Social Work News - Winter 2021

The magazine for social workers, by social workers

SOCIAL WORK NEWS WINTER 21

2,384,331

THIS IS HOW MANY PEOPLE UK SOCIAL WORKERS REALLY HELPED IN 2021

IN THIS ISSUE...

COLUMNISTS:

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OKAY, SO YOU’VE WON THE LOTTERY ...DO YOU STILL GO TO WORK?

If you hit the jackpot on Saturday, would you still show up to work on Monday morning? Matt Bee asks the question we’ve all asked ourselves at one time or another...right?!

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IT’S TIME WE CHANGED THE NARRATIVE - I’M PROUD TO BE A SOCIAL WORKER!

Team manager Tilly Baden shares her passion for her profession, and says it’s time the media stopped demonising social workers and saw them for who they really are.

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THE SECRET DIARY OF A SOCIAL WORKER ON CHRISTMAS EVE

As she prepares to work her seventh Christmas Eve in a row, The Secret Social Worker invites us to spend the day with her, guiding us through a typical December 24th.

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EMBEDDING ANTI-RACIST PRACTICE IN SOCIAL WORK

Pooling their shared interest in ethnicity and diversity in social work, Cherelle Francis and Anneta Pinto Young talk about their work in support of the anti-racism agenda.

22 THE DEBATE Is it ethical to use social work techniques on family and friends? That’s the question we’ve been asking social workers across the globe, and their response was overwhelmingly clear...

34 FEATURE

Brothers Andy and Matt Smith speak to SWN about how they turned their negative start, in an abusive foster home, into a positive future for children across the UK, with Smash Life.

40 CHAT Lemn Sissay OBE talks Christmases past, and reveals why The Christmas Dinner Project means so much to him, and to so many care leavers across the country at this time of year.

44 INTERVIEW Rob Scheer shares the story of the trashbag in his desk drawer that changed his life, and his Christmas wish to end the cycle of trash bags for children in foster care for good.

18 MY TOP 5 VIDEOS Social worker and YouTuber, Kayleigh Rose Evans, shares witih us her five most popular videos of 2021.

46 ALL I WANT...

Wondering what your social worker loved one would really like to find under the tree this Christmas? These might not be easy to giftwrap, but we’re certain they’d be gratefully received!

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EDITORIAL FOREWORD Happy Christmas to social workers; you have been awesome this year.

You have lived through a second year of the Covid pandemic, dealt with difficult political challenges, and worked in uncertain financial times. You have seen inequality rise, the climate crisis deepen, and the struggle against racism continue.

Your caseloads have likely gone up, and your wage in real terms has likely gone down. Yet despite all of the challenges, you are out there every single day making a difference to hundreds of millions of people across the world. From Nigeria to Nicaragua, the UK to the USA, Australia to Albania, you are there when you are needed the most.

Thank you for always being ready to take that call, do that visit, and make those changes. For intervening, assessing, and reviewing. You have made more of a difference than you will ever know. Those seeds you planted might not sprout for many years to come, but whether or not you get to see them bloom, know that it was your empowerment that started the process.

You got up early and came home late to make a difference. You went to homes that nobody else dared visit to make a difference. You gave people who no one else cared for the empathy they needed to make a difference.

In an often dark and dangerous world, it was you who brought some light into people’s darkest days.

26 FEATURE

Ever wondered how many people UK social workers really help in a year? Well this year we committed to doing the maths and the research, and the results were eye-opening...

Thank you for being awesome. Enjoy your time off this festive period. Eat, drink, and be merry. You have certainly earned it. Happy Christmas.

PRESS@MYSOCIALWORKNEWS.COM @MYSWNEWS

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MEET OUR WINTER COLUMNISTS! We take pride in being the voice of social workers and in this issue, we’re featuring some of our favourite contributions, from those working on the frontline...

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rom the moment we published her first article, back in October, the writer who goes by Social Work Sorted has become a firm favourite with our audience.

“I think the fact that Social Work News is written by practicing social workers means we can talk about the issues that aren’t necessarily taught in social work education, such as in my article on P5,” says the senior practitioner, who reveals her weekends are largely spent finding piles of crunchy leaves to jump in with her children.

“The more we talk and write about these issues in our community, the more likely it is that those making the ‘rules’ and policy might actually listen.”

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Columnist Matt Bee has spent a great deal of his Autumn pulling together our Christmas issue’s long-read feature (P26). When he hasn’t been buried in Freedom of Information request responses, or daydreaming about winning the lottery (P8), the highlight of the recovery worker’s festive season was the arrival of his beautiful new baby girl at the end of November.

Congratulations Matt and family!

Professionally, it’s been a busy few months for team manager Tilly Baden, with increased referral rates and an influx of court work keeping her team busy. In this issue, Tilly is shouting loud and proud about her pride in her social work role (P10) and also reveals her personal life has been busy as 2021 comes to a close: “I’ve been out competing most weekends with my horses (pictured riding the lovely Molly), and am really looking forward to my first Christmas in my new flat.”

Kayleigh Rose Evans is a familiar face

to many in the social work community, with a thriving YouTube channel, and in this issue, shares her five most popular videos of 2021 (P18).

“Social work is an incredibly challenging job, and I am behind the work Social Work News are doing to provide an avenue for the social work voice to be heard straight from people doing the job,” says Kayleigh, who has been busy paddle boarding (pictured) and exploring in her camper van during her downtime over the Autumn months.

“It’s important for people to feel supported, represented and inspired.”

Cherelle Francis and Anneta PintoYoung joined forces for their P16 column on anti-racist practice.

Social Work News’ own race equality advisor, Cherelle - who is busy planning her wedding after getting engaged in the summer, says: “We hope to be able to empower and encourage others to stand up and make a change.”

Anneta, who recently gave a talk on ‘Outlanders - Hidden Narratives From Social Workers Of Colour’ anthology as part of Black History Month, agrees, saying: “This article definitely speaks for itself regarding my passion on this topic. A lack of activism does not just affect black and ethnic minorities, but the whole social working community.”

Speaking about his article on P14, 3rd year social work student David Grimm, says: “I wanted to write this piece in order to engage people in discussion around care experience, and believe that through open discussion, we may create a welcoming and nurturing environment that looks kindly upon care experienced professionals being open - we’ll never know until we try!”

THE FAMILY COURT POLITICS NOBODY TALKS ABOUT And special thanks to the Guardian…”

In my career I’ve heard this sentence more times than I can count, and the sinking feeling in my gut is always the same. I would be sitting in the courtroom as the Local Authority Social Worker, having written numerous updating court statements and care plans under strict deadlines.

I’d listen to the praise given to the children’s guardian for being in attendance for one court hearing, when I had travelled miles to attend every single hearing, no matter how short. I would feel incompetent when the views and opinions of the guardian, detailed in a position statement, would be held in higher regard than my own.

All this despite the guardian having met a child or family once.

It speaks volumes that despite holding numerous care proceedings over the years, and offering the same standard of practice in each case, I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve heard from a judge: “...and special thanks to the Social Worker.”

IT’S IMPORTANT FOR ME TO BE CLEAR; I MASSIVELY RESPECT THE ROLE OF THE CHILDREN’S GUARDIAN IN CARE PROCEEDINGS. I fully appreciate that our roles are hugely different. This isn’t about social worker vs guardian. It’s the very opposite. Which is why I’m calling it

out. Because when a judge praises a guardian, above a social worker, it becomes social worker vs guardian.

It feeds into an unspoken status quo giving the impression to everyone in the room that guardians should be held in higher esteem. It widens the gap between professionals, and creates a disharmony that isn’t helpful for prioritising children’s needs.

JUDGES HOLD GREAT POWER TO MODEL EQUALITY IN THE COURTROOM. IT’S OKAY TO ACKNOWLEDGE HIGH QUALITY PRACTICE, BUT IF PRIORITY IS ALWAYS PLACED ON GUARDIANS, IT DOES NOTHING TO HELP A POSSIBLY ALREADY-STRAINED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTS AND SOCIAL WORKERS. I think the best outcomes for children occur when the social worker and guardian balance each other out. I know I need the input of the children’s guardian when I might be so close to a case I can’t fully consider all of the options or gaps in evidence. And many guardians I’ve worked with have revealed judges treated them differently when they worked for local authorities. I have experienced the critique that continuously hits local authorities in the courtroom. Is it sometimes valid? Of course. But it’s always an individual social worker who bears the brunt of it. Couple this with a social worker’s contribution to care

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proceedings being actively ignored, where a guardian’s involvement is actively praised, and it’s a recipe for burnout.

This isn’t a simple topic. There are so many complexities in different courtroom relationships, but we need to talk about it. I know I’m not the only social worker to experience this.

I don’t know any judges personally. I don’t know if there is a forum to talk about this. I don’t know if this would be well-received or whether it simply sounds like the rants of an annoyed social worker. But I do know this might help another social worker, fresh out of the courtroom, and feeling like they have given their all, while hoping for just a tiny bit of recognition.

So this is for the deflated social worker.

And for the overworked guardian.

But mainly for the judge who might not realise the impact of their ‘special thanks’ on the people in the room.

Let’s keep the conversation going.

‘THIS ARTICLE IS HELPFUL BECAUSE IT’S SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE SPOKEN ABOUT AND ADDRESSED. IT HAPPENS, IT’S REAL, AND QUITE FRANKLY IT DOES CREATE A DIVIDE...

SO BE OPEN ABOUT IT.’ - Felicity Annita

THANK YOU TO ALL THE OUT OF HOURS SOCIAL WORKERS ON DUTY THIS CHRISTMAS

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n a profession that is filled with unsung heroes and unheralded good deeds, perhaps the most unrecognised of all of us are the out of hours duty social workers who look after our clients on evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays.

children, taken children home to their parents after being missing, attended police interviews with teenagers, put the gas and electric back on in cold and dark homes, provided hungry families with food, supported police on abuse call outs and so very much more.

SUFFICE TO SAY THAT WITHOUT THESE WORKERS, I COULD NOT DO MY JOB, AND THE CHILDREN I SUPPORT WOULD NOT BE SAFE.

These valiant social workers are on call when the rest of us are sleeping and, at This needs better recognition as a this time of year, being merry with our whole and especially at this time of friends and families. year. As we are opening our presents They are there to respond to on Christmas morning there will be emergencies at all hours and often end duty social workers who are just up placing children in care, responding getting into bed after having been to serious injuries and abuse, and up all night providing emergency being at the forefront of safeguarding interventions for children at risk of in the dead of night. significant harm.

Yet, despite their sterling efforts and As I sit down to Christmas dinner with invaluable roles, we hardly ever hear my wife and children there will be duty the deeds of our out of hours workers. social workers all across the world who They go about their tasks quietly and will be responding to crisis situations. meekly, solving problems when they arise and making sure that children and WHEN I AM GETTING READY FOR BED, THERE WILL BE SOME SOCIAL their families are protected from harm.

WORKERS WHO HAVE JUST TAKEN Such is their low profile that I would AN EMERGENCY PHONE CALL AND somewhat embarrassingly fail to name ARE GETTING READY TO LEAVE even a single out of hours duty social THEIR HOMES FOR THE NIGHT. worker in my very own local authority.

Indeed, save for a single friend who worked out of hours for a council I worked in a few years ago, I would not be able to name an emergency duty team social worker from any point of my past decade in social work.

However, I could give you hundreds of things that they have done for the children I have supported. They have found emergency foster placements for

Our on-call senior managers need some recognition here too. There will be service managers and social work leaders all over the land who will have their work phones on throughout Christmas day - being ready at any time to field telephone calls about emergency placements, foster care, funding, and strategy discussions.

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At any time their phone could ring and they will be taken away from their family and thrust back into work mode.

Uneasy is the head that wears a crown.

These stories will not be told and no recognition will be given. The only reward will be knowing they did the right thing and that, when somebody had to do the job, they stepped up and answered the call.

Then there are all the others we work alongside in safeguarding who will have no time off over Christmas either - foster carers, residential workers, nurses, and police officers, who we all rely on to keep children safe.

