Sara Radford
Sara began her career in the criminal justice sector in the mid-nineties on return from some years working and studying in the USA.
Employed as a Probation Service Officer in Brighton within a busy court and community team and the Family Court Welfare Service before moving to work with young people in the newly established Youth Offending team. Whilst with the Youth Offending team Sara completed her Diploma in Social Work experiencing work within the city’s Child Protection Team and delivery of treatment programmes for sexual offenders. Working closely with victims and the families of victims of sexual abuse and having seen the damage and misery fuelled a determination to focus her efforts towards successful rehabilitation of offenders, where possible, to prevent further victims.
In 2008 Sara left the Youth Offending team to work for Tomorrow’s People Trust setting up a residential, work-based, community for ex-offenders in Hampshire. During this time Sara completed a Professional Certificate in Management with the Open University. Moving to Bristol in 2011 Sara worked for Avon & Somerset Probation Trust, including a short period at HMP Leyhill and then moved to the voluntary sector to manage ‘Future 4 Me’ a big-lottery supported project delivered by 1625 Independent People – a charity supporting young people with complex needs.
Sara has a particular interest in leading innovation and being part of the implementation of new projects which have real social value. Having worked with survivors and perpetrators of abuse in both statutory and voluntary sectors, Sara joined Circles South West in February 2014. Most recently she has led our ground-breaking ‘proof of concept’ research and development of a prevention service for adults with an enduring sexual attraction to children.
