Shelter trainers

Carmen is a freelance trainer, executive coach and consultant, specialising in training on human trafficking and modern slavery, refugees and people seeking asylum, safeguarding, trauma informed and responsive practice, racial justice and cultural competency in leadership and frontline practice.

Carmen has spent over 20 years working across the business and the charitable sectors, in both frontline and leadership roles, including working with many clients experiencing homelessness. Her focus is on human rights based, equity-centred anti-oppressive practice.

Carmen aims to provide meaningful and accessible training, and to support delegates to apply the subject to their own organisation and role.

Catherine has delivered domestic abuse training for Shelter for over 15 years. She has spent ten years working within Women’s Aid refuges with women and children made homeless by domestic abuse as well as working as a counsellor and trainer for Childline.

Catherine is a person-centred counsellor with experience in domestic abuse counselling, spent 15 years training counsellors, and worked as a counselling coordinator. She was Vice Chair of the AVA project and worked as an external domestic abuse trainer for the Metropolitan Police Service.

Clare's background is in homelessness, housing advice and working with young people.

Clare has delivered training in a range of settings to social housing providers and Local Authorities covering topics such as professional boundaries and lone working since 2002. Clare has been a Shelter trainer for over ten years.

Clare has developed expertise in adult safeguarding, particularly for housing providers. Clare's practical courses use real and relevant examples that cut through the complex and confusing legal frameworks and jargon that can beset effective work.

Danny has been delivering training for 25 years and covers topics relating to mental health, hoarding, de-escalation, motivational interviewing and safeguarding.

Danny has worked with a range of complex clients in a variety of community and residential settings. Danny is passionate about training and delivers with a unique dynamic style. He has worked with the metropolitan police, local authorities, major social landlords, the home office, the NHS, and the department of health.

Danny has worked as a specialist benefit and money adviser for over 20 years, providing casework and tribunal representation whilst working with advice centres, Local Authorities, Citizens Advice and Housing Associations.

As well as managing his own caseload of clients, Danny manages a team of Financial Inclusion and Welfare Rights officers dealing with the challenges of welfare reform at a Housing Association.

Danny has been writing and delivering training courses to support those working with clients facing benefit and debt problems since 2007. These have been for a variety of audiences including both new and experienced advisers.

David is an experienced and responsive trainer, developing and delivering training courses and working as a tribunal judge. David has delivered training for Shelter for over nine years and previously worked in Shelter's legal team.

David has worked as a senior and principal university lecturer, a housing adviser and a solicitor - running a legal aid firm specialising in housing, community care, welfare benefits, human and equality rights law.

David has worked in the homelessness sector for over 17 years dealing with local authority homelessness decisions and reviews.

Since 2016, he has delivered training to local authorities and supported organisations in homelessness and allocations. His primary expertise is the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. Working as a homelessness prevention officer established David’s interest in homelessness prevention, finding ways to negotiate solutions with excluders and assist people into new homes.

A new management role in 2016 led to responsibility for ensuring compliance with the legislation and creating new strategies for homelessness prevention and relief.

Davina specialises in the reduction and prevention of violence against women.

Davina is currently working on quality assurance and standards development, evaluating innovative projects and giving strategic support to sector leaders. Davina's key topic areas include complex needs, coercive control, risk assessment and safety planning, and domestic homicide.

Davina is also an Adviser to Women in Prison and a Trustee of the Centre for Women’s Justice.

Debbie worked as a welfare rights adviser until she qualified as a solicitor in 2006. She specialised in housing law and worked for Shelter legal services until 2018.

Debbie continues to work as a housing solicitor in the private sector and for Shelter as a trainer offering courses in casework, time management and communication skills. She has also designed a course for caseworkers and managers to promote reflective learning.

Debbie is flexible and happy to adapt and design courses to meet specific training needs. Debbie’s experience, approachability and engaging style make her the ideal trainer for professional skills courses.

Debbie qualified as a solicitor in 1991. Over the last thirty years Debbie has worked in various roles in legal aid law practice and for human rights charities in the UK and abroad.

Debbie has developed expertise in legal remedies for survivors of domestic abuse. Debbie holds five degrees including a master’s degree in public international law. Debbie also has wide experience of training and teaching and she is currently a regular legal trainer for Refuge and Hestia.

Debbie has been a Shelter trainer for Domestic Abuse and Housing for almost twenty years.

Donna has over 25 years’ experience working in early years, social care and social housing sector. This has led to experience in services, legislation, good practice, and research available for services working with children and vulnerable adults in any capacity.