They will be forgoing time with their own children in order to keep other people’s children safe, and for that we owe an immense debt of gratitude.

My hours in social work are often long and there are rare occasions where I have to work deep into the night. I have never had to work Christmas Day though, and have never had to stay up all night responding to emergency situations with children I have never met before. It takes a special kind of person to work those jobs and manage those situations, and those people deserve more recognition.

Thank you to all of you who are working this Christmas - whether social workers, managers, foster carers, residential workers, nurses, police officers or anyone else who we collaboratively work with in safeguarding. You are all heroes and my thanks go out to you for all you do.

Merry Christmas, and may you have as peaceful a one as possible.

OKAY, SO YOU’VE WON THE LOTTERY

DO YOU STILL GO TO WORK?

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hat would you do if you hit the EuroMillions jackpot? Buy a Rolls Royce? A mansion? A life in the sun? How much spending can you do before it just gets a bit… boring?

There are people out there who would scoop the big prize on Saturday and faithfully report for duty on Monday.

Would you?

Because it must get boring sooner or later. You see it all the time with the super-rich. They run out of ideas. One yacht isn’t big enough, so they buy another. The sea isn’t big enough, so they blast into space. Bezos, Musk, and Branson are all chasing their rich-fix amongst the stars these days. Wouldn’t life be easier if, like you and me, they could get the same thrill from a two-forone deal on Ben and Jerry’s?

Possibly you’d have a long holiday, sail around the Med, and buy a penthouse apartment in Mayfair to store all your shopping from Selfridges.

Let’s be honest, probably not.

BUT SURELY, AT SOME POINT, YOU WOULD FIND YOURSELF IDLY STARING INTO YOUR COCKTAIL GLASS, SWIRLING IT AROUND, AND MISSING THE CUT AND THRUST OF FRONTLINE SOCIAL WORK.

But the real question is this: if you were financially set for life, would you still Our jobs may be exhausting, but come to work? I’ll give you a moment to they’re also satisfying. If you can wipe away the tea you’ve just spat out. forget all the paperwork, bureaucracy,

timescales, targets, and hefty layers of managerialism that suffocate the life from our profession. If you can heave all that to one side, beneath it you will find the pure beating heart of real social work. Those moments when you genuinely feel like you make a difference. And those moments are priceless.

Best of all, if your numbers did come up, I guess you could forget all the managerialism. After all, how can anyone manage a lottery winner? You can’t threaten them, they’d just leave – or buy the whole company and sack you. A private individual can’t really buy a local authority, or course, but it would surely make a difference knowing they could walk out the door at any moment and into the back of a Bentley.

Under such salubrious circumstances, staying in social work might be quite inviting – you could have the best of both worlds. Good deeds to nourish the soul, and expensive cars, jewellery, and fine wine to nourish everything else.

AND YET, SOMEHOW I DON’T SEE THIS WORKING OUT. SOCIAL WORK IS JUST SO HARD - IT’S LIKE EXPECTING A LOTTERY WINNER TO FIX THEIR OWN CAR, OR WEED THEIR OWN FLOWERBEDS. At the same time, I don’t think the choice is straightforward. Just consider all those times you’ve touched somebody’s life, and made a difference. Feels incredible - right?

Lottery winner or not, who wouldn’t want to feel like that?

The problem is that social workers don’t get to feel that often enough.

More commonly, they feel frustrated as they sit at a desk, fighting back a tide of paperwork. Social work has become synonymous with such things. Give me a million quid to leave all that behind?

No problem. But leaving your clients behind? That’s something else.

password for good. Not because we no longer want to make a difference, but because sitting at a computer mindlessly tapping in data is about as much fun as clearing out your own guttering - and when you’re rich, you don’t have to do that either. And that’s why the idea of a lottery winner pulling on a local authority lanyard is a bit mad.

What if you could just do the bit you enjoy, spending time with families and offering them support? Would you stay then? Maybe hold onto a few hours a week, in between breakfast at the Ritz and dinner at the Savoy?

Too bad. Because social work is amazing. At its heart, when it is about one human being helping another, it is incredible, inspirational, even irreplaceable.The problem is all the drudgery that comes with it.

But sadly not even a lottery winner can pick and choose the bits of social work they like, which is why I reckon most of us in that position would opt to jet off for sunnier climes, forgetting our IT

It’s like a Lindt chocolate wrapped in a used tissue. Sweet on the inside - but not very digestible when you could be eating caviar instead.

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IT’S TIME WE CHANGED THE NARRATIVE

I’M SO PROUD TO BE A SOCIAL WORKER!

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openly admit that I am proud to be a social worker. It’s more than a job, it’s a way of life, and has literally defined who I am today.

My social work values shape my personal beliefs, and I feel humbled to be part of a profession that supports people at the most vulnerable points in their lives. We are the safety net for society.

The world without social work would be bleak. However, the public rarely realises what a fundamental positive difference we can make to individuals, their families, and carers. Whatever sphere of social work you are part of, you are there - day in, day out advocating for the seldom heard.

DESPITE ALL THE POSITIVES OUR PROFESSION CAN BRING, WE ARE HATED BY SO MANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.

Social workers are demonised by the media, and stigmatised by society.

We are either portrayed as ‘fluffy dogooders,’ who serve as much purpose as a chocolate teapot, or as evil, malicious child snatchers who make up wild and outrageous lies to hoodwink the public and steal children for some kind of financial reward from the state.

As those of us within the profession know, these caricatures couldn’t be further from the truth.

Social workers are real people, with real emotions, doing real work.

We spend our days championing people who are at rock-bottom, when everyone else has turned their backs.

ARMED WITH A NOKIA 3310, A NOTEBOOK, AND BABY WIPES, WE GO ALONE TO PLACES THAT THE POLICE WILL ONLY GO TO IN PAIRS, WEARING BULLET PROOF JACKETS

WITH TASER GUNS AND BATONS. Social workers often jeopardise their personal safety to ensure the safety of others. Social workers are expected to work miracles and keep people safe, all while working with ever depleting resources, and facing contempt wherever we turn.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t for a second think that social workers are the ‘golden profession,’ nor claim that our jobs are more important than other professions in healthcare, education, and the emergency services. My point is that we are equally as important as the doctors, nurses, teachers, police officers, and others who work in public services. Social workers are a vital link in the chain - without which, society would look very different.

Despite the value we bring to the world, we continue to be misunderstood and vilified. Generally speaking, the public don’t understand what we do, and this uncertainty breeds fear, mistrust, and even hatred.

WE NEED TO GENERATE A NEW CONVERSATION, AND SPARK PUBLIC INTEREST IN SOCIAL WORK AND SOCIAL CARE. We need to share the human stories behind the media headlines. We need to show the public what social workers do, and why we are important.

Most importantly, we need to come together as a profession, to support one another, and showcase the brave and honourable work we do each day. Public perception will never change until we learn to use every media available to us, to shout our achievements from the rooftops.

It’s time to change the narrative.

‘ALMOST AS IF YOU PLAGIARISED THAT FROM MY BRAIN. I AM PROUD TO BE A SOCIAL WORKER, IT’S JUST A SHAME THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND WHY ARE ALSO SOCIAL WORKERS. PROUD OF THE LOT OF YOU’ - Stevie Hollinsworth

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THE SECRET DIARY OF A SOCIAL WORKER ON CHRISTMAS EVE

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hristmas Eve is a Friday this year so, once again, I’ll be working it.

Being a (relatively) young, single, and childless woman there’s always this assumption that I’ll be fine working Christmas Eve because I don’t have anything better to do.

I mean I could see my friends for pre-Christmas prosecco, do some last minute shopping, visit my niece and nephew, or go on a date with a Jude Law-type, sipping on mulled wine as we walk hand-in-hand through a snowy Christmas market…

But, no, I’m single and I don’t have kids, so I work in order to give the mothers in the team the chance to spend Christmas Eve with their little ones.

Do you sit there, crying inside as you drink a pint of Baileys hidden in your coffee?

And I’m only a little bit bitter about it.

The truth is, Christmas Eve is pretty much the same every year:

THIS YEAR, MY SEVENTH WORKING CHRISTMAS EVE IN A ROW, WILL BE SPENT IN ROOM 215 OF MY LOCAL AUTHORITY’S SPECTACULARLY BRUTALIST SIXTIES CONCRETE BEHEMOTH OF A HEADQUARTERS.

7am: Wake up and check your email on your work mobile. Notice that four of your colleagues have kindly asked you to do a ‘quick check in’ on a family they apparently haven’t had time to visit before taking two weeks off.

What’s it like? I hear you ask.

8am: Breakfast is coffee and a cereal bar on the drive in, while listening to ‘All I want for Christmas ’ on the radio for the 789th time this season.

Do you rescue children from grisly fates like the plot of a Hallmark movie?

Do you flirt with the handsome Colin Firth-lookalike in the mail room?

8:25am: Arrive in the office to another three emails relating to ‘quick visits.’

If this continues you’ll be seeing more

children than Father Christmas himself this Christmas Eve. 8:45am: Email from the head of service wishing everyone a happy Christmas and thanking us for our hard work this year. An email you suspect he sent from his all-inclusive knees-up break in Benidorm.

9am: Second coffee of the day while eating a stale cupcake from the mound of sweet treats that have accumulated on the spare desk.

9:10am: Send a passive aggressive email to all of the team in relation to covering visits for social workers who had ample time to do so themselves.

Get eight out-of-office responses and immediately wish you hadn’t bothered.

9:20am: Debate whether your seven visits should be announced or unannounced. Decide that the last thing people want today is an unexpected visit from ‘the social.’

10:50am: Spend 28 minutes on the phone explaining to a health visitor that just because a mother didn’t answer her phone it doesn’t warrant an emergency welfare check.

11:51am: You rationalise that taking some presents with you will soften the blow of an unannounced visit from a social worker they’ve never met before, and trawl through the last presents left from the Salvation Army charity gifts mostly Lynx or Dove gift sets.

BLARING, THE DOG IS BARKING, AND YOU CAN DEFINITELY HEAR CHILDREN ARGUING, BUT THERE’S NO ANSWER. 1:20pm: Visit number 2. More lights, TV, and dog barking, but no answer.

1:40pm: Visit number 3. Hallelujah, someone answers. As there are neighbours in their garden, you politely try to explain that you are ‘from the council’ but when this fails to grant the requisite entry you mouth that you are a ‘social worker.’

Inside there are four children looking healthy and happy, and mum reports she is ‘fine.’ Awkwardly ask if you can have a look around the home, and you’re out of there in 7 minutes.

2pm: Visit number 4. Wrong house.

Computer records need updateing.

2.20PM: VISIT NUMBER 5.

“YOU’RE NOT THE USUAL ONE” IS THE OPENING GAMBIT, FOLLOWED BY A 40-MINUTE TIRADE ABOUT HOW TERRIBLE THE USUAL SOCIAL WORKER IS. The kids seem displeased with their Lynx and Dove gift sets.

3:05pm: A duty call has come in from the housing service after a teenager turned up announcing that they are homeless. You head to the town hall housing department to deal with it.

12:15pm: Spend your entire lunch 3:11pm: Sixth cake of the day. break in a Starbucks drive thru, but at least you have a venti gingerbread latté 3:14pm: First tears of the day to go with the three cakes you pinched 3:45pm: 45 minutes of solutionfrom the office. focused therapy, family mediation, and 1:10PM: VISIT NUMBER 1. THE motivational interviewing sees your LIGHTS ARE ON, THE TV IS teen in the car with you heading back 13

to their parents’ home.

4:50pm: Teen’s father thanks you, and offers you a glass of sherry. You’re tempted but remember that this duty call, which has taken just over an hour, will involve at least the same amount of time spent on actioning the referral and recording your involvement.

You’ll likely have to open a bloody child in need assessment too and, even though you’re way over capacity, you’ll get the case because you ‘already know the child.’

4:51pm: The teen refuses the Lynx gift set on offer.

4:52pm: First sherry of the day (joke).

5:15pm: Visit number 6. The children’s father answers and, quite rightly, questions both why you are working Christmas Eve and why you are visiting on Christmas Eve. You don’t have a decent answer for either but he lets you in. The children are happy and healthy. You’re out of there in four minutes.

