Author Archives: Heather Piper

Following a 'career' which included being a nanny, pub work, selling, travelling, and more, I became a senior social work practitioner and worked for a social services department and later a major charity in a number of child protection, mental health, and inter-agency contexts. Life as a researcher happened more or less serendipitously when I was invited to work on a project focussing on inter-agency child protection practice, my 'specialism' at that time (1994/5). This initial project was quickly followed by others in South Cheshire and the North West region; many of which were multi agency funded. I soon caught the research bug and have latterly been found working on a number of more substantial projects. My research interests are varied, but remaining faithful to my early professional training tend to lie in the borderlands between the educational and social.