Russ Bellenie has a long-standing passion for children’s social care. Training as a qualified teacher, he transitioned into social care after working with street children in Brazil and Russia. Completing his MA in Social Work, he has worked for several local authorities across London and completed the first year of Family Therapy training as part of the Systemic Model. He is passionate about restorative justice and has served on his local Youth Offending panel for 10 years. Currently he is the children’s principal social worker for London Borough of Barking and Dagenham where he is involved in building strategic partnerships, leading on issues of marginalisation, establishing the practice culture within children’s social care and initiating innovative practice.