5:50pm: Visit number 7. Nobody’s home. Dump the rest of your Christmas gifts by the front door and push a council compliment slip through the letterbox which reads: ‘Happy Christmas from your social working Santa.; 5:55pm: Listen to ‘All I want for Christmas’ on the radio for the 790th time this festive season.

6:20pm: Log on and record the visits you’ve completed, and the support offered to your teen.

7:30pm: 12 and a half hours after you began, you finish for the day.

7:31pm: First sherry of the day (for real)

SOCIAL WORKERS SHOULD FEEL ABLE TO TALK ABOUT THEIR OWN CARE EXPERIENCE

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wish to state upfront that, in writing this, I’m not seeking to force anyone ‘out of the closet,’ as it were.

Likewise, I do not wish to push people with lived experience into discussions and public acknowledgements they’re not yet ready for.

Rather it is my aim to assist in the creation of an environment that would allow for an easy admission, should someone ever wish to discuss their own care experience in the workplace.

There are, of course, many definitions of what it means to be care experienced, but for the purposes of

this piece, my understanding of care experience is anyone that has been in care for a period of three months or more - whether that’s fostering, secure care, residential care, kinship care, adoption, or respite care. For most care-experienced people I’ve come across, their experiences stick with them, often shaping their lives far into adulthood.

Over the last two years of my studies, through discussions and reflections, I have come to the belief that we do not actively engage in discussion about care experience, or the issues faced by care experienced social workers.

IT FEELS AS THOUGH THESE EXPERIENCES ARE ACCEPTED, BUT IN HUSHED TONES AND WITH A ‘DON’T ASK DON’T TELL’ MENTALITY. Many people qualifying as social workers are entering into a profession that is designed to support people with similar experiences to them, yet they feel unable to publicly acknowledge or speak about their own experiences.

To qualify my interest in this topic, I should explain that I myself am care experienced, growing up under the

care and involvement of the Scottish authorities from a young age. I have spent the last 18 years doing what I can to enhance the lives of careexperienced people, and hope to continue this work once I’m qualified.

In fact, my care experience and interactions with social workers were driving factors in my choosing to study social work at university.

This subject also holds my interest on a selfish level, as I have already experienced lecturers using language such as ‘LAC’ children, or mentioning how we will not discuss such notions as love in the care system, and even several discussions with colleagues who have deemed it ‘inappropriate’ to mention that they have care experience.

With this in mind, I would like to ask those of you reading, of all the social workers you have worked alongside, do you know how many of them have lived experience? Do you often speak about care experience in an open and positive manner? If not, then how do you - if at all - talk about careexperienced people? How do you and your superiors create an environment that welcomes such discussion?

IN ASKING THESE QUESTIONS, I DO NOT SEEK TO VILIFY THOSE SOCIAL WORKERS AND MANAGERS THAT DO NOT HAVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF CARE, BUT RATHER TO HIGHLIGHT THE FACT THAT LOTS OF PEOPLE DO. And they may feel - just as I have on several occasions - uneasy discussing their own lived experience, and unable to realise the potential positive 15

influence this could have on a young person they’re working alongside.

To these people, I would ask them to consider why they feel uncomfortable speaking about their experiences, and how they feel they could benefit from colleagues engaging in active discussions about care experience.

From a personal reflection, I believe that discussion and removal of censorship might lead to a more beneficial and thriving environment for all social workers - not simply the careexperienced ones - potentially allowing a smoother building of relationships between all social workers and young people.

It is my hope, going forward, that all social workers with lived experience will feel comfortable applying their own experiences to their work - whether those experiences relate to care, addiction, homelessness, people with refugee status, Gypsy/ Roma/Traveller community, or even people who identify under the banner of LGBTQIA+.

All should be comfortable to openly discuss their lives, without fear of judgement or disciplinary action.

In a final note to all in practice, I would encourage those working at all levels of social work to think about the questions I’ve raised. I know social workers are extremely busy people, and it’s a demanding environment, but take the time to review how you discuss care experience, and how you respond to people that are willing to disclose their care experience to you.

It’s not always about massive pieces of organisational policy. Small change is better than no change, particularly if it gets the ball rolling.

EMBEDDING ANTI-RACIST PRACTICE IN SOCIAL WORK Anneta Pinto Young, Deputy Chair of the Staff Race Advisory Group, and Cherelle Francis, Deputy Chair of BASW Black and Ethnic Minority Professionals Symposium, share their interest in ethnicity and diversity in social work, and their motivation to provide input on work around anti-racist practice in the sector.

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n the last 10-20 years, it has felt like there has been a culture of silence around anti-racism, and even people with an activist background in antiracism have not felt safe to speak up and champion these causes.

need to become comfortable having regular uncomfortable conversations so that topics such as race and racism are normalised.

A year ago, with the death of George Floyd, there was a wave of literature, videos, dialogues, and programmes geared towards anti-racism, and for the first time in years people felt that they could speak.

A focus on the structures and systems that exist, that are inherently racist, and the need to develop literature to deconstruct and dismantle these systems. This starts with conversations and discussions, in order to develop a better understanding and awareness.

For example, the government’s race report, which stated that the ‘UK is not institutionally racist,’ and the negative message this has sent to people working hard to support the anti-racism agenda was quite daunting, and felt like a slap in the face to anti-racism activism.

We both have expressed an interest in becoming involved in anti-racism work, but wondered where to start, given the myriad of information and activities that need to be tackled in this area.

Some of the things that we needed to consider relate to how we talk about racism, especially with people who are not from ethnic backgrounds, to avoid labelling people as being ‘racist.’

When thinking about it together, we realised there were some themes that we needed to have involved, around people’s understanding of race, power, privilege, and equality; thus creating our five areas of key learning: 1. TRAUMA FROM HISTORY The need for an understanding of the historical context of race and how we got to where we are now. This spans from the post-colonial systems and the need for people to understand the legacies around slavery. Challenging the view that slavery happened a long time ago so black people need to ‘get over it.’

2. HAVING UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS There are things that we need to say that may feel like ‘ruffling feathers,’ and there are worries about being censored, and some concerns about making people feel uncomfortable. We 17

3. INSTITUTIONAL RACISM EXISTS

4. RACE IS A PRIORITY There is often an idea that, when it comes to the topic of race, it is easy for other things to always take priority, and there is generally a worry about how to ensure that we do not lose momentum.

Our response to this has been to put together a training programme as part of the core offer within our local authority, focusing on anti-racism, ethnicity, and diversity in Social Work.

5. CHANGE WILL COME Some things will change in the here and now, but some changes will take time - maybe even years. If we start doing the basics now, then we can leave a better world for the next generation, and for generations to come.

One final thought and question for reflection - what is your legacy and how do you want to be remembered as a person who created change?

Let’s support the anti-racism agenda!

MY TOP 5

SOCIAL WORK VIDEOS OF 2021 Social worker, Academic, and Youtuber Kayleigh Rose Evans shares her five most popular videos of 2021. Watch them at youtube.com/c/kayleighroseevans.

HOW I MANAGE A LARGE AND COMPLEX CASELOAD You go into frontline practice and want to be able to stay on top of work, but it can be overwhelming.

I quickly realised I needed a more systematic approach and spent time developing a method that worked for me, continuing to adapt the method over time. Since we don’t often get the opportunity to see this from others I thought I would share mine in a video to get people thinking! I have since been told that people have adapted this for their own work, and it’s even been shown in universities.

THINGS I WISH I’D KNOWN AS A STUDENT SOCIAL WORKER This video has had more than 10,000 views, which I’m pleased about considering I filmed it before I felt ready to be on camera, in a building site house, with a pin board behind me to hide the fact I had no wall!

I talk in this video about things I think all student social workers should know, which led to a brilliant social work lecturer getting in touch with me, and we have since collaborated to create a series where he answers 20 questions to help social work students.

INTERVIEW TIPS SERIES I created this series after reflecting on how hard social work interviews are, and my own lack of preparedness when I first started applying. I was fortunate to find people who helped me to improve my interview skills at the time, and I wanted to pay this forward by sharing what I learned with others.

I USED MY NOTES FROM THE PAST FIVE YEARS OF INTERVIEWS TO COMPILE THE SERIES, AND THEY CONTINUE TO BE AMONG MY TOP-RATED VIDEOS. People have even been in touch to say the videos helped them get their first job. It’s great to feel I’m having a positive impact.

I FAILED MY FIRST SOCIAL WORK INTERVIEW! I find it quite amusing that this is one of my top videos, as it means that when people type my name into YouTube, this is the first thing that pops up, with ‘failure’ written in giant letters.

The reality is you should never see yourself as a failure just because you didn’t get the job. The interview process is incredibly difficult.

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OVERALL, I AM PLEASED I PUT THIS VIDEO OUT, AS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN IN TOUCH TO SAY IT MADE THEM FEEL BETTER TO KNOW IT’S ‘NOT JUST THEM’ WHO GOT KNOCKED BACK FOR JOBS, AND IT OPENED UP A CONVERSATION. I was particularly pleased as one of the key aims of my channel is to bring people together and help them to realise they are not alone.

ADVICE FOR GETTING ONTO A SOCIAL WORK COURSE This video includes tips for people applying to get onto a social work course. I initially felt that this would help people in the UK, but have since found out the information has been transferable to people all over the world, which I found remarkable!

It includes hints and tips for likely questions asked, and suggestions on what I believe those making the decisions will be looking for. Interviews can be difficult as you can be an absolutely brilliant person, but it’s all about your ability to put yourself across in a certain way. I hope this video helps people build their confidence enough to do this.

EVER FANCIED SEEING YOUR WORDS IN PRINT? ...honestly, who hasn’t?!

W

hether it’s a humorous observation about office politics, your thoughts and opinions on a current issue or hot topic, an overview of your research, or a resource review, mysocialworknews. com exists to give you a space to share your articles, columns, and blogs about life as a social worker.

it is likely to draw a knowing nod of recognition, because the truth is that nobody gets social workers like other social workers.

As well as our Feature content, our Social Work News team works hard to bring you the latest updates in the News section of our homepage, making it easier for you to stay up to date with Each day our online platform is updated one click of your mouse/swipe of your with entertaining and engaging content finger. And if we don’t have it - register written by social workers just like you on the site and share it yourselves with from across the globe, and whether our growing global community of social lighthearted or serious, nearly all of workers! Each quarter, we select some

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If you’d like to write and share content, comment on and ‘like’ other people’s words, access our free quarterly magazine, and receive our weekly digest newsletter of the Social Work News week’s highlights - all while giving your CPD a valuable boost! simply visit mysocialworknews.com to register for free today. Pour yourself a cuppa and come dive in...

THE DAY I WAS REPORTED TO SOCIAL SERVICES

T

he day I was reported to social services, I remember sobbing as I attempted to hide out of view with my children in the ballpool of a local play centre.

It felt worse to me than someone wrongly reporting me to the police. I may not have been physically arrested, but I felt shocked and shackled.

I’d received the call whilst jogging around the park with my baby in the running buggy, and my other daughter at nursery, shortly before pick-up and a promised trip to Wacky Warehouse.

The phone call from social services stopped me in my tracks.

The voice on the other end of the line was calm and reassuring, but that didn’t help much at the time.

The rest of the day passed in a blur as I did my best to keep the ‘mask of motherhood’ smile on my face, occasionally bursting into tears when I couldn’t hold them back any longer.

Whilst feeding my baby to sleep that night, her elder sister snuggled next to us, I felt a deep panic rising up in me.

Was I parenting wrong? Was I so “bad” that social services were now going to remove my babies?

The next day, I kept replaying the conversation in my head. Someone, it

seemed, had reported me for seeming ‘over tired’ as I was still breastfeeding both children. I didn’t know who it was, and I still don’t, but I had received so much criticism about the fact that I was naturally weaning my daughters.

IN THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY, AND THINKING MORE CLEARLY, I DECIDED TO CALL SOCIAL SERVICES MYSELF TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING. The person I spoke with reassured me that it was standard procedure to look into any reports they received.

