Our Team
Our Team
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Laura founded Mums In Need in 2014 after experiencing the devastating impact of coercive control first hand. Driven by a deep commitment to helping others escape similar situations, she created a lifeline for women trapped in the aftermath of leaving abusive relationships.
With unwavering passion and determination, Laura oversees every aspect of the charity, from frontline support to strategic planning. Her goal is to empower women throughout the UK to break free from the cycle of abuse and rebuild their lives. Laura is thrilled to have set up a charity that can offer a safe space to talk, practical support, and wellbeing support to help women reclaim their independence and confidence.
To find out more about Laura, see Our Founder's Story.
Kathryn joined Mums In Need as an Administrator in September 2020. In January 2024 Kathryn changed role to Operations Manager.
As an Operations Manager, Kathryn’s role is varied and encompasses many aspects of keeping Mums In Need running efficiently and effectively behind the scenes. Having previously experienced a similar situation to the women that Mums In Need supports, she firmly believes that a woman’s past does not determine her future, and that all women have the right to access help and guidance to improve their situation and help them achieve their potential.
Kathryn is a keen runner, stationery addict and proud single mum, who is passionate about encouraging and supporting women to achieve full, rewarding, and confident lives.
“I’m passionate about women’s rights, independence and wellbeing, so it’s a privilege to work for a charity that provides so much essential support to women at a time in their lives when they need it most.
Olivia joined Mums In Need in January 2024 as an Administrator.
Olivia is a huge advocate for women’s rights and well-being. Having studied Human Geography and History at the University of Leeds, she has carried out various projects on women from all walks of life and their experiences - writing her dissertation on the effects of sexual double standards on women’s mental health and well-being. This, alongside being raised in a single parent household, has only strengthened her compassion and empathy for Mums In Need.
““I have a strong desire to make a difference. I’m proud to work for Mums In Need as it allows me to be actively involved in making the world a better place for women.”
Mark joined the MIN team in March 2022 as a Finance Lead. Before this he was volunteering with MIN from May 2021 as a Finance Volunteer.
Mark is in charge of all aspects of finance and bookkeeping for Mums In Need.
“I believe that the work the charity is doing is invaluable for the women and children affected."
Sara joined the Mums In Need team in March 2022 as the Media & Marketing Lead. Before this she volunteered as a Media and Marketing Volunteer.
She has always had the drive to help others and has previously worked in the Social Care setting, as well as running her own small business. Since having her two young children she wanted to support fellow mums who need support.
"I am proud to be able to be able to work for Mums In Need. I oversee all aspects of Media and Marketing to generate more awareness and funds for MIN! This will ultimately allow more women receive the help that they need, which makes a very rewarding job role "
Nicola joined the Mums In Need team as a caseworker in November 2021. In January 2024 Nicola changed role to Caseworker co-ordinator.
Nicola has lived experience with domestic abuse and coercive control and is passionate about supporting others. She trained as a community connector for Rise - a grassroots domestic abuse charity based in Brighton.
"Working for Mums In Need is an honour. My mission is to help those who have suffered coercive control to feel understood and enable women to thrive after leaving abusive relationships. Another area of interest for me is to be able to support children and young people to know what healthy relationships look like and give children a voice too."
Zara joined Mums In Need in August 2021 as a Caseworker.
Her career began by attending University studying Law & Psychology. Her aim was to become a Criminal Lawyer, but after 2 years, it became apparent that a legal career would sometimes require representing those in the wrong. This was something that Zara realised she didn't want to do, and she made a difficult decision to leave her course to start something new.
Zara has since enjoyed 10 years with her previous employer managing administrative and recruitment functions for the delivery of Apprenticeships nationally. In 2019, she left to start her own business, and its success has allowed her the spare time to give back in a new role.
"After hearing about Mums In Need through a friend, it sounded like the perfect opportunity to actively make a difference in the lives of women who are going through extremely difficult and traumatic experiences. This role has highlighted the need for women, and children, to be better supported during post separation abuse in order to successfully manage their lives. And it is now something I am passionate about supporting."
Ursula Joined Mums In Need in January 2024 as a Caseworker.
She earned her social work degree in 2012 and began supporting mothers and their babies in a women's prison. She was passionate about helping these families build strong bonds to enable them to have happy, fulfilling lives after release. She did this for many years before becoming a supervising social worker, overseeing children in their foster family home.