Donna has designed and delivered training and consultancy to housing associations, children's charities and homelessness charities. Topics include safeguarding, homelessness, domestic abuse, hoarding, trauma, resilience, Care Act 2014, diversity and inclusion, conflict resolution and lone working with vulnerable tenants and children.

Donna is also involved in several national projects to disseminate good practices to Local Authorities, bringing them together with social care providers to share resources.

Duncan is an experienced, versatile trainer who has worked at Shelter for 15 years.

Duncan spent 8 years on the Shelter helpline, providing legal advice directly to clients. Previously Duncan worked in psychiatric care for the NHS.

Duncan specialises in housing and homelessness law, training staff working in client support. Duncan has experience delivering training for Local Authorities, Charities, and Offender Services nationwide.

Emma is an experienced housing officer who has dealt with front-line cases for several years. She specialises in young people’s homelessness and housing projects.

Before becoming a housing officer Emma used to organise and teach tenancy related courses to the community, supporting people to gain and maintain their own accommodation.

Geeta Koska is a barrister at 1MCB Chambers working across housing, community care, public law and equality law.

In her housing practice, Geeta regularly represents clients in possession proceedings, anti-social behaviour injunctions, committal proceedings, housing disrepair claims, unlawful evictions, homelessness appeals and judicial review proceedings.

Geeta is committed to promoting and enforcing tenants’ rights and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Junior Housing Lawyers Practitioners Association. Geeta has written on various legal topics and has developed and delivered training and workshops for grass-roots organisations to government departments.

Gerard has 20 years’ experience in homelessness, housing, debt, and benefits advice. He has worked for a local authority outreach team, a students’ union advice centre, Shelter’s Helpline, and was a senior caseworker on Civil Legal Advice.

Gerard helped set up the welfare benefit advice services for Expert Housing Advice. Most recently he worked for Dorset Advice Services where he helped train local services on homelessness and challenging homeless decisions

Hannah specialises in homelessness and housing law, and how they interact with the complex areas of immigration and welfare.

Hannah has delivered specialist training to several organisations before joining Shelter, including charities, Citizens Advice and local MPs offices. Hannah takes a flexible approach to all organisations to ensure they receive the training they need.

Hari has over 25 years experience providing benefits advice. Her career started at the DWP before she moved to work as a benefits adviser first at Brent Council, then at Hertfordshire County Council where she still works part time as an adviser.

Hari is the Welfare Benefits Advice Manager for the charity Aspire, managing the service and team supporting clients with a spinal cord injury. She has delivered numerous training courses and workshops to a range of audiences including social care and health professionals, housing officers , Citizens Advice, carers and volunteers.

Heather has worked in the housing and homelessness sector since the 1990s. Heather has worked as a team leader for civil legal aid and has experience in outreach, supported housing, tenancy sustainment, resettlement, and casework at St Mungo's, Crisis and Shelter.

Heather studied social care and youth and community work. As a qualified PTTLS/CTTLS trainer Heather has worked for Shelter devising and delivering courses for Expert Housing Advice. These courses enable frontline workers to deliver quality housing and homelessness advice. Heather also spent time setting up an award-winning farming engagement project.

Helen is a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has over thirty years’ experience in the housing sector, having worked in senior roles for two large housing groups, where her responsibilities included the management of over 5,000 leasehold/shared ownership homes.

Since 2012, Helen has worked as a trainer and consultant specialising in leasehold management, affordable homeownership, and the Right to Buy. She has provided training, along with interim management and strategic and operational support to local authorities, registered providers and private sector companies.

Helen provides training in all aspects of leasehold management, shared ownership management, the Right to Buy/Acquire, and service charges. Training sessions are tailored to the individual needs of organisations and delegates.

With over 20 years of housing advice experience, Isabel has worked with local authorities as a frontline Homelessness/Housing Options Officer and a Senior Advisor at Shelter.

Isabel has worked for Shelter since 2013 training local authorities, public authorities, and voluntary agencies. Isabel has developed training courses on housing-related subjects including eligibility and housing, benefit rights for people from abroad, the right to rent, the duty to refer, and housing rights during the pandemic.

Isabel's training is welcoming, accessible, and based on expert knowledge. Isabel is based in the West Midlands and she maintains close links with Shelter’s Birmingham hub.

John became a money adviser in 1986 and a trainer in 1987. He's worked as an adviser at Citizens Advice and as a trainer for the National Money Advice Training Unit and the Public Law Project.