Their initial response would be to simply contact some of the playgroups I attended. I felt so ashamed that a number of playgroup leaders would discover I was in ‘trouble.’

The social worker I spoke with kept trying to allay my fears, reassuring me nobody was talking about removing my children. She told me she was there to offer any support I needed, but I found it hard to trust what she was saying.

As the service began the process of reaching out to the various groups I was a part of, I vowed not to return to any of them.

However, in the weeks that followed, something amazing happened. The bottom didn’t fall out of my world. The 21

social worker who had been assigned to my case recognised how much I was doing for my children, and her support gave me the confidence to return to those groups.

What had initially felt like a harsh spotlight on my ‘weird’ parenting methods, ended up transforming into a limelight, shining a light on my choices, recognising what I was doing well, and my love for my children.

Throughout that time, I was struck by the compassion of the social workers I dealt with. They do such a hard job, and there’s such a lot of stigma attached to the work they do. To this day I remain grateful for their support.

IN THE YEARS SINCE THAT PHONE CALL THAT SHOOK MY WORLD, AND NOW AS A SINGLE MOTHER, I’VE COME TO VIEW THE SOCIAL SERVICE TEAM AS PROFESSIONAL ALLIES. With renewed understanding of what they do, I’ve reached out to them on a few occasions over the years, and to the child support hub, when I’ve needed additional family support.

Today my family is better and stronger for the intervention and support I received. And for that, I say thank you.

84% YES

16% NO

THE DEBATE IS IT ETHICAL TO USE SOCIAL WORK TECHNIQUES ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS? I’d rather someone use social work skills with me than be a horrible friend,” says Danny Baker, a social worker based in the north west of the UK. He adds: “Many social work techniques are just good life and people skills to be fair, so I see no reason why not.”

“I’m not even sure how much of it is conscious though. Social work skills change how you interact and see life. I completely switch off from work when I’m not at work, so if I do it, it’s not conscious.”

Helen Hall, of Hexham in Northumberland, completely agrees, saying: “It’s ingrained in you! I assess everyone when I meet them without realising!”

Amanda Mole, of Florida, says: “First thing that comes to mind is interpersonal effectiveness and I can’t imagine why I wouldn’t use those skills with friends and family (and the weird neighbour, and the annoying coworker, and the kid who asks me why my hair looks like that).”

Kimberly Janse Biding went one step further, crediting her social work skills with helping to maintain her marriage.

“PRETTY SURE IT HAS SAVED MY MARRIAGE MANY, MANY TIMES,” THE SOCIAL WORKER, OF ONTARIO CANADA, QUIPPED.

in practice, makes you very good at asking questions in a certain way. I can quickly get information from people.

Pip Tuipulotu, of Australia, knows something of this too, adding: “I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR JEDI MIND TRICKS - my husband, 2008.

SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA, SAYS: “IT’S VERY HARD NOT TO USE SOCIAL WORK TECHNIQUES IN EVERY SETTING.

“Although often essential in high-risk situations, I don’t feel this is always ethical in my private life. I find myself “Being able to draw on my social work being very transparent with my friends background has helped me resolve conflict, be empathetic, and listen when and family to ensure they only tell me I should listen instead of talking when I things they are happy for me to know.” should not be talking.”

LINDA JANE BURGESS, OF NEW

“Note we are still married.”

Cathal Lynch, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, says: “I find a strategy meeting is an effective way to decide who cooks Christmas dinner,” while Amy Langman threw the responsibility back at her family and friends, adding: “I say, if they keep treating us like their personal social workers, why not?!”

Kayleigh Rose Evans, a social worker and academic based in Lancashire, revealed there are times and places for this, explaining: “The act of being in situations where it can be a matter or life or death whether you manage to elicit information or build rapport

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“I usually refer to my social work background, and often will say “this is not something I would say to a client” when I put my ‘friend’ hat on.

Carie Roberts, of Australia, says: “I case-managed my separation and still am, I social work my kids, and they’re very emotionally intelligent. It’s why I’m a social worker, it comes naturally.”

But while most social workers admitted they happily use their social work training in their personal lives, Susan Seahorse, from the East Midlands, warned: “My issue is when I catch my social worker friends using it on ME!”

12 THINGS EVERY SOCIAL WORKER SHOULD KEEP IN THEIR CAR For a social worker on the go, their car is so much more than a means of travel often doubling as a mobile office, break room, changing room, and roadside diner.

Here are 12 things every social worker should keep in the car for every eventuality:

5. PPE Social work is unpredictable, so it’s always best to be prepared. Stock your boot with disposable gloves, masks, aprons, shoe covers, bin bags and hand sanitiser.

bin bags. A simple gesture of providing some proper bags to a person in need keeps the humanity in what is too often a traumatic and undignified situation.

6. COMMUNICATION SYMBOLS.

1. A CHANGE OF CLOTHES We’ve all had those days, so whether you’ve accidentally sat down in cat sick, been vomited on by a small child, or spilled your lunch down yourself, any social worker worth their salt knows the value of keeping a spare top and trousers in the car.

It’s always wise to have a supply of laminated emojis, symbols, pictures, and phrase cards, to aid communicating with anyone who may find it difficult to verbalise their thoughts and feelings.

10. TOYS AND GAMES. No matter what area of social work you practice in, chances are you’re going to come across children at some point. A bag of toys for the child to explore can provide you with that essential window of respite to have a serious social work conversation with the adults.

7. WATERPROOF COAT, WELLIES, A TORCH, AND A BLANKET.

2. SNACKS - AND CONDIMENTS! A lunch break is never guaranteed, which is why it’s a good idea to stock your car with snacks that can be grabbed by the handful on the go.

Be prepared for every eventuality.

Whether it’s a broken down car, a visit in an unexpected location, or a heating system on the blink, these are items that will be worth their weight in gold.

11. MAP AND PHONE CHARGER.

Quick tip: avoid anything that melts or goes off quickly. Pretzels, crisps, cereal bars, fruit, rice cakes, and jelly sweets are all ideal for chucking in your mouth between visits. And don’t forget those little packs of brown or red sauce for the occasional cheeky butty!

3. WET WIPES AND TISSUES Whether for wiping a runny nose, tears from your eyes, or ketchup from your fingers, these are essential.

4. COLOURING PENS AND PAPER These can be used with all client groups. From ecomaps to mind maps, lists to diagrams, or genograms to doodling, the possibilities are endless.

Anyone who has ever been caught in an area with patchy phone signal will know, you can’t always rely on Google Maps. And while, by the definition of the job title, social workers are amazing at working their way out of tight spots, they’re all infinitely easier to tackle with a fully charged mobile phone.

8. FIRST AID KIT.

12. A TRAVEL MUG AND CUTLERY.

Cuts, grazes, headaches, splinters, blisters, and burns are no match for a super duper first aid kit, which can be purchased quite inexpensively.

9. CLOTH AND HESSIAN BAGS. No child should be made to carry their possessions between placements in

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It’s always best to be prepared whether you find yourself out and about, or in the kitchen of an unfamiliar social work office. Do you really want to be found to be drinking from ‘Bob’s favourite mug,’ or being forced to eat with the rusty-looking fork from the bottom of the drawer? Nope.

HOW MANY PEOPLE DID SOCIAL WORKERS REALLY HELP IN 2021?

A t about this time of year, in almost every industry in the UK and across the globe, people are reflecting on their accomplishments as 2021 draws to a close.

Sales figures are issued. Venues booked. Bonuses paid. And whether it’s been a good year or bad, there will be many hearty, back-slapping, fist-bumping acknowledgements of everybody’s best efforts. The early mornings. The late nights. The blood.

The sweat. The tears.

But in social work we don’t do this. We put in the long hours, work late, and burn out, but we never reflect on what it all means.

It does pay off, though. You do make a difference. And here at Social Work News, we set off on a challenge to capture this in words - or to be more precise, in numbers.

We set ourselves the mammoth task of accounting for every single adult

and child in the UK helped by social workers in 2021 - from the youngest infant, to the oldest care home resident.

Of course, merely totalling up numbers is a gross oversimplification of social work. People’s lives are so much more than numbers, but the numbers themselves are still astounding.

TO TAKE LAST YEAR AS A STARTING POINT, CHILDREN AND FAMILY SOCIAL WORKERS IN ENGLAND HANDLED 642,980 REFERALLS. ADULT SOCIAL WORKERS SUPPORTED 838,530 ADULTS IN CARE HOMES, AND A FURTHER 231,295 RECEIVED SHORT-TERM CARE. THAT’S A SMIDGEN OVER 1.7 MILLION PEOPLE IN ENGLAND ALONE. Now consider the size of the workforce undertaking such monumental work.

We like to think of social work as being

a significant player – on a par with doctors, nurses, police officers and teachers. But we’re not. Statistically speaking, we are but a minnow in the public sector pond.

With just 31,900 children and family social workers in England, our profession is completely dwarfed by nearly all others. There are almost 14 times as many teachers (461,088), ten times as many nurses (299,184), and four times as many doctors (122,446).

In fact, pre-pandemic, there were more chefs working in London (38,000) than children and family social workers in all of England put together. That’s crazy – but not as crazy as the numbers of adult social workers. There’s just 19,500 of these, a figure so small it seems almost ludicrous.

And yet, as we will endeavour to show in these pages, the volume of work they undertake is real David and Goliath stuff.

Adult social workers, so often forgotten amongst the huge, creaking care system, have a weight of responsibility on their backs – as indeed all social workers do. Wherever you look when you start digging through the data, you will find a small body of people supporting infinitesimally more.

Nothing demonstrates this more starkly than the budget we spend.

People think of the social care budget as being small and underfunded. It is underfunded, but it’s not small. It’s huge. The combined total for adult and children social care for 2019/20 was £32.4 billion – over twice as much as the police, and a massive headache for the government.

DONATED IT ALL TO THE SOCIAL CARE SECTOR ON MONDAY MORNING, EVERY LAST PENNY OF IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SPENT

BY WEDNESDAY LUNCHTIME. £220 million is barely enough to keep the lights on in social work – the task of safeguarding the nation’s welfare is so huge.

This is the perennial problem for social workers everywhere. There aren’t enough of them, there isn’t enough money (despite social care being one of the government’s major expenditures), and there is never enough time. Yet, somehow, the sector keeps going. How it does this is a good TO GIVE YOU SOME IDEA HOW question. Grappling with austerity and MUCH MONEY WE BURN THROUGH, then hit with a pandemic, 2021 saw IF YOU WON THE MAXIMUM some of the greatest challenges ever PERMISSIBLE JACKPOT ON faced by public services.

THE EUROMILLIONS OF £220 Back in February, the Department for MILLION THIS WEEKEND, AND Education asked every local authority

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what they were anticipating when schools returned from lockdown. Some responded by saying they anticipated a big spike in referrals, some thought there would be a moderate increase, whilst others thought it wouldn’t make any difference. The truth is nobody knew. But whatever came next, they had to be ready.

Incredibly – and let’s take just a second to acknowledge this – they were.

As it turned out, when the schools did eventually return, some councils experienced an increase in referrals, others didn’t. Overall, though, we did see an increase in young people’s mental health, social, and emotional needs, and there was also an upsurge in domestic abuse. Whilst over in adult services? With hospitals at breaking point and huge swathes of the care workforce off sick or self-isolating, it has been turbulent to say the least.

So, you’d have thought a profession already at breaking point, underfunded

and with a workforce burnt out before the pandemic, would have been completely overwhelmed by the challenges of 2021. Let’s not make light of this. In some places, teams were overwhelmed, and the struggle continues to this day. Writing this now, it is reported that over 75,000 disabled and older people are waiting for help with care needs - a consequence of austerity that cannot be ignored.

But what is the picture like overall? If you could take a snapshot of social work today as we emerge from these bleakest of times, what did we accomplish? Answering this question is not easy. We can’t simply leaf through government reports reviewing public services in 2021 because no such reports exist – these won’t be published until spring next year.