Ursula later worked in women's refuges where she supported women and their children who were fleeing domestic abuse. Ursula supported the families through some of their most turbulent times and was keen to see the best outcome for them, she assisted abuse survivors and their children in establishing a better life.
"I am mother myself and understand the difficulties faced by abuse survivors. Taking on a role as a Caseworker means that I can be there for mothers and their children to provide listening and guidance during those difficult times".
Board of Trustees
Board of Trustees
Heather Chapman joined the Mums In Need trustee board in 2023. Heather has a
long history of working with a variety of charities and supporting them through her networks. Previous work in the health sector has led Heather to understand the importance of wellbeing, and personal experience of raising children with an absent partner, means she has insight to some of the issues facing Mums In Need service users.
She is enthused to work with a charity that supports women who are bringing up children under stressful conditions. Heather has long been involved in business within South Yorkshire and hopes to use her business acumen and corporate contacts to develop the profile and reach of Mums In Need.
"It is an absolute privilege to support MIN. I feel I can bring my skills and knowledge to good use, whilst improving my own leadership and management skills. I love the quote ‘Help the mother help the child’
Janet joined the Mums In Need trustee board in July 2023.
Janet is passionate and experienced VAWG (Violence against Women and Girls) practitioner having worked in Domestic Abuse survivor services for 18 years.
Working firstly as a front line practitioner (in refuge and community based services) Janet progressed to leadership roles. For the past 12 years she has worked as a service manager, leading large multi-faceted survivor services including refuge, community based (medium risk) and children and young persons support.
Janet met Laura and learned of the amazing work carried out by Mum's In Need when she moved to Sheffield in late 2022.
'I relate strongly to the vision, mission and values of MIN and the work the team do. It is an honour to join the board of trustees and to support MIN to continue to support and empower mothers to move forward from the impact of post-separation abuse and regain control of their lives'
Annie has been involved with Mums In Need since 2016, most recently stepping into a general trustee role from Summer 2023. Initially, Annie served as a floating development resource volunteer with Mums In Need, utilising her 30+ years in the impact space, to offer support on an ad hoc basis wherever it was most needed. In the early days, Annie was pivotal in helping to set up the volunteer management programme, the social media strategy and implementation, a significant and successful fundraising application and offering generic advice on organisational development for a small charity.
Annie is a qualified youth and community development worker. She is skilful at developing cross sector, multi stakeholder on point partnerships. She's equally at home working at a strategic, national level or the grassroots, community level. She has extensive expertise across many different issues and has worked in a variety of settings. As well as being a strategic thinker, able to design and execute complex programmes with multiple moving parts, Annie has a solid set of practical skills having previously worked as a virtual assistant.
She is driven to support smaller charities (including the small charities sector's infrastructure), ensuring that they have a voice at the table, as well as centring lived experience wherever appropriate. Annie leads from behind and leverages her lived experience as a mum surviving many years of coercive control.
"I'm deeply committed to Mums In Need and its mission. I've been inspired for many years by its Founder and CEO, Laura Riley. As a Trustee, I hope that I can make a useful contribution to MIN which will make a tangible positive difference to the lives of the mums who use MIN's services, so that they don't feel so alone and are better equipped to deal with the impossible situations that they are facing".
Antony joined Mums In Need as a trustee in 2016 after volunteering with the organisation in its formative period. Antony is therefore one of MIN's first trustees!
He feels passionately about Mums In Need’s mission and the need for an organisation for women in situations of emotional and psychological abuse.
Antony is a journalist by profession, has experience dealing with people at all levels of business and asking the kind of questions that aim to ensure organisations are run well, with governance a key area of his work.
“I am very happy to bring whatever skills I can to help Mums In Need minimise the effects of coercive control on women and its effects on future generations.”
Nicola joined MIN as a trustee in July 2023.
She is an experienced commercial solicitor with over 30 years of practice who now works as a freelance in house lawyer. She has previous experience in the voluntary sector as a trustee and volunteer at a Sheffield citizens advice bureau and as a school governor at a Sheffield junior school.
