficulties. Her interest in Attachment Disorder ensures strong advocacy for young people in the school setting and motivates her passion to raise education achievement for all Looked After Children.

About Compass Children's Services

Compass Children's Services, a private limited company, has been providing professional foster placements in the East and West Midlands since 1996.

About Compass

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