WHAT WE CAN - AND DID - DO, HOWEVER, IS SIFT THROUGH ALL THE RAW DATA THAT THESE REPORTS WILL EVENTUALLY DRAW ON, BECAUSE EVERY LOCAL AUTHORITY SUBMITS MONTHLY UPDATES TO CENTRAL GOVERNMENT, AND THIS DATA IS AVAILABLE TO ANYONE WHO FANCIES TAKING A PEEK. IF ANYTHING, THERE IS TOO MUCH DATA. With 29 separate spreadsheets alone about children in need, it took some time to locate the one we wanted – but we did find it: a spreadsheet listing how many referrals each local authority has received this year. Adding these together should give us a starting point, but it turns out not to be that simple.

Yes, we could probably have patched something together by cherry picking figures from a shedload of reports, academic studies, and press releases, but doing so felt disingenuous. A social worker’s work matters. People’s lives matter. We wanted to reflect that, knowing for sure that every adult or child we accounted for genuinely

existed, and was genuinely helped.

Brandishing statistics plucked from random reports wouldn’t do at all.

Ultimately only one path seemed to be left open – to contact every local authority in the UK to ask them directly ourselves: ‘How many people have you helped this year?’

WHEN YOU SAY ‘HELPED’...?

With 151 local authorities in England, 31 in Scotland, 22 in Wales, and five regional trusts in Northern Ireland, this would take some time. And, as it turned out, it would also take some clarification, since a lot of local authorities responded to our initial enquiries with an inquiry of their own: ‘What do you mean by ‘helped’…?’

A very pertinent question. Social workers do so much. A child protection social worker we spoke to recently listed just a few of the things they must know to carry out their duties.

They need to understand child development, health, disabilities, emotional milestones, education, family law, criminal law, housing law, housing policy, the benefits system, different cultures… the list goes on.

Every social worker needs a vast bedrock of knowledge. Every social worker must engage with a case on many different levels. But the question remains – what do we mean by ‘helped’? We can’t just rely on ‘numbers referred’ because not every referral ends up with support being provided. Many don’t.

After giving it some thought, we restricted ourselves to simply asking each local authority how many cases had been allocated to social workers. We took it as a given that, in the broadest possible sense, social workers will only ever be allocated to try and do something supportive – whatever that might be. We also asked for additional information on workforce size, sickness rates, and budgets.

With our queries sent off, answers started filling our inbox.

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We built a spreadsheet taking the data supplied so far, and using it to forecast how many people each local authority will have helped by the year’s end, if they continue allocating cases at the same rate.

As simple as this seems, it is far from an exact science. We can’t pretend to be statisticians. Nevertheless, as the blank cells of the spreadsheet filled, and the numbers mounted, it felt like we were finally on the right track.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION As the responses poured in, something became strikingly clear. Social work is different wherever you find it. Shetland Islands Council, for instance, confirmed they have just 40 social workers.

Lancashire County Council meanwhile has 950. Correspondingly, the numbers of adults and children they have helped are vastly different (a total of 1,012 versus 39,688).

The social workers employed by both councils may share the same job title, and be performing similar duties, but they must be having very different experiences. They have to be. A social worker toiling away on a small island a hundred miles off the northeast coast of Scotland is not working in the same way as one covering the vast plains of Lancashire, or another crammed into the inner-city streets of London.

The differences go beyond local topography too. If we are considering the UK, let’s start with devolution, since the governments of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland all deliver their own social policy with inevitably variable consequences. (For the record, England is the meanest, spending just £300 per person on social care in 2019/2020 whilst the others spent £450 or more). Then there are variations in local population.

Almost all local authorities support more adults than children, but this isn’t universal. Suffolk supports over four times as many adults (18,769) as children (3965), and Norfolk reports similar rates, presumably

reflecting an elderly population. But in Gloucestershire, the ratio is almost exactly the other way round. There are also stark differences in staff sickness.

In northern Scotland, the adult social workers at Moray Council were robustly healthy in August – with none on sick leave whatsoever. Other workforces are having a much tougher time.

MOSTLY, THOUGH, IF THERE ARE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES, IT IS PROBABLY BECAUSE LOCAL AUTHORITIES ARE JUST VERY DIFFERENT - AS ANY SOCIAL WORKER WHO HAS CROSSED REGIONAL BOUNDARIES CAN ATTEST. With their own management styles, team structures, computer systems, and information officers, we often received very different responses despite sending them all the exact same questions. Local authorities are like that. They behave independently.

They do their own thing.

THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE STATISTICS

If we are trying to paint a picture of social work in 2021, then we are not creating a large, expansive canvas with broad brushstrokes, but rather assembling an intricate mosaic of tiny, misshapen parts that are hard to fit together. Moreover, within each of these fragments - shaped by cold, hard statistics - is a world of social workers living out their own, individual experiences. Some good. Some bad.

Some harrowing. Some incredible. To fill in some of the blanks, we asked our readers to write in. Thelma Jones of Liverpool said that 2020 was her worst year ever following the death of her 21-year-old son. She revealed that throwing herself back into work this year helped, saying: “We are human, we are vulnerable, we have real shit going on in our lives too, but through it all, we always remain professional.”

Annah Mackay from Texas (representing our worldwide contingent) succeeded in getting a food bank to donate supplies for three months to a mother and son who had been financially exploited.

Kiri Elberts oversaw the transformation

of an 18-month-old starved of food and affection. Now he is happy, smiling, walking, talking, and progressing towards his forever home.

WHEN WE ARE TALKING ABOUT SOCIAL WORKERS ‘HELPING,’ THESE ARE THE INDIVIDUAL STORIES WE ARE REFERRING TO - A TAPESTRY OF TALES. TOO MANY TO LIST, AND IMPOSSIBLE TO EXPLAIN USING A SPREADSHEET. Tilly Baden, a contributor to Social Work News and a team manager herself, explained that the thing that has impressed her most this year is how her team could create ‘something out of nothing.’ With resources depleted, no carers available, no formal support whatsoever, somehow, they found a way to deliver support - either by checking in on clients themselves or using informal support networks.

Family. Friends. Filling the gaps.

Social workers constantly do this. And this is what we saw in wider research.

Dr Laura Pritchard-Jones’ study into adult safeguarding revealed the

creative solutions social workers have resorted to during the pandemic – you can read more about her work in the ‘Bite-Sized Lecture’ on P34. Meanwhile, a project by Manchester Metropolitan University and Salford University into the experiences of over 5,000 social workers showed them working, on average, an extra seven hours a week.

Lots of reports say the same. The truth is: social workers don’t get something out of nothing – they dig a little deeper and pull it out of themselves. The same research also shows how they pay the price. They burn out.

‘AND THE NUMBER IS…’ So, what is this all for? How many people did UK social workers really help this year? Inevitably, we didn’t hear back from every local authority, but we did hear back from most.

For those that didn’t respond, we were able to fill in some of the blanks from last years’ reports, estimating that the numbers would be broadly similar.

Eventually, every cell on the spreadsheet was complete. A total was calculated. It won’t be perfect, but it’s

got to be close. It’s the best we can do.

By our calculations, you supported 1,544,170 adults and 843,161 children - an astonishing total of 2,384,331.

If this seems a lot, it’s because it is – equivalent to the combined populations of Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester. It will certainly have felt a lot for every social worker pushing themselves that bit further in 2021, and stretching themselves to meet needs where the public purse hasn’t.

Perhaps, more incredible than the numbers, is something else we uncovered in our research. Despite the immense strain, social workers are largely satisfied with their work. Yes, it’s terrifically hard – but it’s worthwhile.

You do make a difference. And, deep down, social workers seem to know this. We asked our readers: ‘Was 2021 a good year for social work?’ 72% respond by saying ‘yes.’ Collectively, they know it.

They wrestled a lot of good from a very difficult year. They did. You did. And if no-one else says this as 2021 draws to a close – thank you.

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A NOTE FROM THE WRITER “Reaching that final figure leaves me feeling a whole range of things as a social worker.

Firstly, astonished. I had to check the figures several times.

We’re a tiny profession, but this represents a lot of people.

“I also feel proud of the monumental efforts of social workers everywhere – not to mention our equally hardworking counterparts in other professions.

“Finally, I feel humbled, and even just plain sad at what this figure really represents. The world could be a much fairer place, with many less people needing a social worker’s help, but it chooses not to be. It would have been far, far nicer to have arrived at a surprisingly small figure. Even so, thank goodness social workers exist. It makes me proud to be one.” - Matt Bee

THE BITE-SIZED LECTURE Dr Laura Pritchard-Jones drops into the Bite-Sized Lecture hall to explain her new research: ‘Exploring the impact that COVID-19 has had on adult safeguarding and social care’

READ THE FULL RESEARCH Visit adultsocialcareandsafeguardingduringcovid19.wordpress.com to read what has been published so far.

“This research looks at the impact COVID has had on adult safeguarding practice.

“It came about from discussions regarding increasing concerns about domestic violence, and about possible neglect in care homes that might not be picked up as a result of the pandemic. What we set out to do with the research was devise a project that put adult safeguarding at the heart of it, which it often isn’t.

“The focus was very much on a lot of different agencies coming together to share their views on what Covid has done in terms of safeguarding; something we were particularly interested in was the impact that Covid has had on legal obligations, such as assessments, and how practitioners felt they were able to navigate those obligations.

“WE’RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON DRAWING ALL THE FINDINGS TOGETHER, BUT THERE’S A COUPLE OF THINGS IN PARTICULAR THAT ARE COMING OUT ALREADY THAT I THINK ARE GOING TO BE REALLY INTERESTING. “So first of all is the use of remote or virtual assessments. That’s been a real source of frustration for practitioners

over the course of the pandemic, from what I can gather.

“Almost all the front line practitioners we spoke to said that they didn’t feel these virtual assessments were always suitable in a safeguarding context.

They felt they lacked confidence early on in terms of doing the remote assessments, and that there wasn’t that much guidance.

“THERE’S ALSO A CONTINUING SENSE THAT PERHAPS REMOTE ASSESSMENTS AREN’T THE MOST SUITABLE FOR ADULTS SAFEGUARDING WORK, AS YOU CAN’T ALWAYS SEE WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE BACKGROUND - WHETHER THAT BE A DOMESTICALLY ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP, OR A SITUATION OF SELF NEGLECT. “The other thing that has posed challenges is interagency working.

What’s interesting is that the nonfrontline participants tended to report better organisational relationships between different sectors, as it was suddenly much easier to get people around these virtual tables. In the main, however, frontline practitioners reported that - unless there were strong individual relationships there already - it was more challenging to maintain that sort of interagency working beyond just multi-disciplinary team meetings.

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“Another thing that’s been really interesting to see is that Covid has actually shifted people’s perception of safeguarding, or shifted their perception of their work. Firstly, it’s made them question if they want to carry on in social work, if it’s going to be taken down the avenue of becoming a more remote profession.

But it’s also interesting that it really made them fundamentally question ‘What is abuse and neglect? What is adult safeguarding? Can we effectively look out for abuse and neglect if we’re going to be relying more on remote assessments in the future?’

“Adult safeguarding isn’t something that we usually see at the forefront of research projects, and for that reason I think it was really important to do. There’s a lot of data gathering going on, and there’s been a lot of fantastic sector-led initiatives in adult safeguarding, and - particularly during Covid - there’s been quite a bit of visibility in terms of the national network of safeguarding adults, boards, and managers, but what we were really interesting in getting was the practitioners’ view.

“We wanted to know what adult safeguarding means to them, and what the key lessons are from their perspective that they’ll be taking with them, as we move beyond Covid.”

Dr Pritchard-Jones, lecturer at Keele University, & Programme Director for the MA in Safeguarding Adults.

CHILDREN GET ONE CHILDHOOD LET’S HELP MAKE IT A GOOD ONE” Brothers Matt and Andy Smith reveal how they turned their negative start in an abusive foster home, into a positive future for children across the UK.

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t’s been nearly three decades, but Matt Smith can still vividly remember his walk home from school at the start of the 1994 Christmas holidays.

fresh start for us both,” says Matt.

“Instead, we spent the next eight years being physically and emotionally abused by our foster parents - nearly a decade of our lives that would impact everything that came after it.

