David Pitcher

Dave Pitcher [born 1958] has been a practising social worker since 1984. He now works in Plymouth as a Family Court Adviser/ Children's Guardian with the Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Service [Cafcass].

Dave's interest in children cared for by their grandparents arose out of his own casework, and he carried out an early study of issues for grandparents, 'When Grandparents Care' [1999]. He is the Honorary Social Work Adviser to the Grandparents' Association, and helped found Grandparents Plus. He is an adviser to Families Need Fathers in Plymouth.

Dave has received three national awards for his writing and work. His doctoral research, at the Tavistock Clinic, looked at relationships between adopted children and their 'new' grandparents. Dave has contributed over twenty journal articles and book chapters,most recently 'What Maisie Knew: A Child's Experience of Divorce' [Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 2011, 52:519-528] and 'Thou Loathed Issue of thy Father's Loins: Some Effects of Early Childhood Maltreatment as Seen in Shakespeare's Richard III' [Seen and Heard, 2013, 23 [2]:26-33. With Shabana Jaffar, he is currently beginning a study of Muslim children who are removed from home.

Dave has written about the literature and history of Cornwall and Dartmoor. At present, he is working on the episcopal visitations of John Grandisson to Cornwall in 1328-1336.

Dave lives in Saltash, a short distance from where the Tamar and Brunel bridges link Devon and Cornwall. Both 'Inside Kinship Care' and 'Where is Poppy's Panda?' make links- between people, between ideas, and across generations.

You can find Dave ringing the bells at his local church, or running with the Tamar Trotters- usually at the back!