"I am very much looking forward to helping and supporting MIN deliver on its excellent objectives of supporting mums who have left abusive partners and who continue to be subjected to post separation abuse by empowering them with the skills and confidence to move forward with their lives"
Kathy initially joined Mums In Need at the end of 2019 as a fundraising volunteer. She has lots of experience of volunteering for local charities and is currently also a volunteer for St Luke’s hospice. She works part-time for Abbeyfield and is in the process of completing a foundation year in Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Kathy has since joined the Board of Trustees at MIN in July 2023.
"I am passionate about supporting mums that find themselves in distressing and challenging situations through no fault of their own."
Rebecca joined Mums In Need in January 2024 as a General Trustee. She gained her social work degree in 2022 and has worked in various local authorities in the Yorkshire and Humber region as a children’s social worker. Prior to this, Rebecca completed her legal studies and initially wanted to pursue a career in family law. As new doors opened, a career in safeguarding became more appealing to Rebecca and she therefore decided to use her legal knowledge to aid her within a frontline safeguarding role. Rebecca is passionate about safeguarding and supporting women and children. Rebecca enjoys volunteering her time to local charities such as Mums In Need. Rebecca is also a Safeguarding Governor at a local school, an Independent Visitor to children in care and a volunteer baker for children in care. Rebecca is aware of the impact of domestic abuse on women and children and is keen to share her knowledge of the social care system to support MIN to deliver tailored to support to those that are also receiving support from their local authority.
"Having studied law and also being a qualified children's social worker, I have a lot of safeguarding experience and knowledge that I’d like to help an amazing charity such as MIN with. Everyone deserves to be safe and happy, I am keen to support in any way to make this happen "
MIN Ambassadors
MIN Ambassadors
Demelza has been involved with MIN since 2018 when she first contacted MIN for support. She has since moved on from the service and chose to become part of the Lived Experience Leadership Project, where she helped to create vital training for victims of domestic abuse, and those who work with victims of domestic abuse.
The LELP project has now finished, but Demelza continues her journey with MIN as an Ambassador for the charity, supporting the Media team, and Fundraising team with a multitude of tasks.
"I am grateful to be able to give back to an organisation that helped me when I was at my lowest".
Miranda joined MIN as Ambassador in July 2024.
Since going through her own experience of domestic abuse
and discovering Mums In Need, Miranda has always wanted to give something back and help with the struggle survivors have, but being a single mum and having to earn a living left very little time for this.
The Ambassador role was the perfect for Miranda as it gives her the flexibility to be able to help as and when she can.
"What I love about MIN is that they understand and tackle
the reality of navigating post separation abuse instead of a text book approach".
Cat became aware of Mums In Need through a chance connection with one of the trustees in 2024. Having had experience of some of the issues Mums In Need deals with, she was drawn to the important and impressive work the charity carries out.
Her hope is to use her professional skills and personal experiences to help the charity in reaching more mums who need support. Cat also believes in the role that Mums In Need plays more widely in creating a better understanding of coercive control and post separation abuse.
"MIN meets a need no other charity does. It's inspiring to see what has been achieved so far - and the vision for the future."
Josephine joined MIN as Ambassador in April 2025.
After leaving an abusive relationship, she rebuilt her life from the ground up and is now deeply passionate about helping other women and mothers do the same. Through her own journey, she hopes to show others that happiness is possible, and that they, too, can reclaim it.
Josephine is a single mother to three amazing children and a dedicated health and nutrition coach. She is currently nearing the completion of her Health Science degree and is stepping into exciting new opportunities within Young Athlete Nutrition. In all her work, Josephine brings a deep passion for wellbeing, personal growth, and empowering others to live healthier, more balanced lives.
An avid runner, Josephine has completed the London Marathon and several local half marathons. Lately, she’s especially excited about Hyrox, a global fitness competition that challenges both strength and endurance.
Her ultimate dream? To travel the world with her children several times a year, continuing to inspire others by showing that happiness is the north star, and that everything we build in life should protect and nurture that joy.
MIN Patrons
MIN Patrons
Founder of Legally Nik, Nik is a child protection lawyer, bridging the gap between family law and real life. As a mum herself, Nik is able to understand the parent's point of view when a couple have split and are navigating co-parenting. However, sometimes, it is a case of post separation emotional abuse which is where Nik's professional expertise and her human touch really come into play. With a large, rapidly growing audience on Instagram, her insights resonate with many mums who are living with this type of abuse.