“It was about a mile, and I remember walking slowly, trying to stretch it out and make it last a bit longer,” he recalls. “I think loving homes are like magnets, children don’t want to leave them, “My friends had dashed home, eager whereas in those years I’d find any to start their festive celebrations, but I reason I could to get to school early, was just crying inside, thinking about these two weeks I had coming up, with and stay late, getting really depressed around the holidays. no chance of escaping to school.

“These are the memories that don’t leave you, they stay with you, and this time of the year can be a trigger.”

Matt and his younger brother, Andy, were taken into care in 1987, when they were aged just five and four. Three years later, they were finally placed together in what they believed would be their ‘forever home.’

“We’d come from a home with a lot of neglect and drug use, so our new foster home should have signalled a

“I’D GO TO FRIENDS’ HOUSES, AND SEE HOW RELAXED AND HAPPY THEY WERE WITH THEIR PARENTS, AND IT MADE ME ANGRY TO SEE THOSE AROUND US GETTING A LOT OF LOVE, WHILE MATT AND I WERE GETTING NOTHING.” After each being kicked out of their foster home when they turned 16, the brothers said they experienced a lot of pent-up anger, low self-

esteem, and feelings of loneliness and suicidal thoughts. This culminated in several brushes with the law, failed relationships, overwhelming debt, and bouts of violence, anxiety, and depression.

In their twenties, the pair rarely spoke, but each of them individually gravitated towards working with children, taking on various youth and community support roles.

In their thirties, they finally reached out to one another.

“We’d hated each other as teenagers, as we were banned from communicating, and made to fight each other as part of our abuse,” says Andy, who is now 38.

“In our twenties, spending time together had brought back painful memories, and we hadn’t known how to repair our relationship. That 15 years apart gave us the time and the distance we needed to deal with what

had happened to us, and gain some acceptance of that situation.

“As you get older, you realise that so much of your behaviour is just covering for all the trauma that’s inside you.

“We were ready now, as adults, to start processing what had happened to us.

We didn’t have the best start, but we were determined not to let it dictate the rest of our lives.

“We drew on the hard lessons we’d learned, and our experience of the care system - as well as our nearly 40 years professional experience working with young people and families - and set about building an organisation to help those in similar situations.”

The brothers joined forces to launch the now-award winning youth organisation Smash Life, offering their own inspirational talks, training, group work, and mentoring to young people and professionals, calling on their unique insight into real life lived within the care system.

Matt, aged 39, adds: “I think it’s very easy to scapegoat social workers.

The truth is, when you’re working in complex family dynamics and situations, it requires a team of people to unpick it, not just one lone professional out on the field.

“We’ve taken the message of a story that isn’t nice to listen to, and pulled out the hope and positivity. Today, we carry out training in universities, with organisations, and at foster care conferences.”

More recently, the pair were contacted by their former social worker, who revealed that she was left ‘haunted’ by her part in finding the boys’ foster home all those years before.

MATT SAYS: “MEETING UP WITH OUR FORMER SOCIAL WORKER FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1991/92 WAS A BIG DEAL FOR US. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME AN ADULT ACTUALLY APOLOGISED TO US FOR WHAT HAPPENED.”

The email dropped into Andy’s inbox as he sat with his wife and two children, and he describes the moment as knocking him off his feet.

“I went upstairs and cried,” he says.

“We never expected anybody to reach out to us after all these years.”

The pair reveal that their memories of the social worker, and the time she spent with them, were positive, so they were happy to accept her invitation.

“We met in a small pub near us, and I think she was a little nervous - we all were - but we were quick to put her mind at ease,” says Andy.

“We explained that, of course, we had questions about that time, but that we were really just looking forward to catching up.

“It was an emotional conversation, but also really cathartic for us all.”

Speaking about their own relationship today, the brothers reveal they’ve come a long way from the angry teenagers, and broken twenty-somethings they once were.

“We haven’t had a cross word in three years, because we both understand why we’re here, we have purpose,” says Matt, who lives in Telford with his fiancée, a short drive from Andy and his family in Shrewsbury.

“Our aim is to give young people what we needed growing up: somebody who cares, and will fight for them.

Smash Life is continuing to evolve and expand, and our team is growing, but the one thing that never changes is the idea that the child is the most important thing, and at the centre of all we do.

Andy agrees: “That’s why we do what we do.

“Christmas is a good time to really stress that, to all those professionals out there, that children only get their childhood once.

“They deserve to be in a place, at this time of year, where they can just focus on being children, and the excitement of what the season may bring.”

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Matt and Andy with their older brother Richard as children (top) and today (below). the Smash Life team out on a wellbeing walk, and (bottom) Matt and Andy collecting their Mayor of Shrewsbury Gold Award.

ASK THE PANEL

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE A SOCIAL WORKER AT CHRISTMAS? EACH WEEK ON MYSOCIALWORKNEWS.COM, WE PUT A QUESTION TO OUR PANEL OF EXPERTS. THIS ISSUE, WE ASK SOCIAL WORKERS TILLY BADEN, KAYLEIGH ROSE EVANS, AND SOCIAL WORK TUTOR, WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE A SOCIAL WORKER AT CHRISTMAS?

TILLY BADEN

KAYLEIGH ROSE EVANS

SOCIAL WORK TUTOR:

Social worker, BIA, Adult Social Care Team Manager, and podcast host

Social worker, Trainer, Academic, and YouTuber

Social worker, tutor, writer, and podcaster

“As with all aspects of social work, it’s like a box of chocolates... you never know what you’re going to get!

“Working in adults’ services, there are the winter pressures where hospitals start to get fuller and there is a panic to get people discharged.

“Most of the teams I’ve worked in tend to have a rota over the Christmas period where half of the staff have to be in work every day that the office is open.

“‘During the festive period, there is general acceptance that people take annual leave and services run on skeleton staff teams.

“This year is a bit different as there is additional pressure around issues surrounding COVID-19, putting “However, those who do work are likely additional strain on the NHS and the to be covering a duty system and some crisis of care.

“In my team, the list has already gone years it can be the Q-word (we never out confirming who will be covering say that word out loud in social work), the two Christmas weeks. The worry and other years it can be utter chaos. for those working right up to the mark “Christmas isn’t a fun time for before the big day is whether they will everyone, and for many people we have to manage all the unexpected support, it can be triggering and issues which arise which can be stressful. Sadly, we usually see an stressful and more difficult as there is increase in mental health crises, less staff. suicides, alcohol and substance misuse, domestic violence, other forms of violence, loneliness, financial hardship, physical accidents, and hospital admissions.

“In adult services, the festive period coincides with our general winter pressure period where health and social care services are under the most strain. Finding packages of care for people around Christmas is a nightmare, as many care agencies are also running on skeleton staff teams.

“This makes extra care calls or finding a bed for someone in residential care more difficult than usual.

“With all that said, I love working over Christmas as I find it the most rewarding time of year to practice.

Colleagues rally around and there is a real sense of camaraderie.”

“MY PREFERENCE IS TO WORK THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS, AND THEN TAKE OFF THE WEEK AFTER - WHICH MEANS I’LL BE WORKING RIGHT UP UNTIL CHRISTMAS EVE AGAIN THIS YEAR. “Although I worry that I’m tempting fate by daring to say this, most of the time I find that the week before Christmas is pretty quiet.

“Schools are off which means that I can do my visits during the day, nobody “However, there is the camaraderie likes to schedule meetings, and most of being around others in the same court deadlines are pushed back until position and the good feeling of getting early January. excited about spending Christmas Day “This means that there’s generally a with friends and family. lot more time to do the things that “I THINK LITTLE THINGS MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE, LIKE HAVING A NICE LITTLE TREE IN THE OFFICE, HAVING TREATS OUT, AND A CHRISTMAS QUIZ BEING ARRANGED FOR EVERYONE - AND BETTER YET, THE CHRISTMAS DO!

I like the most as a social worker visiting families, completing direct work, supervising family time contacts for children out of their parents’ care, delivering food hampers, helping with finances, and taking out boxes of presents to families in need.

“From working alongside the NHS, I saw the struggles nurses had with not being able to get Christmas Day off.

“There’s generally a happy and festive atmosphere in the office too, as staff tend to be in good spirits and looking forward to Christmas itself.

“This made me glad that I got Christmas Day and the bank holidays off as that works out to be a really good break!”

“Now that I’ve said all of this, watch me get a 3:55pm duty call on Christmas Eve that sees me working until midnight mass!”

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WHY LEMN DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO TAKE BACK CHRISTMAS Lemn Sissay OBE reveals why The Christmas Dinner Project means so much to so many care leavers across the country.

“Christmas can be split into two kinds of people, those who look into the windows of houses of others, and those who look out.”

“THIS BEAUTIFUL TAPESTRY OF FAMILY WAS SOMETHING I WASN’T PRIVY TO, AND SO THERE WAS AN INVISIBLE STRESS I CARRIED WITH ME THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE CHRISTMAS PERIOD.

Lemn Sissay OBE puts down the wellthumbed copy of his 2008 poetry book, Listener, and looks over his glasses.

“I know there are a lot of care leavers ‘It may not be the best of poems, but it out there who feel that same sense of invisibility the closer Christmas comes.” says everything,” he says.

“Throughout my childhood, and on leaving care, Christmas was always a reminder of everything I’d never had.

“The moment the Christmas adverts began, there was always this sense of dread that began to creep over me.”

Lemn, whose pregnant mother came to Britain from Ethiopia, was only a few months old when he entered the UK care system, spending the next 17 years moving from foster home to foster home.

THE 54-YEAR-OLD, WHO JOKED IN HIS 2013 TEDTALK THAT AS A CHILD OF THE STATE, MARGARET THATCHER - THE PM AT THE TIME - WAS LEGALLY HIS MOTHER, REVEALS CHRISTMAS WAS ALWAYS A DIFFICULT TIME FOR HIM. “The people around me would begin to migrate back to their own dysfunctional families for these beautiful celebrations that only the people inside those families understand,” he recalls.

“You know what I mean; each year your mum cooks the potatoes the way she cooks them, you take your partner there for Christmas, and you tell them ‘don’t mention the potatoes.’ At some point your grandma will cry, your sister will be late, something will be spilled, and there will be a bit of a fallout.

Lemn taps a finger on the cover of the book in his hands: “That three-line freeform poem encapsulates why I wanted to launch The Christmas Dinner project.”

Lemn launched The Christmas Dinner project in Manchester in 2013, inspired to create an event to help communities provide local care leavers with an amazing Christmas Day. “I didn’t want to make something that ‘would do’ for care leavers,” he says, with a shake of his head.

“I wanted high standards - great food, prepared by chefs, brilliant presents that would leave people feeling that excitement and shock you do when, as a kid, you get something absolutely amazing for Christmas.

“And I wanted to bring communities together - care leavers, social workers, volunteers - to unite and celebrate the day in a positive way.”

Last year, The Christmas Dinner project held celebrations in 21 UK towns and cities, with each event organised by a local steering group of volunteers.

Lemn is quick to drive home the importance of The Christmas Dinner events being held on December 25th.

“A lot of other care leaver Christmas dinners aren’t held on Christmas Day, but rather on a day that’s convenient

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for the services supplying them. While this is perhaps understandable, it doesn’t take away from the stress of the day for those young people, which is the entire point.”

Lemn recalls his own Christmas Days, after leaving care at 17, describing them as “a time of depression.”

“I would close my doors and just not engage with the outside world,” he says simply.

“As Christmas came closer, with the dark nights, there was a tide of depression that filled me. I just gave up, and locked myself away, and that became my habitual behaviour. It felt like a darkness I could drown in.

His eyes twinkle as he adds: “I started The Christmas Dinner project because I wanted my Christmases back - and I got them.”

“I WANTED TO GIVE THE WIDER COMMUNITY THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE LIFE OF THE CARE LEAVER, TO DO SOMETHING GOOD FOR A GROUP OF PEOPLE RIGHT ON THEIR DOORSTEP. “I believe the community, outside of social services and the care system, has cultivated a prejudice against young people in care, and social workers, so I wanted to unite them in doing something positive for a young person clearly in need on a particular day - to wrap their arms around them, and take care of their own.”

