Ellies Profesional Profile

Ellie Atkins
Learning & Development Overview

About Ellie Atkins

Ellie Atkins is a nationally recognised leader in adult social care and homelessness, specialising in safeguarding people experiencing severe multiple exclusion and disadvantage, leading on trauma-informed practice and system transformation.
Ellie’s work sits uniquely at the intersection of complex adult safeguarding and social care reform.

She is Chair of the National Peer Network for Social Workers Specialising in Homelessness, hosted by King’s College London, bringing together practitioners and leaders across England to strengthen social work practice, influence policy and improve responses for people experiencing homelessness.

A practitioner academic and early-career researcher, Ellie’s work focuses particularly on hidden disabilities, executive functioning and the ways fragmented systems can unintentionally exclude people with the greatest care and support needs.

Grounded in frontline practice, lived experience and relational social work, Ellie’s approach encourages professionals and organisations to rethink homelessness not simply as a housing issue, but as a complex social care, safeguarding and trauma issue requiring systemic, human-centred responses to close the equity gap for people experiencing multiple exclusion, disadvantage and health inequality.

Ellie believes when people and systems work better together from a place of shared values and understanding, equity gaps close and people can be supported to have better outcomes and better lives.

Context

Multiple disadvantage in England — including homelessness, poverty, trauma, mental ill-health, addiction and unconscious bias and exclusion — continues to drive profound health inequalities and early mortality.

People experiencing homelessness die, on average, around 30 years earlier than the general population. In addition to the human cost, severe and multiple disadvantage creates significant pressure across housing, health, safeguarding and social care systems.

Yet despite increasing national focus on rough sleeping and homelessness, many responses remain fragmented across services. Individuals with complex trauma, hidden disabilities, executive functioning difficulties and unmet care and support needs frequently fall between systems, remaining visible to services but insufficiently supported.

This workshop creates space to think differently.

It invites professionals to think beyond procedural responses and explore how relationship-based, trauma-informed and legally literate social work practice can strengthen safeguarding, close the equity gap and support people not simply to survive, but to thrive.

The Art of Possible

What if we thought about and did things differently?

What if we changed the language we use?

What if we mentalise the world in which peoples struggles appear?

This learning experience encourages professionals and organisations to reflect on how systems can become more human, relational and responsive to the realities of people experiencing severe multiple disadvantage..

Aims

Reframe homelessness through a multi-dimensional, trauma-informed and rights-based lens

Promote professional curiosity and critical thinking in complex safeguarding situations

Understand executive functioning and be able to consider tools to support curiosity.

Highlight the role of adult social care in homelessness prevention and systemic change

Strengthen connections between housing, safeguarding, health and social care systems

Strengthen understanding of social work practice within homelessness contexts

Learning Outcomes

Participants will be able to:

• Define multiple exclusion homelessness and its impact on wellbeing and inequality
• Apply Care Act responsibilities within homelessness and safeguarding contexts
• Recognise indicators of trauma, cognitive impairment and executive functioning difficulties
• Integrate more relational and person-centred approaches into practice
• Reflect critically on the question: “What might I be missing — and what difference could my curiosity make?”

Delivery Style

Reflective, thought-provoking and grounded in frontline reality, Ellie’s facilitation style combines storytelling, research, practice experience and critical reflection to create learning that is both challenging and supportive.

Key Messages

Professional curiosity saves lives

Fragmented systems can unintentionally exclude those most in need

Hidden disabilities and trauma matter

Legislation can be a tool for dignity, equity and change

Every person deserves to be seen, heard, supported and empowered

Commissioning & Enquiries

Training can be delivered in-person or virtually.

Contact:
ellieatkins_uk@outlook.com

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellie-atkins-20aa18281