Over the years John has presented courses on most debt-related subjects including basic debt counselling techniques; court procedures; rent and mortgage arrears; insolvencies; self-employment and debt; and enforcement law.

John has specialised in enforcement law for over thirty years and has written multiple books on the subject.

Laura is a qualified solicitor with over 17 years of experience in housing law. She has worked in private practice, Shelter, Sheffield Hallam University and currently for a local authority.

Laura has represented landlords and tenants under a legal aid contract and private client work. She has conducted claims in the County Court, representing tenants on the court duty scheme, defending possession proceedings, and advising and representing clients on relevant housing issues.

Louella is an experienced trainer who has worked in the social welfare advice sector for over 35 years.

Louella worked for MIND in Tower Hamlets before moving to Tower Hamlets Law Centre. Louella moved to Miles & Partners in 2012 and is now a partner in the firm, heading up the Housing and Community Care Team. Throughout her career, Louella has written, designed, and delivered training on housing and community care law and practice in various settings.

Louella started training for Shelter in 2004 and has delivered courses on homelessness, allocations, possession proceedings, security of tenure, immigration, eligibility, and housing.

Marcin started his career in social welfare law in 2008 at Citizens Advice in Scotland specialising in employment, welfare benefits, housing and debt.

Marcin joined Hackney Community Law Centre in 2016 where he qualified as a solicitor in 2020. He currently works at Camden Community Law Centre and is particularly interested in possession proceedings, disrepair, homelessness, judicial reviews and complex welfare benefits cases.

Marcin is an experienced trainer delivering workshops on topics including migrants’ welfare rights, challenging benefit decisions, housing and legal aid for Benefits Training Company and Pro Bono Community.

Mariam is an experienced Housing and Mental Health Law Trainer. She started her career representing clients in housing matters at Shelter Cymru.

Mariam provides independent housing advice and legal representation on all aspects of housing law. Mariam advises on issues such as rent and mortgage arrears, homelessness, disrepair, anti-social behaviour, and challenging local authority decisions through judicial review or appeals.

Mariam has co-written and co-presented housing law training with Welsh Government to Local Authorities and DWP Wales staff.

Martha Lawton is a qualified trainer with over fifteen years’ experience supporting vulnerable people with their finances at both frontline and strategic levels.

Martha began her career as an adviser at LifeSearch, before moving into the charity sector. She has facilitated hundreds of financial capability workshops for people who are homeless, in recovery from addictions, seriously ill, in poverty or otherwise experiencing significant disadvantages, as well as staff at organisations supporting them. She describes this process as like “conducting months of focus groups on consumer vulnerability”.

Martha has worked with organisations including Clarion Housing Group, Macmillan Cancer Support, Shelter and the Money Advice Trust (Wiseradviser). She is a certified financial coach and the creator and host of the podcast “Squanderlust” about the emotional side of money.

Matt is a self-employed barrister at Garden Court Chambers. He has an interest in public law and social welfare law, including housing, homelessness, welfare benefits and migrants' rights.

Matt was called to the Bar by Inner Temple in 2015. Before joining Garden Court, Matt was an employed barrister at the Public Law Project, where he completed pupillage as part of the Justice First Fellowship scheme.

Matt is a co-author of the 13th edition of CPAG's Benefits for Migrants Handbook. He has written on a range of legal topics and is regularly asked to speak as a trainer or presenter at conferences and seminars. Matt is based in London.

Matthew joined the training team after working on Shelter's emergency helpline.

Matthew has worked as a PE teacher with a range of experience in teaching and learning. Joining Shelter has been Matthew's first venture into housing and he is looking forward to gaining more experience in the sector and building on a newfound passion for housing law

Naomi is a Solicitor Advocate specialising in housing law; landlord & tenant; property and general civil litigation.

Naomi has established a broad practice over several years conducting claims in the County Court and undertaking advocacy on behalf of clients with a particular emphasis on possession proceedings, disrepair, anti-social behaviour, and civil litigation.

Naomi is the author of 'The Tenant's Rights Manual: The Essential Guide to the Law, 2nd Edition' and a part-time university lecturer teaching the housing law module to LLB and LPC students.

Paul has a Certificate in Education specialising in learning difficulties, and is a member of the Society for Education & Training, the National Autistic Society, and the Mental Capacity Forum.

Paul has worked in a variety of training settings, including local authorities, social services and charities. Having developed a passion for human rights, his main focus in training and staff development is on learning disability, autism, the Mental Capacity Act and the deprivation of liberty safeguards. He delivers bespoke training courses in these areas to both staff and managers.

