ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ

Transdisciplinary Collaboration & Innovation

To foster genuine transdisciplinary engagement across teaching, research, and practice, bringing diverse expertise together to enrich work on children and families. This includes forming both small and large partnerships, avoiding duplication, and generating innovative approaches.

Practice & Policy Impact

To directly influence practice and policy affecting children and families, with a focus on making invisible work visible, and translating academic insight into real-world benefits.

Research Development & Grant Capture

To support research development through collaboration, idea generation, and joint applications for grant funding. Emphasis is placed on using the group’s collective skills to secure resources for impactful projects.

Support & Peer Network

To create a supportive, open network is a foundational aim, offering members a space for dialogue, encouragement, and connection. This includes peer support, sharing resources, and fostering community.

Knowledge Sharing & Accessibility

To make academic work more accessible to children, families, and the wider public through public engagement, shared resources, and inclusive practices.

Strengthening Academia–Community Links

To better understand and strengthen the interaction between families, young people, and higher education through long-term, meaningful partnerships and collaborations.

Inclusivity, Respect & Shared Belonging

The network values openness to diverse perspectives and aims to create an inclusive, welcoming environment where all members feel they belong—regardless of career stage or background.

Humility, Reflection & Growth

Members are encouraged to learn from each other with humility and to continuously reflect on their own values and practices as part of personal and collective growth.

Integrity, Accountability & Transparency

Ethical conduct, honesty, and mutual accountability are core to how the network operates. These values build trust and ensure clarity in both collaboration and communication.

Emotional Intelligence & Ways of Relating

The network prioritises emotional intelligence, valuing empathy, connection, and emotionally attuned engagement as essential to healthy working relationships.

Action Orientation & Impact

The network emphasises action over talk—focusing on doing, innovation, and meaningful contributions that make a difference in practice, research, and lives.

Joy, Connection & Sustainability

Fun, sustained engagement, and a sense of shared purpose help build a resilient, energising community where members want to stay involved and contribute.

Dr Charlotte Jones (Founder)

Dr Charlotte Jones is the Founder of the Children, Young People and Families Network.

Charlotte holds the position of Associate Professor and Director of BA(Hons) Early Childhood, and BA(Hons) Child and Family: Mental Health (SELCS). Charlotte is responsible for creating and delivering the strategic vision across her portfolio with particular focus on innovation, sustainability, and quality enhancement. Charlotte’s scholarly work and professional development notably focuses on areas relating to identity within early childhood contexts, drama and creative practices as well as mental health and wellbeing across the lifespan. Charlotte’s engagement with industry includes her role as Secretary for the Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Trustee for TACTYC (Together and Committed to Young Children).

Dr Aidan Thompson (Co-Chair)

Aidan Thompson is the Co-Chair of the Children, Young People and Families Network and also the Social Sciences Connect Programme Manager.

Aidan holds a PhD in Education under the title ‘’ (University of Birmingham, 2025). He is a published author with a sole authored book and a co-edited collection, as well as several sole and co-authored articles in the fields of character education and professional ethics. Away from academia, he is Chair of Trustees at – a charity that works with young people at risk of exclusion from mainstream schooling. He is also a governor at

Dr Rajnaara Chowdhury Akhtar

Dr Rajnaara Chowdhury Akhtar is Associate Professor at the School of Law, University of ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ.

Rajnaara is a socio-legal researcher with a focus on family law, family justice processes, child law and the intersections of gender and family justice. She has explored transitional relationship norms, normative influences, legal consequences and autonomy. She has conducted extensive empirical research on family law and family justice processes in the UK, Qatar and Australia, including work funded by the Nuffield Foundation and the Doha International Family Institute. Her work draws on a range of socio-legal theories and approaches, and is underpinned by Critical Legal Theory. She is co-author of International Child Law (4thEdition), Routledge.

Marie Diebolt

Marie Diebolt is the Outreach Project Officer for the at WMG and works in particular with the Engineering Student Project Teams.Link opens in a new window

With a background of teaching in primary schools to managing large-scale educational projects for the Social Inclusion and Widening Participation team at ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ, Marie has over a decade of experience in educational outreach, and is passionate about helping young people from under represented backgrounds in Higher Education realise their potential through impactful educational initiatives.

Her area of interests are extreme social withdrawal, school absenteeism and exclusion. She is Chair of the newly formed Hikikomori UK - a support group for parents and families affected by prolonged social withdrawal and facilitates a monthly online meeting for families from the UK and around the world impacted by this condition.

