My name is Melissa Hammond. I’m the Registered Manager at Arun Hope.

I qualified as a Social Worker in 2004 and worked in frontline services, with Children Looked After in Fostering and Adoption, Children In Need, Children with Disabilities and Care Proceedings. I quickly began to realise my passion of supporting others to develop new skills and to enable them to be the best they can be, whether it be children, families or fellow colleagues alike.

I had a thirst to enhance my career through continuous learning and development, and attained my Childcare Award, being promoted to a Senior Practioner not long after. I enjoyed supporting Social Work students through the Practice Assessors Award and have been fortunate to expand my learning in new areas throughout my 19 years career, utilising my leadership skills in numerous childcare settings.

I feel fortunate to have been given the opportunities in the past to experience being a registered manager of residential children’s homes, an operations manager of a parent and child assessment centre, a project manager of edge of care, mental health and early help services, a deputy regional service manager of childrens services and a head of service of a leaving care service. Most of these roles have been new projects, which I have mobilised from the beginning.

I love my role at Arun Hope and feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to create such an amazing assessment centre, to support families and their children with the chance to improve their lives and remain together. We have a talented multi-professional team, with a wealth of knowledge and experience ready to support all who walk through the doors at the centre.

When I’m not at work, I love spending time with my family and friends, planning trips away. I have a desire to travel around the world and consider myself a bit of a globe trotter in the making! I love experiencing different cultures and trying new things and over the last few years have realised the positive and calming benefits of breathwork and meditation in reducing stress in the body.