Lin Sands MSc, NLP practitioner

Lin has over 40 years of experience within her safeguarding career. She has worked strategically and operationally as a consultant, practitioner and trainer, nationally and internationally. She has a background that spans law enforcement, national policy development, and high-level consultancy.

Lin has a Master’s degree in Disability Studies.  She is a qualified Coach, Investigative interviewer, Adult Education Trainer and NLP practitioner.  Lin has experience supporting homelessness charities and women fleeing domestic abuse, particularly during the pandemic.

Lin began her career as a Police Officer and later became a Specialist Detective in Public Protection Teams, working in inner city Bristol and rural areas of Dorset, investigating child abuse, domestic abuse, and serious sexual crimes.  Lin also served as an Independent Investigator for a joint Home Office/Department of Health inquiry into historical child abuse, where she interviewed over 200 witnesses.

Most recently. Lin was the Police & Justice Lead for the NWG Network, focusing on modernising and updating their Disruption toolkit to safeguard children and young adults from all forms of exploitation, modern slavery, and human trafficking.

Lin has acted as a "critical friend" to statutory, non-statutory and third-sector organisations, provided policy development (including frameworks for the Welsh Government) and operational support.  She has also acted as an Expert Witness in cases involving Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) and coercive control.

Since 2001, Lin has facilitated and produced Adult/Child Safeguarding training to statutory/non-statutory practitioners, and she was one of the country’s first trainers to facilitate the ‘Achieving Best Evidence’ model of interviewing and the Care Act.

 Lin specialises in complex safeguarding issues, including exploitation, including modern slavery, human trafficking, and "baby farming" (illegal adoptions), and Violence & Abuse: Domestic abuse, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Honor-Based Violence (HBV), and Forced Marriage.

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