Social Work News is proud to have donated to The Christmas Dinner Project, and you can too at thechristmasdinners.org.uk, where you can also learn about organising a care leavers celebration in your area.

“HAVING A SPACE TO GET THINGS OFF YOUR CHEST IS POWERFUL” As we head into the Christmas period, Samaritans Head of Service Programmes, Ben Phillips, explains what the charity’s NHS and Social Care helpline has to offer.

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t’s been 20 months since Samaritans launched its dedicated NHS and Social Care helpline in the United Kingdom.

“One week after it was proposed, the helpline launched - the turnaround to get it staffed and up and running was that quick, it had to be.”

demonstrating a longer term demand for the service as the pandemic continued throughout 2020, and into 2021.

“As the pandemic took hold, and we saw the pressure that NHS and Social Care staff were under, we realised there was a need for a helpline dedicated to supporting these frontline workers,” says Ben Phillips.

IN THE MONTHS THAT FOLLOWED, AS THE PANDEMIC GRIPPED THE COUNTRY, THE CHARITY ANSWERED CALLS FROM SOCIAL WORKERS AND SOCIAL CARE STAFF, AS THEY BATTLED LONG HOURS AND DIFFICULT WORK, OFTEN IN ISOLATION.

“Numbers began to increase, most likely for a couple of reasons,” says Ben, who confirms the helpline was initially pegged as a 6-12 month service.

“Everywhere we turned, these people were being overwhelmed - due to capacity issues, as well as bereavement - and both NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care wanted to see what we, as Samaritans, could do to provide some emotional support.

As time went on, rather than seeing a decline in callers, health and social care staff continued to call the dedicated helpline at a steady pace,

“Firstly, awareness of the helpline was growing, and secondly, people were emerging from the initial thick of the pandemic, and having more time to process their feelings, and recognise internal struggles.

“Early on, we were getting calls from people concerned about the unknown,

the rising numbers, and the guilt of isolating while colleagues battled on the frontline. As time went on, we saw a switch to people dealing with burnout and the trauma of the pandemic.

“Early on, people calling also really felt the need to double-check we weren’t a branch of the NHS, or their own HR departments, and I think it now feels like a safer space to talk.

SINCE APRIL 2020, THE CHARITY’S DEDICATED NHS AND SOCIAL CARE HELPLINE HAS RECEIVED NEARLY 15,000 CALLS, AND THE HELPLINE HAS NOW BEEN CONFIRMED TO RUN UNTIL THE END OF MARCH 2022.

“That’s pushing two years, so twice as long as our previous top estimate,” says Ben. “Some people call just once, while others call more regularly, so it’s very personal to the individual. I think, for a lot of people, feeling heard in that way, and having that safe space to get things off their chest, is quite powerful.

“I don’t think people who see themselves as supporters and carers, like social workers and social care staff, can always see themselves as someone who may need support too.

This is a problem, as it can be a barrier to them seeking help.

“There’s something about talking with

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a stranger, and feeling like you’re not burdening loved ones, that gives people the freedom to really share their feelings, take off the work mask, and allow themselves to be vulnerable.

“Our trained listeners are honestly incredible at what they do, and they’re not going to be telling you what to do or trying to provide answers, they’re just there to listen and respond.

“They’ll help you explore things and work through the process with you, but you’re the one in the driving seat of the conversation.”

Call the free confidential support line on 0800 069 6222 7am to 11pm, seven days a week.

“NO MORE TRASH BAGS FOR CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE” Father-of-five, Rob Scheer, reveals why he still carries a trash bag with him everywhere he goes - as a reminder of the thing he can never forget, and the thing he is determined to end.

I literally lived on the streets my entire senior year of high school,” Rob Scheer shares matter-of-factly, pausing a beat to let that fact sink in.

“I was one of tens of thousands of kids each year who age out of the foster

care system in the US, and became homeless just after my 18th birthday.

“Each morning I would hide my trash bag, which contained everything I owned in the world, behind some nearby bushes and go to school, hoping the other kids wouldn’t notice

the holes in my shoes, or make fun of the fact I smelled, and clearly hadn’t brushed my teeth in weeks.”

After being removed from an abusive household, Rob - the youngest of ten children - grew up in the care system in Virginia.

“In this country, the statistics of children from our church, and I told them my story; the story of a 12-year-old boy from foster care even graduating from who walked up the driveway of his high school are horrific, just 54%,” first foster home carrying a trash bag, “And 80% of our prison inmates have a trash bag that tried to define me, to either been in foster care, or been tell me nobody cared, a trash bag that touched by foster care. we continue to give out to children in “By the time I turned 18, my brothers foster care every day. and sisters had already started falling “I TALKED ABOUT EACH OF MY to the wayside - addiction, suicide, teenage pregnancy - and it scared me. KIDS ARRIVING AT OUR HOME WITH THEIR BELONGINGS IN I was determined to make something A TRASH BAG, BUT WITHOUT better for myself.”

SO MUCH AS TOOTHBRUSH.” Rob graduated high school, and joined the US Navy: “Not because of my pride in my country,” he explains, “but “I told them about my first night in because I was hungry and scared. foster care, when I was forced to use the same bar of soap that everyone “MY FIRST NIGHT THERE I else in the house had used ahead of LAY DOWN ON MY BED AND me, without even knowing some of CRIED WITH RELIEF; RELIEF their names. It was about dignity.”

THAT I HAD A BED, AND A HOT Rob and his team set up Comfort MEAL COMING THAT NIGHT.” Cases in a bid to change the narrative for children coming into the foster care system. They created cases that contained toothbrushes, soap, and PJs. Each case had a journal, pencils, a book, a stuffed animal, and a blanket.

“I was 20 before I owned my first book,” Rob says.

Rob (right) and husband Reece with their five children

Rob worked hard and built a good life for himself. He became a successful businessman, met and married his husband Reece, and together they adopted five incredible children.

“I poured myself into making sure my children had the best lives, and for a while that was enough,” he recalls.

“But then, one day in 2013, I realised there was still more that I wanted to do.

I was sitting in my office talking to my husband and I pulled out a trash bag that I keep in my desk - a trash bag I keep with me at all times, I never want to forget where I came from.

“I told my husband I wanted to eliminate trash bags in foster care. He, of course, thought I was crazy, but I was determined.

“I wanted every child, whether newborn or 19-years-old, to have a book, a stuffed animal, and a blanket to wrap themselves up in.”

Nine years on, Comfort Cases has delivered over 150,000 cases to every single state in the US, and to Puerto Rico. More recently Comfort Cases expanded to the UK, where it continues to supply cases for free to social workers, who can order them by visiting the ComfortCasesUK website.

Rob, now in his fifties, says: “I believe each of us has a moral obligation to ensure we leave children’s lives better than we found them, because they didn’t ask to be put into foster care.

“Comfort Cases has done incredible work, but there’s still so much more to do. My goal is that one day soon every politician will stand with me and say ‘no more trash bags for children in foster care.’

“I gathered some of my senior team, members of our community, and people “That’s the day I’m working towards.”

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5 THINGS ON EVERY SOCIAL WORKER’S CHRISTMAS LIST

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not too sure about the validity of those figures either...) we think it’s a lot higher. We also think that manageable caseloads lead to happier social workers, more stable teams, and better outcomes for the people you support.

s Christmas is just around the corner we are dreaming of mulled wine, mince pies, and boxes of chocolates.

We are also dreaming about a blessed few days off work, and wondering about all the presents we might be lucky enough to receive too.

On the subject of presents, here are five things that we know any social worker would love to find in their stocking come Christmas morning.

In honour of all those benefits, our third wish this year is for a lower caseload all round.

2: A MOBILE PHONE (THAT ACTUALLY WORKS PROPERLY) Our consultant editor Vince still remembers the day he got his first iPhone as a social worker. He should, given it was only last year.

Up until then he tells a sorrowful firstworld problem tale involving push button phones, cracked screens, missing chargers, dead batteries, and poor signals.

In honour of these first-world problems, 1: A NEW CASE RECORDING SYSTEM we are wishing on a star for a brand new phone for all of you this year.

Paperwork. It is just about the number one gripe of every social worker out there and we at Social Work News have never heard a single person wish for more (but, if they did, they would be put straight onto the naughty list!).

It is not just the paperwork itself that is the problem either. Outdated, ineffective, and buggy recording systems are often major stumbling blocks to getting work done; unnecessary duplication, pointless mandatory boxes, frequent roll backs, and sudden losses of work all being massive headaches.

This year we really wanted less paperwork but, as we all know that is not going to happen any time soon, we will instead settle for a new case recording system.

4: A BETTER WORK/LIFE BALANCE 2021 saw us all live through another turbulent year of grappling with the impact of the Covid pandemic.

Whilst some of you found a better work/life balance in the continued shift towards more home working, many of you also struggled with being away from the office and having limited contact with others.

We want things to be better for everyone in 2022 and for all of you to have the work/life balance that suits you best.

5: A HIGHER WAGE Whilst our wish list is filled with things for your social work Christmas lists, we know that you will all have friends, family, and colleagues to buy presents for that really do exist and really do cost money - which can often be a stretch on the average social work wage at this time of year.

If paperwork is the number one gripe then caseloads must be pushing hard for the top spot among social workers this year.

We think that you are not paid well enough for the work that you do, that your wages do not reflect the effort and responsibility of your jobs, and that inflation means most of you have experienced a real-term pay decrease over the past decade.

Despite government claims that the average social worker only has sixteen children on their caseload (yeah, we’re

Our fifth and final wish is for a higher wage all round. A 50% boost sounds about right to us.

3: A LOWER CASELOAD

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From care home parties, and festive duty visits, to emergency call-outs for mental health assessments, this is...

THE REALITY OF WORKING AS A SOCIAL WORKER AT CHRISTMAS

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his Christmas Day and Boxing Day, as many of us are tucking into the turkey, or munching down on a box of Miniature Heroes infront of the Strictly Christmas Special, Irfan Aziz will be at work.

Irfan Aziz

“I don’t celebrate Christmas personally, so I try and opt to work over Christmas if I can, for the benefit of colleagues that do celebrate, and would like to be home with their families,” says Irfan, a social worker, who does AMHP work in Liverpool, and Mental Health Liaison work in a Greater Manchester A&E department.

Act and require assessment, so I will be spending that Christmas weekend responding to requests that come in.

“There will be instances where individuals and families are in crisis, or where people have been detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health

Irfan says he feels the responsibility of his job every single day, which can see him undertaking mental health assessments anywhere - out in the

“THERE ARE A LOT OF REASONS PEOPLE MAY NEED OUR HELP THIS TIME OF YEAR. IT COULD BE TO DO WITH A RELATIONSHIP, IT COULD BE ALCOHOL-RELATED, OR SOMEONE DEALING WITH “I find Christmas is often reflected in POOR MENTAL HEALTH, the volume of call-outs we get, as it can INCLUDING PSYCHOSIS.” be really busy during the festive period.

community, in A&E depts, on mental health wards, and at police stations.

“It’s a 24/7 service, 365 days a year,” he explains, revealing that rotas are usually done six months in advance, to allow people to make plans.

“It’s a huge responsibility, as potentially you could be depriving someone of their liberty, when you’re talking about detaining patients on mental health wards, so it’s important to be thorough.

“I do sometimes find at Christmas that you get professionals who, just before the festive period, panic and think ‘we’re going to be off for a week, so we’d better refer this case for a mental health act assessment. Sometimes, it’s not proportionate, and the least restrictive options should be explored.”

“It can also be quite quiet, especially between Christmas and New Year.

I work in an adults team where we deal with longer term work, so we’re generally able to plan things in advance and make sure things are in place for the people that will need them over that Christmas period.”

Cleo Straughan

Cleo started her current role just four weeks before lockdown, and spent last Cleo Straughan will be at home this Christmas Eve working remotely, which Christmas Eve for the first time in years. she said was incredibly difficult.

