Angela, Principal Social Worker

Angela started in Sutton in 2007 as a social worker in the Youth Offending Team and is now the Principal Social Worker and Restorative Practice Lead

“I started in Sutton as a locum social worker back in 2007 as a recent arrival to the UK on a working holiday visa.

I joined the Youth Offending Team and spent several years working in statutory and prevention work in the YOT before getting the opportunity to set up and take on the role of Operations Manager for the YOT in 2013 and then the YOT Manager job in late 2016.

Over the years I was offered numerous CPD opportunities including postgraduate studies, leadership/management qualifications, train the trainer and other training courses, etc.

Sutton also supported me to get a work permit and eventually my indefinite leave to remain so that I could continue my career and life in the UK.

In 2017, I was approached by Jonathan, our current Assistant Director to put together a proposal to roll out restorative practice training to the whole of Children’s Services as part of a new practice approach in Sutton.

Adapting our restorative justice training and becoming accredited trainers with the Restorative Justice Council was just the beginning of a 2 year journey which eventually saw myself move into the role of Principal Social Worker and Restorative Practice Lead so that I could commit more time to embed our new way of working.

Whilst my own career has had quite the journey over the last 12 years, I have also seen Sutton go through significant changes and I would say that Children’s Services has really grown stronger as a result of these changes.

Teams in the service work more closely together than ever before which inevitably has better outcomes for children and families. I’m pleased we are moving away from a box-ticking, punitive culture to one where we really value our relationships with children and families and work with them to create change.

I’m excited to see what the future holds!”