SAFE Associate – Linda Hobbs
Linda Hobbs is a highly experienced trainer and consultant with over 25 years dedicated to workforce development across children’s services, education, and family support sectors. Her career has been firmly rooted in a commitment to making a positive and lasting difference to the lives of children, young people, and families.
Linda has extensive leadership experience within Local Authority Children’s Services, where she established and led a training centre from concept to full operation. Under her leadership, the provision expanded significantly, offering a broad range of qualifications across both children’s and adult workforce sectors. She has also worked as a manager and trainer within Plymouth Local Authority’s Workforce Development Team, and as the owner of Plymouth Training and Consultancy Ltd, she managed and led an apprenticeship provider offering sector-wide professional development.
Safeguarding has been a central focus throughout Linda’s career. A child protection trainer since 2010, she has delivered training to over 18,000 professionals and worked in partnership with multiple Local Safeguarding Partnerships, including Plymouth, Devon, and Torbay. She continues to serve as a lead trainer for Plymouth Local Safeguarding Children Partnership and is both a licensed NSPCC trainer and a Home Office-trained Prevent practitioner.
Linda designs and delivers a wide range of safeguarding programmes tailored to both single-agency and multi-agency audiences. Her expertise includes Child Protection (core and advanced), Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) training, adolescent safety, graded care, safeguarding adults, safer recruitment, and professional boundaries, as well as ensuring compliance with Keeping Children Safe in Education.
In addition to safeguarding, Linda has developed and delivered leadership and management programmes aligned to children’s and adult services. These programmes covering leadership, performance management, change management, coaching and mentoring, and partnership working have been endorsed by the Institute for Leadership and Management (ILM).
Linda has also contributed to national initiatives, working alongside Dame Esther Rantzen and Deborah Meadon to support the Children’s Voice Appeal, raising awareness of Childline and advocating for the voices of children and young people.
In recognition of her impact across business, safeguarding, and education, Linda was a finalist for Entrepreneur of the Year at the Plymouth Evening Herald Business Awards.
Linda remains committed to continuous professional development, maintaining up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding practice, policy, and research to ensure her work continues to meet the evolving needs of children, young people, and families.