After a decade of putting herself “The level of stress, pressure, and forward to work, so that colleagues anxiety was unbelievable, and the with young families could be at home amount of time that my colleagues and to celebrate with their children, Cleo I were working was extraordinary,” says - who is currently on maternity leave the 38-year-old. will be spending this Christmas Eve at “Compared to the NHS, social care home with her new baby boy. workers are often the forgotten team, “I never really minded working working tirelessly to get people out of Christmas Eve,” explains the adult hospital in time for Christmas, making social worker, who is based in London. sure they’re safe - empowering, supporting, and advocating all the “I UNDERSTAND THAT IT’S hours of the day and night.

MORE MEANINGFUL WHEN YOU HAVE CHILDREN, SO I “Last year I often worked 10-11 hour WAS ALWAYS HAPPY TO OPT days in the run-up to Christmas to get TO WORK, AND LET OTHERS things done.”

STAY AT HOME ON THOSE DAYS. And Cleo also says the people she visits seem to welcome her and “Although not everybody wants to appreciate her time more at Christmas. work at Christmas, I do find that people “I do find that people who aren’t always are generally quite chipper, which is happy to see me at other times in the nice, and though it varies from officeyear tend to be a bit friendlier, thanks to-office, and team-to-team, in my to a bit of Christmas spirit. experience, those working tend to come together and make the best of it.. “I also think care homes are joyful places to be at Christmas, as there is “There are usually Christmas jumpers, always a lot going on, and people are food, and a bit of tinsel and batteryin great spirits. The homes I visit often powered lights - as long as it doesn’t invite me for Christmas dinner, which is break any fire safety regulations! really lovely too.”

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#SOCIALWORKNEWS YOUR ARTICLE COMMENTS: Eric Banks @ericbanksSW

In response to columnist Social Work Tutor’s article, ‘We cannot fix social work if we do not fix society first’

Passed my ASYE year. Now I can proudly say I am a social worker without any letters next to it.

Rachel Baker @RazzaBeeSW

@ReginaHamilton: ‘Makes for an interesting read. This thought often crosses my mind about the need to target those most in need with community support, stepping up to offer more practical, less assessmentbased intervention for those families who do not meet the threshold. This will ensure that we reach the families who need us the most in a more timely way. My only fear is sometimes these families are hidden under unmet need, and only during assessment does the whole picture emerge.’

Mondays: Mornings are for #socialwork. Evenings are for #lifecoaching, work & my sons.

Afternoons are for me.

Commenting on The Secret Social Worker’s article, ‘They send me into dangerous places with only a mobile and a lanyard for protection.

Chris Kidd @chriskidd

RE M O

WO R K N E W S AL .C

OMG I did it! I just handed in my dissertation! All #SocialWorkStudents that are doing their placements and studies during this COVID crisis - we can get there!

IC

SO

Single Dad Social Work Student @SingleDadSW

L L A RT

MY

I swear getting a masters in #socialwork is like getting out of the Matrix. You see everything differently. The veil is lifted. #mentalhealth #mentalillness

FU

CI

Stephanie @StephJonesBSc

D

LE

A

Brilliant time exploring how social work with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities can be done better with students @bournemouthuni #socialwork

Anonymous: ‘I worked for one authority for six months with no mobile and a manager who wouldn’t answer her phone! We would get questioned on double ups for visits and it was up to our manager, who wasn’t a social worker, to decide if she felt we should go in a pair. There’s no consistency or policies to protect workers.’

CONGRATULATIONS TO…

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF A SOCIAL WORKER CAME AND KNOCKED ON YOUR DOOR TODAY?’

Laura Jayne Hayes for winning our ultimate social work hamper giveaway on our Facebook page.

We loved visiting Laura and her brilliant social work team in Lancashire. We chewed the fat about social work in 2021 over a cuppa, and handed out some goodies. #ThankYouSocialWorkers

Following a thought-provoking read by the same name, published by Social Work Sorted on mysocialworknews. com recently, we decided to ask our Social Work News community what their response would be.

Firstly, great minds clearly think alike - and in a very British manner - as a number of people responded that they’d start by offering the social worker a hot drink: ‘I would let them in and offer a tea or coffee as I would have nothing to worry about,’ said one, while another added: ‘Invite them in as a human being.’

Our favourite response was written by a woman whose granddaughter is a social worker. She said: ‘I would give her some money to go spend on her list of children, especially the older ones, they seem to get left out of the social media picture. All children have a right to be loved and happy.

‘Then I’d give her some money to help any elderly in their needs.’

She added: ‘Yes, social workers have a huge heart, and we love them.’

Well said.

49

“OOH I NEED ONE OF THOSE!” Dive into our resources round-up - whether it’s out now, or coming soon, here are a few books we think you should be getting your hands on…

The Anti-Racist Social Worker is available from criticalpublishing.com, priced at 14.99.

THE ANTI-RACIST SOCIAL WORKER Review by Laura Green

Nyasvimbo encapsulate this in their chapter, raising the point that change can begin at an individual level, but collectively and organisationally, so much more can be achieved.

The Anti-Racist Social Worker, by Tanya Moor and Glory Simango, is a thought-provoking collection, featuring AS A NEWLY QUALIFIED SOCIAL reflections of activism, and experiences WORKER, STILL IN MY ASYE of social care and allied professionals.

YEAR, THE CHAPTER THAT Containing 14 chapters from authors at PARTICULARLY RESONATED varying stages in their careers - from WITH ME WAS CHAPTER THREE students, to principal social workers - THE ROAD TO ACTIVISM, - each sharing their experiences of

BY DIANA KATOTO, OMAR racism, and discussing how we can MOHAMMED, AND TANYA MOORE. work together to achieve change.

Through their shared revelations, the authors of this book explore how each of us must consider our roles when tackling issues of racism, highlighting the importance of honest conversations if we hope to bring about real change.

The book makes it clear that talking about racism is key to creating action and change for the better. The message remains: we need to do more together. Liz Fergus and Chi

The book compels us to challenge discrimination, calling out injustice when we see it. Yes, it confirms, topics like white privilege may be uncomfortable, but it is essential that we continue to talk and explore.

What I enjoyed most about this book was the range of voices and from those at different stages of their careers. It’s a good starting point for beginning to talk about racism in social work, and

enables us to consider how we - as a community - can come together to rise up and fight against racism.

Laura Green has spent 2021 working in child protection in the north of England, where she lives with her partner and son.

“I remember reading a memoir by Dave Pelzer (A Child Called “It”) and being inspired to look more into child protection,” she shares.

“Some of my favourite books over the past few years include: ’Social Work, Cats and Rocket Science,’ ‘Hackney Child,’ which I think should be read by every social worker, ‘Why Women Are Blamed For Everything,’ by Dr Jessica Taylor, and ‘The Stranger on the Bridge’ by Jonny Benjamin. Next on my reading list, ‘Help! I’m addicted,’ by Rhyannon Styles.”

JUST ARRIVED OR COMING SOON...

LIVING A GOOD LIFE WITH DEMENTIA

OPERATIONAL GOVERNANCE, 4TH EDITION

This book is a practical exploration of what’s possible when caring for someone living with dementia, to help them live their best life. Priced at £24.99, this book was published on November 11, and is available from criticalpublishing.com

This edition features two entirely new chapters on the consequences of populism and the latest street-level bureaucracy research, as well as extensive examination of comparative cross-national work and a refined and more explicit conceptualization of implementation in terms of its role in governance throughout. Due for publication in December 2021, priced at £30.99. Visit uk.sagepub.com

THE SOCIAL WORK DEGREE APPRENTICESHIP Developed specifically for the social work degree apprenticeship, this textbook guides apprentices through the unique requirements of this new qualifying route. Edited by Clare Stone and Mary Shannon, and released on 24th January, priced £19.99. Visit criticalpublishing.com to buy.

IMPLEMENTING PUBLIC POLICY: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF

CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY COUNSELING: A PRACTICE GUIDE, 6TH EDITION Following the model of twelve-step programs, providing a ground-up introduction to guide the counselor through treatment. Due for publication in December 2021, priced at £88.75.

Visit uk.sagepub.com PROPOSAL WRITING: EFFECTIVE GRANTSMANSHIP FOR FUNDING, 6TH EDITION

PSYCHO-SOCIAL HEALTH ISSUES IN INDIAN YOUTH: EMERGING TRENDS AND INTERVENTION

This updated edition offers a fresh, robust presentation of the basics of program design and proposal writing for community services funding.

Exploring issues afflicting psychological, social and physiological well-being of the youth, this book, by Alda Wadkar, recommends intervention and the way ahead. Released this month from uk.sagepub.com, £50.

Written by Soraya M. Coley, Cynthia A. Scheinberg and Yulia A. Levites Strekalova, due for publication in January 2022, priced at £34.99. Visit uk.sagepub.com

53

THE BEST OF YOU IS STILL OUT THERE

WATCH THE FILM

Watch ‘Out There’ by visiting sandwellchildrenstrust.org/fostering

T

he tagline holds for a moment on the screen, and then fades to black. For a moment nobody speaks, letting the weight of the three minute and seven second film settle over the room. There’s no doubt that ‘Out There,’ achieves everything it set out to - its messaging clear, and its storytelling impactful.

“It’s a brilliant film,” agrees Rachel Brown, fostering recruitment and service development officer for Coventry City Council, and chair of the forum and film collaboration.

the children and young people who need them, by highlighting the ways fostering can make a difference to the lives of everyone involved, from the children and young people who live with foster carers, to those who come forward to care for them.

‘Out There’ is the third fostering film to be made by this growing consortium of local authorities and Trusts - named the West Midlands Regional Fostering Recruitment Forum - none of whom would have had the capacity to produce films like this on their own.

“We’re all working towards the same goal, and by pooling our resources, every partner has been left with a copy of this incredible film, each with our own branding at the end, to allow us to promote fostering in our areas.”

The film, which had its national release in October, is now being used as a powerful recruitment tool in towns and cities across the country, but Brian is quick to point out the collaboration has produced much more than a film.

“What we are doing is unique in terms of cross-collaboration between local “We were so delighted with how it “It started off as a purely West Midlands authorities and peer support,” he said. came together, and so impressed again project,” says Brian McKinstrie, of “We’ve got 34 local authorities and with the people who made it. It has Sandwell Children’s Trust - which is one Trusts working together towards the been a labour of love and we have of the project’s founding members. larger goal of recruiting enough foster worked well together, taking the time to carers to meet the national shortage.

“Then with the pandemic, and all the ensure this film strikes a balance, that virtual work that was suddenly going “Because of the nature of our work, there was nothing in there to stigmatise on, we realised that geography should we’re all relatively isolated, in that young people, and that, equally, it no longer be a boundary, and invited we tend to be the only person doing wasn’t overly emotional or soppy. other local authorities and Trusts from marketing and promotion work in our “IT CAPTURES THE HEART OF THE across the country to get involved with individual councils or trusts, so what STORY WE WANTED TO TELL.” this latest film. we have found by coming together in this way is the benefit of sharing good “THE IDEA WAS THAT, TOGETHER, practice, of having access to a group of ‘Out There’ is the result of an incredible WE COULD AFFORD TO CREATE people who face the same challenges, collaboration between 34 local councils SOMETHING THAT INDIVIDUALLY and who may have solved them in and children’s trusts across the country WE COULDN’T; SOMETHING THAT slightly different ways.

WOULD PUT US ON A PAR WITH - from Northumberland to Brighton SOME OF THE INDEPENDENT “The collaboration and support is who joined forces earlier in the year FOSTERING AGENCIES THAT HAVE making us all better at our jobs, which for this truly unique film project. The MUCH LARGER BUDGETS THAN US. can only improve the wider impact of film’s aim is to help find more foster what we can achieve.” carers who can provide homes for 55

Walk for Children on the longest night of the year For children facing abuse, every night feels like the longest.

Walk 5k on 21 December and help protect children from abuse.

Search NSPCC Walk for Children

Use pro mo cod e WALK5 for half 0 pri registra ce tion

©National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) 2021. Registered charity England and Wales 216401. Scotland SC037717 and Jersey 384.

Photography by Shutterstock. The adults and children pictured are models. J20211197.