Our Team

James joined Detention Action as Deputy Director in April 2019, with two periods as Acting Director. He was previously Director of Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group for two and a half years, and has worked for 17 years in the refugee and detention sector (including over 10 years at the British Red Cross). He has extensive frontline experience supporting people at all stages of the asylum and detention processes. His work at Detention Action has included leading our challenge to the Rwanda policy.

Jade joined Detention Action in June 2023. She has over a decade of experience advising on human rights and refugee law and policy, focussing on the prevention of torture and other ill-treatment and conditions in detention. Prior to joining Detention Action, she was Head of Policy at HM Inspectorate of Prisons and worked as a solicitor in community and refugee law in Australia.

Sally oversees our casework service for people being held indefinitely in detention. She manages a team of Casework Coordinators who provide emotional and practical support to people in detention and leads on the development of the service.

Mona Alya, Leila, LJ & Sumrah – Casework Coordinators

Detention Action’s Casework Coordinators are key members of the Casework Team, working with our Casework Manager to provide emotional and practical support to people in immigration detention and coordinate our network of volunteers.

Tony – Community Support Manager

Tony runs our Community Support Project, which supports people to live in the community when they have experienced, or are at risk of, long-term detention.

Carmen has coordinated our fundraising work since July 2025. She has campaigned and organised for migrant justice in the US and UK. She holds qualifications in criminology, criminal Justice and public policy.

Graeme – Communications & Campaigns Manager

Graeme joined us in September 2021 and oversees all of Detention Action’s campaigns and communications work. He has a wealth of experience, and was previously Refugee Campaigns Coordinator for Amnesty International Australia and Campaigns Manager for Unicef UK.

Alla – Communications & Campaigns Officer

Alla joined Detention Action in May 2024. She studied Sociology and brings several years of experience as an academic researcher in Hong Kong. Prior to joining Detention Action, she worked in communications roles at Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID) and Border Criminologies at the University of Oxford.

Steven – Lived Experience Campaigns Coordinator

Our Lived Experience Campaigns Coordinator joined Detention Action in December 2020. He oversees all aspects of our work with people with lived experience, including facilitating Allies for Justice, a group of campaigners with lived experience of the UK’s detention, deportation, and asylum systems.

Dana manages our office and provides administrative support to the team.

None of our work would be possible without our incredible team of around 60 volunteers. If you’re interested in joining us, you can find out more here.

Detention Action is registered charity (no. 1198554) and is funded by a range of individuals and organisations including: A B Charitable Trust, Barrow Cadbury Trust, Bromley Trust, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation,  Trust for London, City Bridge Foundation, Oak Foundation and Comic Relief.