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The BERRI system was designed and developed by multi-award winning Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Dr Miriam Silver. It was informed by foster carers and residential care staff, care leavers and professionals. Dr Silver has a deep knowledge of the issues for children and families who have experienced adversity, abuse and/or trauma:
20 years experience working with Children who are in Care, adopted or have complex needs
16 years in the NHS, working in and managing CAMHS services
Expert to the family court in 250+ cases, including care proceedings and complex custody disputes
5 years as national lead for Looked After and Adopted Children – British Psychological Society
Trained over 1000 staff + given numerous conference keynotes
Learn more about Dr Silver from her LinkedIn, or learn about her opinions and experiences from her blog
The Team
Dr Miriam Silver Consultant Clinical Psychologist & CEO
Ben Paul Head of Growth and Success
Emma Marriott Operations and Finance Officer
Dr Lakshman Ganatra Clinical Psychologist
Dr Wanda Fischera Clinical Psychologist
Dr Juliet Young Clinical Psychologist
Ailsa McGrath Research & Data Analytics Officer
Poppy Hargrave Assistant Psychologist
Gian Gloriani Assistant Psychologist
Sarah Barnardo Assistant Psychologist
Sophie Morris Assistant Psychologist
Anne Sampson Content Marketing Manager
Hazel Sealy Customer Service & Sales Support Executive
Tegai Lansdell Chief Technical Officer
Dr Miriam Silver
Consultant Clinical Psychologist & CEO
Miriam is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and our Chief Executive Officer. She designed BERRI and manages our research and clinical services, as well as providing some of our training and consultations. She loves SCUBA diving and has "ninja muscles" from weightlifting - you can't see them unless you know they know they are there!
Ben Paul
Head of Growth and Success
Ben is the Head of Growth and Success at BERRI. He supports organisations from point of enquiry throughout their time using BERRI, ensuring they get most out of the system and additional clinical services. Outside of work, he enjoys long walks in the countryside and loyally watching his football team fail to win trophies.
Emma Marriott
Operations and Finance Officer
Emma Marriott is the Operations and Finance Officer. She also manages the court work caseload, sends out the invoices and dabbles with HR related matters. Mum of boys, trainer aficionado & lover of all things coconut, she always has show-stopping nails.
Dr Lakshman Ganatra
Clinical Psychologist
Everyone calls him Lucky, because it’s easier to say and sounds more fun. Lucky is a Clinical Psychologist. He tries to help people make sense of what’s going on for them or overcome difficulties. In the absence of super-powers he uses talking and listening. He owns a dog called Mango that looks like a cute teddy bear, acts like a cat and sounds like a monkey.
Dr Wanda Fischera
Clinical Psychologist
Wanda is a Clinical Psychologist passionate about making a meaningful difference in young people’s lives and supporting those around them. In her free time, she enjoys getting lost in a fantasy book, diving into a new hobby, or exploring new places.
Dr Juliet Young
Clinical Psychologist
Juliet is a Clinical Psychologist who has worked with children in the care system for over ten years. She loves simplifying complex concepts and finding creative solutions to problems. Being a Libra, she can't help but see balanced perspectives (which makes making decisions very difficult). Juliet is a keen illustrator outside of BERRI, and is often found in her homeland of Cornwall with a pasty in hand!
Ailsa McGrath
Research & Data Analytics Officer
Ailsa specialises in all things research and data analysis within BERRI. Her role involves exploring patterns in the BERRI data to bring insights, grow the BERRI evidence base, and constantly improve the BERRI output reports. As a self-proclaimed foodie, outside of work you'll find her seeking out the best dinner spots wherever she does.
Poppy Hargrave
Assistant Psychologist
Poppy is an Assistant Psychologist. She is involved in administering/supporting psychological and neurodevelopmental assessments, as well as conducting statistical analysis of BERRI data to produce valuable findings for enhancing the tool. Poppy loves to dance and has performed in over 15 dance shows!
Gian Gloriani
Assistant Psychologist
Gian is an Assistant Psychologist here at BERRI. He supports/administers psychological assessments for our services across the Northwest and also assists with the write-up of our comprehensive consultations. In his spare time, you'll find him either lifting weights, thrifting clothes, or nose deep in a book.
Sarah Barnardo
Assistant Psychologist
Sarah is an Assistant Psychologist. She supports/administers psychological assessments for our services around the West Midlands and contributes to the write-up of reports following BERRI’s comprehensive consultations. Outside of work, you'll usually find her charity shopping, baking, or catching up with friends.
Sophie Morris
Assistant Psychologist
Sophie is an Assistant Psychologist. She supports with clinical consultations, administers cognitive assessments and contributes to research projects. Outside of work, Sophie enjoys spending time outdoors and staying active, whether at the gym, cycling or running with friends, it is usually followed by a well-earned coffee and pastry.
Anne Sampson
Content Marketing Manager
Anne Sampson is the Content Marketing Manager at BERRI, where she spins the threads of data and practice into stories that spotlight BERRI’s mission and connect our community. When she isn’t weaving BERRI’s story, she’s at her sewing machine stitching clothes, quilts, and the occasional pun.
Hazel Sealy
Customer Service & Sales Support Executive
Hazel is the Customer Service and Sales Support Executive. Her role involves supporting our clients throughout their subscriptions, ensuring they get the most out of BERRI.
In her spare time, Hazel enjoys traveling around in her campervan and loves anything to do with food and dogs.
Tegai Lansdell
Chief Technical Officer
Teg is our Chief Technical officer, managing everything from IT support to making sure our website and tools work properly. He loves video games and he hasn\'t shaved since the start of the pandemic.
Why did we develop BERRI?
The challenge is to improve outcomes for children who have experienced adversity or have complex needs, as current outcomes are poor. This is particularly true of children who are in public care:
Attainments of children in care and adopted children lower than rest of population
50x risk of homeless, addiction, prison, inpatient mental health, their own children coming into Care
Ongoing cost to public purse (up to £2 million/care leaver)
We know that Adverse Childhood Experiences are a vulnerability factor that affects all sorts of health conditions, and socioeconomic outcomes for people, and these are particularly prevalent for children in Care.
It is doubly unfair that children who were the victim of adversity, abuse and/or trauma in their childhood go on to continue to have worse outcomes throughout their life. Our mission is to change this. We believe that such change starts with understanding the nature of the problem, and measuring what works.
When we are thinking about children in Care, adopted, on the edge of Care, involved in criminal justice services, or who have poor school attendance, this is a highly complex population of children and young people who deserve the best possible care. Such care is expensive and paid for from the public purse. Children who have been in care go on to worse outcomes than their peers, which are also expensive to the public purse. Commissioners (and Ofsted inspectors) need to know that the placement is actively addressing the children’s complex needs, and is of the highest possible quality. Quality care is a worthwhile investment as it improves the life chances and long-term outcomes for children – something that also saves money in the long-term.
At the moment most children’s social care services don’t use any validated outcome metrics. This means that we don’t know whether the placements and services are effective in making measurable change for the child. We can’t compare the outcomes from different types of placement or service, and we can’t tell whether commissioners are getting good value for money for the public purse.
The BERRI Provides Reliable Outcome Metrics:
Identifies needs and tracks progress in complex children
Provides a measure of efficacy, quality and outcomes
