Carol Benbow – Business Director/Responsible Individual

Carol is the Business Director of Amber Family and she provides the business support, staff management and office organisation for the entire service. Carol has responsibility for ensuring the service provided complies with the expectations of OFSTED and is in line with National Minimum Standards and published legislation relating to residential family centres.

Carol comes from a project management / business organisation background, specialising in construction and she has worked on major schemes for Central Government across the UK. Carol is keen to support the Amber Family vision for good quality, approachable, honest residential family centres in the North West for parents and their children. From feedback received from the Courts, Local Authorities and other professional services, it’s apparent that this is a much needed service.

As well as having many construction related qualifications, Carol has also achieved the Level 5 Health and Social Care (Adult Pathway – Advanced Practitioner) qualification and is now expanding her knowledge in Restorative Practice which is currently being implemented throughout the Amber Family service.

Gill Whalley – Care Director

Prior to opening Amber Family, Gill was a Social Worker for the Local Authority on the integrated assessment team for Children and Young People, working with children at immediate risk, children in need and looked after children. Gill’s role was to identify risks as well as to develop and implement support packages to enable families to maintain stability and to achieve positive outcomes for their children. This role also required working within the Court arena, providing reports and attendance at Court proceedings.

After many months of research and talking to other Social Workers, commissioning departments and family support workers, Gill identified a need for a service to provide a homely, welcoming and caring environment into which new parents can be placed to enable an assessment of their capacity and capability to care for their child in a calm and supportive setting.

Gill is still a Registered Social Worker; she has continued her professional development which has included undertaking her Impact Assessment, PAMS (Parenting Assessment Manual) training and an NVQ Level 5 in Care Leadership and Management. Gill is passionate about giving parents the best opportunity to bond with their child and to be supported whilst undergoing a fair, robust assessment. She believes this approach will affect a long-term positive change for the parents, children and their families.

Kate Hannon – Strategic Business and Training Manager

Kate has been part of the Amber team since 2019 and offers a wealth of business knowledge from both private and public sector.

Having predominately worked within People Management, Business Development and Human Resourcing roles and spending some time as a stay at home mum whilst studying L7 CIPD HR Management (to fill those gaps between nappy changes!) her knowledge, keen eye for detail and optimistic personality were a match with the business.  Kate is also completing a BA in Social Work Apprenticeship through the University of Central Lancashire.

Kate is passionate on supporting the current high standard of practices at Amber Family, whilst developing strategies alongside the Directors to deliver the visions and aspirations for the business.

Nat Clarke – Registered Manager – Amber Grange

Nat has worked for Amber Family since it opened in 2014 and was the Key Worker for the first family who lived in the setting. Since then, she has Key Worked over 25 families in both Amber House and Amber Lodge. For the last two years, Nat has been the deputy to Gill at Amber House and Amber Lodge and the opening of Amber Grange has provided Nat with the opportunity to progress as Registered Manager of her own setting. Nat is also completing a BA in Social Work through the University of Central Lancashire.

Nat is qualified to Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services (Adults’ Residential Management) and has been working with one of our partners, Tools 4 Change and is now a accredited Gateway Programme Practitioner.

Lauren Benbow – HR Manager

Lauren has worked for Amber Family since July 2017. Initially starting out considering a career in Law, Lauren completed a Law Degree at the University of Leeds and then a subsequent Law Practice Certificate at Manchester University. Lauren worked for law firms for a number of years, before embarking on her new role as HR Manager for Amber Family.

Lauren has successfully completed her Masters in Human Resource Management with the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN). Lauren works in the office and alongside Rebecca dealing with all referrals, contact with Local Authorities and external stakeholders as well as keeping us all organised!

Rebecca Johnson – Business Support

Rebecca deals with enquiries from Local Authorities and Solicitors regarding referrals and room availability in all of the Amber Family settings. Rebecca assists Lauren with the smooth running of the houses in terms of room changeovers and ensuring that rooms are pristine and stocked for any new parents arriving in one of our three settings.

Key Workers & Support Workers

All Key Workers and Support Staff employed by Amber Family have either achieved or are working towards the Level 3 Children and Young Peoples Workforce, Level 3 in Health and Social Care, City and Guilds Level 4 Working with Families or the Level 5 Diploma in Health and Social Care.

All our staff are positive role models for parents and ensuring that we have a fully qualified, comprehensively trained and extremely competent and committed workforce is a main objective for Amber Family.