Dr Emma Langley

Emma Langley is an interdisciplinary academic with a background in education, psychology, and early childhood studies.

Emma's research seeks to understand and reduce inequality for families, particularly those raising a disabled person. She is specifically interested in the experiences of fathers of disabled children and more broadly the transition to fatherhood for all fathers.

Emma’s work often involves collaboration with charities, families, and professionals to ensure that her research has a positive and tangible impact on the outcomes of parents and their children.

Jim McGeoghegan

Jim McGeoghegan is a Senior Teaching Fellow in the Centre for Life Long Learning.

Jim's background as a social worker in Coventry and ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵshire includes predominantly working with children and families’ statutory social work. He worked within duty and assessment teams in child protection for a number of years. He has also submitted care plans to court in support of care applications for children. He also has experience of other legal assessments such as Special Guardianship applications. These experiences led Jim to a desire to teach knowledge and skills for children and families social work for qualifying courses at university. Jim has ten years’ experience of teaching Masters and Degree Apprenticeship students in children and families’ social work.

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Julie Taylor

Julie Taylor is currently an Associate Professor and Head of Primary Teacher Education in the Centre for Teacher Education.

Julie's research interests are centred around character, moral and values education. She has an MA in Character Education and is currently studying for a PhD focusing on allocentric virtues in teacher education.

She was awarded the Ambassador of Character award by the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues at the University of Birmingham for her pioneering character work in Initial Teacher Education and she has contributed to numerous research papers, conferences and webinars.

Martin Price

Martin Price is the Associate Director, Regional Engagement (Community) and leads the University's community engagement.

This includes building relationships with our close neighbours around campus and working with local stakeholders where our students and staff make their homes, to make lasting, positive impacts on people and communities across Coventry and ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵshire.

Luda Ruddock

Luda's role as Academic Partnerships Manager involves developing capacity and prompting re- design or development of curricula to stimulate students’ engagement with innovation.

Luda's educational background spans: philology and pedagogy, public health and community work, education and she has worked with international and local charities, funding agencies, and non-profits in the UK and abroad.

Dr Rachael Blakey

Rachael Blakey is Director of the Academic Skills Programme (ASP) and Deputy Director of EDI (Student Facing) in the School of Law.

Rachael's PhD considered the purpose of, and perceptions around, family mediation in the modern family justice landscape. Rachael re-examined family mediation as a process that promotes a new vision of family justice in the contemporary climate.

Dr Nomisha Kurian

Nomisha Kurian is an Assistant Professor in Education Studies.

Nomisha's current research focuses on Artificial Intelligence in relation to children's wellbeing and development.

She is the first Education specialist to win the University of Cambridge Applied Research Award for "outstanding real-world impact" and also the recipient of the Cambridge Vice-Chancellor's Social Impact Award for "exceptional achievement in social change".

Dr Amy Lynch

Amy Lynch is an Assistant Professor at ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ Business School.

Amy's research role focuses on developing collaborations with third sector and statutory organisations that deliver services for children and young people. Recent projects include evaluating new ways of working in child protection and children in care services by exploring practitioner, parent and children and young people’s perspectives.

Jamie Ormes

Jamie Ormes is a Community Partnerships Manager at the University of ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ, helping to lead engagement across Coventry and ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵshire with a strong focus on social and cultural development.

Jamie builds collaborative partnerships with political, statutory, voluntary and community stakeholders to improve opportunities for children, young people and families.

With a background in widening participation, teaching and youth work, Jamie has delivered projects for young people in a wide variety of settings from coaching football internationally to running youth clubs across Coventry. A qualified teacher, trainer and youth worker, he brings an engaging, people‑centred approach grounded in integrity, relationship‑building and practical experience across the education and voluntary sectors.

Jamie and his wife Danielle are also foster carers for Coventry, reflecting his personal commitment to supporting children and young people in the region.

Exploring the Child Arrangements of Separated Families

This 24-month project will address the significant evidence gaps concerning child arrangements made by separated families in England and Wales, from the perspectives of both parents and children. The research will specifically explore children's voices and agency within the decision-making processes during and after separation, focusing on the extent to which children are consulted and how they perceive and experience the arrangements.

Project Team

Project Lead Dr Rajnaara C AkhtarLink opens in a new window (ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ)

Co-Leads

(Birmingham)

Dr Rachael BlakeyLink opens in a new window (ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ)

(Independent)

(Essex)

(Bristol)

Dr Fiona MacCallumLink opens in a new window (ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ)

Podcast Series 'Childhood Today'