Andy has been our financial director for nearly 7 years. His business acumen and accounts management skills are an invaluable asset to SAB.

With his expert advice, guidance and endless patience, Anthony has established and continues to develop our in-house technology and communication systems and will be the driving force behind all future marketing initiatives.

His business is ABDesign Stationery and you can find his portfolio and website here – www.abdesignstationery.co.uk

His portfolio includes Web design, Graphic Design, Business Office Printing including wide format as well as booklets, brochures and corporate gifts to hand out at marketing seminars and events.

Melanie has nearly 20 years of experience working in the Voluntary and Community Sector; with children, young people and adults at risk; to include roles at CEO/Director level and as a chair of Trustees.

As an experienced Trustee herself, Melanie has worked at a strategic level across many third sector organisations and care groups and has built an enviable reputation as an active and respected member of various Safeguarding, Health and Wellbeing Boards,

Melanie is also a Local Authority appointed school Governor and Chair of a Safeguarding, Inclusion & Data Protection Committee.

Her experience in Safeguarding Governance is second to none. She has a full understanding of how the voluntary and community sector fit into the wider context of health and social care and the vital role they can play in safeguarding children and adults.

With a proven track record in training, consultancy, the development and implementation of policy and systems – Melanie’s approach promotes an organisational commitment for safeguarding, which in turn embeds safe, sustainable working practices and accountability.

Alex Hepton is a safeguarding professional who specialises in the provision of safeguarding training and consultancy in the statutory, voluntary and sporting environment.

Alex has a particular passion for supporting high performance sport environments, having worked as a football coach in the UK, Spain and the USA for 10 years, before moving into high risk youth work and later specialising in safeguarding and domestic abuse with a local authority.

He has since held roles in elite football as an academy safeguarding lead – where he transformed the psych – social approach to young player development. In addition to his work in football, Alex has worked as a safeguarding consultant in Olympic and Paralympic Sport as well as professional Esports, from a local to world governing body level. He has contributed to and supported several large-scale reviews including the Duty of Care in Sport Review, Domestic Homicide Reviews and historic abuse investigations in both football and cycling.

Alex is well-rehearsed in the mechanisms of risk management, safeguarding audit and policy development and has a reputation for driving forward high standards in safeguarding. He has an enviable gift of engaging practitioners, managers and leaders at all levels – and a particular interest in raising awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences and trauma informed practice. His specialist subject areas extend to the complexities of safeguarding disabled children and the implementation of a social model of disability, inclusion and strengths based interventions.

In essence, Alex has a passion for promoting best practice principles in all areas of safeguarding and is an inspiration to those who work alongside him.

Sean has extensive experience of working in education and the local authority sectors, specialising in universal prevention work, Early Help provision and targeted
intervention/support within the safeguarding arena.

Before leading Local Authority services on Community Safety (including Gangs, Violence
Against Women and Girls, Substance Abuse, Child Sexual Exploitation, Prevent, Anti-Social Behaviour and Hate Crime), Sean trained and worked as both a Primary and Secondary School teacher in inner-city East London, which involved significant pastoral responsibilities in order to support the needs of children and their families.

Other roles included working as a Prevent Education Officer and then Prevent Team Manager for the London Borough of Waltham Forest – a high priority area for counter- terrorism safeguarding at the time.

Sean is also a Safeguarding Support Manager with the Premier League.
Sean is a qualified Primary and Secondary School Teacher and holds a BA Hons in Education as well as a PGCE Teacher Certificate in Citizenship and Religious Education and Level 5 in management from the Chartered Management Institute.

Sean is a strong advocate for universal education and engagement as the most effective way to safeguard children and adults at risk, and as the route to sustained and effective professional practice.

With an emphasis on empowering individuals, teams and organisations to take ownership of this vital work, Sean is always committed to ensuring that the training and consultancy that he is involved in is tailored to those he is supporting and is of the highest possible standard.