Peter is a seasoned homelessness sector professional with extensive experience of frontline, project management, policy and strategy roles in both the voluntary and statutory sectors.

This has included managing programmes to support people leaving hostels and refuges to access supported social housing, delivering a project to improve policy and practice towards women experiencing rough sleeping, and as a rough sleeping pathway coordinator for an inner-London local authority. She is currently undertaking a PhD in social policy, focusing on service responses to women experiencing homelessness and complex needs.

Radhika has worked in housing law as a solicitor since 2014, in both private practice and law centre settings. She has a particular interest in advising and representing clients in relation to homelessness matters, including representation in County Court appeals and judicial reviews.

Radhika has extensive experience in helping clients defend possession of their homes and address poor housing conditions.

Raiesa Modeste is a Supported Accommodation Referrals Coordinator at a London local authority, specialising in complex housing issues and support needs.

Raiesa has nine years of experience in the homelessness sector, working within local authority homelessness departments and supported housing services. She specialises in assessing applicants with complex needs including rough sleepers (both CHAIN verified and non-verified) and finding suitable housing pathways.

Raiesa is skilled in multi-agency work, providing sustainable outcomes and tangible advice on tenant and landlord rights, responsibilities and the legal eviction process. She possesses expert knowledge of homelessness legislation, including the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996.

Richard has over thirty years’ experience in housing benefits, starting his career in Local Government in 1984. Having attained a qualification from the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation, Richard has practiced as a consultant and trainer since 2003. He specialises in complex housing benefit and Universal Credit legislation in areas such as persons from abroad, exempt and supported accommodation.

Richard has extensive experience delivering introductory courses on housing benefit, the council tax reduction scheme, Universal Credit and welfare benefits. As a consultant Richard has undertaken work involving customer service excellence, performance management, business process re-engineering, management development, appeals, overpayments and stakeholder engagement.

Since 2000, Rita has run advanced courses for Shelter in all areas of housing law. She has specialised in housing law since 1996.

She served as a solicitor and managing solicitor in Shelter's legal team. Her caseload included Court of Appeal cases, emergency judicial review applications for homelessness, possession actions, urgent injunctions for unlawful evictions and disrepair. Rita has also supported Haringey Women’s Forum, offering housing law assistance to women fleeing domestic abuse. She has taught housing law to undergraduates and graduates at London Metropolitan University and co-authored Court Procedures and Housing Cases: A Practitioner’s Guide.

More recently, Rita has worked as a Financial Ombudsman and as the Independent Adjudicator for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea focussing on Grenfell survivors' complaints. She is a housing expert for the Citizens Advice national expert advice team. She also provides housing quality and file auditing services for Shelter.

Sabrina Dubash is a non-practising barrister and a specialist welfare rights adviser, trainer, and editor. With over 11 years of experience, she has worked as a frontline and second-tier adviser, welfare rights trainer, author, and advice centre supervisor for organizations including Toynbee Hall and the Child Poverty Action Group.

Sabrina is the editor of the social security division of the Butterworths Scottish Family Law Service and a previous co-author of the Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (CPAG).

She is trainer for Pro Bono Community and provides training to organisations supporting the community on request.

Sharon spent several years working in the legal profession, representing local authorities and housing associations, in various tenancy issues.

Sharon's extensive experience of dealing with landlord and tenant cases in the civil courts led to employment as a Manager Specialist with one of the largest housing associations in the South East of England, becoming the strategic lead firstly for the anti-social behaviour, domestic abuse and hate crime services and subsequently for the tenancy fraud service.

Sharon's diverse background and experience of the private and public sectors has given her a broad experience on which to base her adaptable and flexible approach. Sharon's experience, commitment to continuous learning, strong analytical and problem solving skills, and her dedication to producing high quality work have earned her a reputation as a credible expert in the field.

Shevon has worked in Housing and Homelessness since 2004. Her expertise includes estates management, homelessness, and Section 202 reviews.

In 2022, Shevon set up a successful homeless pathway at a London Hospital working closely with NHS staff, and educating them on the hospital’s legal requirements under the duty to refer.

With 14 years’ experience in carrying out homelessness assessments, Shevon understands the intricacies of housing law and is recommended as a patient yet thorough trainer. Shevon understands first-hand what is happening on the ground for homeless applicants, tenants and landlords and is able to advise appropriately and with confidence.

Simon joined Shelter over 15 years ago as an adviser on the helpline, supporting clients with housing problems. He also worked as a Housing and Debt Caseworker for Civil Legal Advice.

