As part of Community Care’s Choose Social Work campaign,
we asked social workers to
Advice for new social workers
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As part of Choose Social Work, we spoke to people with lived experience of the care system about how social workers made
a difference in their lives.
Here, we’ve highlighted Fatima Whitbread’s story. The former world javelin record holder’s traumatic childhood inspired her to advocate for children in care but left her without a positive view of social work. In 2023, Community Care and Essex County Council organised for the reality TV star to see how the profession had changed since she was a child.
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In this video, Jenny Molloy talks to Lizzie and her former social worker, Janet, about the special relationship they built when Lizzie was preparing to leave care, that continues today.
She’s been a mother figure to me
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So, in 2023, four journalists from the Community Care team spent
Unless you know a social worker personally, or have
had involvement with social services yourself, you
might not know what a social worker does every day.
A day in
Having never witnessed a home visit in action, I was excited that
9am – Home visit
10.30am – children's practitioner
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You can literally change a young person’s life
Dan has seen first-hand the stress social workers can be under and the impact this can have on young people. In this extract from a longer podcast episode, he shares his thoughts on the difference social work can make.
They helped me escape the life I was living as a teenager
Watch our video to hear some of Ethan’s story of his time in care, and the positive impact particular social workers had at a vulnerable time in his life.
Her whole demeanour was friendly; if you hadn’t known
Like Annie, Lauren – a children’s practitioner at Wandsworth – was off to do some work using the graded care profile, with Caitlin, a mother she had been working with for several months.
For the child to
There’s more to social
Prioritise and uphold
I wanted nothing to do
Take care of yourself first –
How to cope when you
Always bring your
I spent the first
One day with social workers showed Fatima Whitbread how much