Who am I?

I am an Independent Consultant working in Children’s Residential Care and Education. I work with organisations that help vulnerable children and young people make a difference in their lives and futures. My work involves enabling staff teams to be the most effective, creative and resilient they can be to really improve outcomes.

My experience stems from my work with Barnardo’s; residential education; special education; CAMHS; children in care; and children with disability, I am therefore able to offer a depth of skills and expertise and a wide perspective on services for children and young people.

What do I do?

Drawing on 40 years experience of leadership and management experience in both the voluntary and public sector, I work with leaders in the residential childcare sector in raising the quality of care within their establishments. I can see from all sides of the commissioning perspective and understand the public and voluntary sector and the systems for funding. I have led teams of multi agency professionals through the changes necessary to adapt to an ever-changing economic environment, and have the resilience and tenacity to transfer these skills across professional and organisational boundaries.

I am now consulting to a wide range of children and young people’s services on a freelance basis, focussing on leadership training and coaching, as well as mentoring, supervision and training in best practice.

Why I do it?

I believe passionately in the lives and futures of young people. My work focusses on enabling staff teams to be the most effective they can be in their endeavours. In recognising that the work is tough, and that we are caring for the most vulnerable young people in the land. I come from a position where I acknowledge that managers and staff are working in a context that is ever changing and challenging, requiring energy that needs to be channelled in the best way to be most effective.

How do I do it?

Being a musician led me into Social Work, and I base a lot of what I do on listening and modelling. With an arts degree; an Advanced Award in Social Work and an MA in Health and Care Management, I draw on all of these to make my work creative and inspiring. I believe that good leadership is to be aware of what is happening in the group, observing discord, and using a conscious and spontaneous response, report on what is happening in the here and now. Using techniques that I have learnt in systems centered training, preferring to spend time on the ground, observing what is going on, then working with groups and individuals. I listen, watch, resonate then act.

Bec Mannall

MA (Health and Social Care) | AASW | DipSW | BA

Member of the Systems Centred Training and Research Institute: www.systemscentered.com