Later, Simon managed a team of trainers and support consultancy, training development, and delivery at Shelter. Simon is interested in the principles of systems thinking having studied the Vanguard Model. From this, he gained an understanding of demand and purpose, demand capture, journey mapping, values and measures and systems conditions, and thinking.

Stephen started out as a volunteer adviser and caseworker in 1994 at Kingston Churches Action on Homelessness. Since 2003 he has worked as a fieldworker, delivering consultancy advice and social policy work.

Stephen has experience in all areas of housing and welfare benefits, including representation at tribunals.

With over 30 years of experience in the housing, corporate, and voluntary sectors, Tahira is a highly skilled trainer with a proven track record in delivering impactful training.

A qualified Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist and member of BABCP and BPS, she has worked with national agencies to design and deliver training packages across housing, health, and community sectors.

She has also held key leadership roles, including Trustee for Central Action Women’s Aid and The Big Life Group, and Specialist Domestic Abuse Lead for Self Help Services.

Tahira Hussain MA, MSc, CBP, PG Dip CBT, PG Cert APIMH, BA (Hons), MBPsS

Thelma is a housing lawyer with over 25 years’ experience. She has worked both in-house for local authorities and large housing associations.

Thelma has experience across all aspects of housing management - possession claims (unlawful occupation, breach of tenancy conditions), disrepair claims (including English Churches v Shine), statutory nuisance, fraud, anti-social behaviour, and unlawful subletting, as well as Equality Act cases.

Thelma has delivered in-house training in many areas of housing law. She has recently been working for a Housing Association in South Wales where she provided bespoke training on the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016.

Tim English is an accomplished professional with extensive experience in social housing and adult social services. As a freelance qualified assessor for the Chartered Institute of Housing Professional Qualification, he tutors aspiring social housing professionals, drawing on his senior management roles across local authorities.

Tim’s expertise includes housing management, urban regeneration, and the commissioning of care and homelessness services. He holds qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Housing, Salford University, and ILM. Tim is also dedicated to community service, volunteering as a scout leader and serving as a trustee for his local Mind charity.

Tom is currently employed by Auriga Services as a senior debt adviser. Prior to joining Auriga, Tom worked for a variety of organisations, including Age UK, the Charity for Civil Servants, Coventry Law Centre, Walsall Housing Group, and National Debtline.

Tom worked on a freelance basis for various organisations such as The Money Advice Trust and The Institute of Money Advisers, for whom he has delivered training on Universal Credit since 2019.

Tom completed his masters in Social Welfare Law, Policy, and Advice Practice at Staffordshire University in January 2018. As part of this, he studied the impact that Universal Credit was having on advice agencies.

Tony Martin is a solicitor and fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He is a trainer for Shelter since 2005 having delivered and designed over 500 courses.

Tony is Head of Pro Bono Clinics at BPP University and Chair of Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre. Previously he managed another Law Centre branch for almost a decade. Tony has extensive experience of housing law, training, teaching and a background in Legal Aid and private client work. His training helps staff make sense of the complexities of the fast-changing world of housing law.

Tony provides training in all aspects of landlord and tenant law, homelessness and allocations law and tailors these topics to meet the individual needs of each organisation. He also provides housing quality and file auditing services for Shelter.

Tracy has been a trainer and facilitator working for both the private and public sectors since 2004. She has delivered various subjects from managing difficult and aggressive behaviour to training for trainers, motivational interviewing and professional boundaries.

Tracy has a degree in psychology and a grounding of knowledge in learning theory. She uses an array of innovative methods to ensure her delivery is versatile and creative as well as interactive, practical, and useful. Tracy engages course participants with a passion for and experience of the topics and tailor courses to meet their specific needs.

Tracy has been a trainer and facilitator working for both the private and public sectors since 2004. Tracy delivers a variety of subjects from managing difficult and aggressive behaviour to training for trainers, motivational interviewing and professional boundaries.

With a degree in psychology and a grounding of knowledge in learning theory, Tracy uses an array of innovative methods to ensure training delivery is versatile and creative as well as interactive, practical, and useful. She engages course participants with passion for and experience of the topics, and tailor courses to meet delegates' specific needs.

Will has worked for Shelter since 2020. Before joining Shelter, he spent 20 years training teams across the country.

Will joined Shelter on the helpline, providing housing advice to clients in emergency situations during the pandemic. He later became an induction team leader, training HSBC group secondees to work on the helpline.

In 2022, Will joined Shelter's training team, where he delivers training on housing and homelessness legislation to local authorities and charity sector workers.