As someone who became a single mother quite unexpectedly, Samantha understands the worries that fellow single mums face on a daily basis.
Through her social media page, she highlights the struggles single mums face, to help others feel less alone in their journeys, and as a result of receiving a large amount of messages daily from single mums going through post separation abuse, she really wants to do anything she can to help spread the word and help MIN in anyway she can.
Francesca Amber is the host of the number U.K.’s number one self improvement podcast, law of Attraction Changed My Life.
She is a single mother to 3 young daughters and is passionate about empowering mothers just like her to improve their lives one day and one habit at a time.
Amy became a single mum to her son when he was just 6 weeks old during lockdown. Through a challenging divorce, to a baby with severe reflux, Amy felt lost and alone. She was determined to rebuild her life and use her experiences to help others so went on to train as a Trauma and Narcissistic Abuse Specialist. As a coach Amy has supported many women who have experienced post separation abuse and is passionate about empowering women to rebuild their lives after experiencing this.
Volunteers
Volunteers
Johleen joined the social media marketing volunteer team at Mums In Need in January 2024.
She has years of experience in caring for the elderly and people with mental disabilities, and is also a trained hypnotherapist and neuro-liguistic programming practitioner. More recently
she trained in search engine optimisation and blockchain technology, supporting app developers through online customer portals.
Johleen supports the Media and Marketing team by scheduling posts onto our media platforms as well as other social media duties.
“I’m excited and grateful to be working with the Mums In Need. It’s fantastic to be able to help and support such a brilliant organisation that does such important work making a huge difference to women’s lives.”
Vicky boasts a wealth of experience, proudly having worked across the justice, education and charitable sector and is a leading Yorkshire Woman Entrepreneur and Award Winner. Vicky is passionate about giving back evidence from being the founder of her own charitable organisation and raising funds for a number of local beneficiaries.
Vicky supports the Media and Marketing team by scheduling posts onto our social media platforms as well as other social media duties.
" I am really excited to be working with an organisation that shares my values and vision, being able to use my own experiences, network and skills to support and help raise awareness for such a great cause"
Nika joined Mums In Need in June 2024 as a marketing volunteer. Professionally, she holds a master's in business management and a social work degree, but also brings extensive experience as a dynamic project, event, and sustainability manager across diverse sectors. Nika also co-founded the Heavy Harmony retreat in Zanzibar, Africa, focusing on enhancing the well-being of music industry professionals.
Beyond her professional roles, Nika is deeply passionate about nature, animals, ecology, sustainability, and human potential development. Her vision is to contribute to a future where sustainable, low carbon footprint, zero-waste events are not just aspirations but goals, fostering a healthier and more conscientious society. Inclusivity and mental health advocacy are central to her vision.
“Volunteering with Mums In Need is a source of great pride for me, as I am committed to dedicating my time to causes that have such a significant impact on our society, as MIN does"
Alan has volunteered with Mums In Need since 2016, and is one of MIN's first volunteers.
Through his 39 years as a Systems Technician in the IT and computer hardware industry he has gained extensive and specialised IT skills which he now shares with MIN. His role has recently changed to not only providing technical support, but also fundraising opportunities in the IT industry.
"I was looking for some way to use my skills in a positive way. It was some years back when I got new neighbours I found out about MIN, as my new neighbours were Laura and her family. They needed computers, I had them and then began a long association with the charity. So here I am and very happy to be here."
Counsellors
Counsellors
Advocates
Advocates
Heidi is an experienced counsellor, having been qualified since 2012, she has a particular interest in the power dynamics of inter-relational abuse due to her own personal experiences. Heidi helps her clients deal more effectively with difficulties by assisting them to tap into their inner-resources and find their own direction.
Heidi works in compassionate and non-pathologising way, aiming to offer hope during difficult times, followed by healing.
"I have been connected to Mums In Need for a few years now and I offer telephone counselling to women who use Mums In Need's services."
Sara met our CEO at Stylist Magazine's Remarkable Women Awards 2019. Since finding out about what we do, Sara has been a huge supporter of Mums In Need. Sara hosted a wonderful evening in support of Mums In Need on the 21st December 2019 at the Bloomsbury Theatre, including a handful of other top female comics.
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