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Home
introduction
and a word from
our sponsor
a day in the life
of a social worker
advice for new
social workers
people with
lived experience
hear directly from
social workers
what’s next?
further resources
Hear directly from social workers
As part of Choose Social Work, we spoke to current and former social workers about how they got into the profession, what they’ve learnt in their career and what they love about their job.
Omaid Badar was social worker of the year in 2023. Here we’ve spoken to Omaid about his experience of being a refugee, how his time in care has informed his practice and his approach to social work.
omaid’s story
Tell them if there’s something you can’t do, tell them that you’ll go and see if you can find alternative ways, but don’t promise them because children hold you to those promises. And then if you can’t fulfil that promise, they won’t trust you
Omaid Badar
At 2023’s Social Worker of the Year Awards, Omaid Badar won both the children’s practitioner and overall winner’s prizes, with one judge describing him as “everything the profession is about when it’s at its best”.
The 29-year-old Kirklees Council social worker has overcome more than most on route to those accolades.
Omaid was born in Afghanistan, then ravaged by civil war, became a refugee and, aged 14, made a perilous journey to England, enduring extreme hardship in pursuit of a safe haven.
In an interview with Community Care, he opened up about his journey from being a young boy in Afghanistan to a social worker in England, his approach to working with children and how he handles those difficult days.
You made a very daunting journey at age 14 from Pakistan to England. What was your experience like of being a refugee?
You first need to understand that I was born in 1994 in Afghanistan, a war-torn country. I was a month old when we lost our dad. I don’t even know if he held me because, as a one-month-old, what could you possibly remember?
That situation forces you to leave your homeland, become a refugee. We travelled to Pakistan, where we lived in refugee camps and areas that were so dangerous the police were not allowed in.
It got to a point where my mum was really worried for my safety [and decided to send me away]. At the time, I had lost many people and I didn’t want to lose her too. I was going out, seeking a safe haven, but was I going to see my mum again? Was I going to be able to hug her again?
And it wasn’t a pleasant journey. Most of the time we weren’t told where we were going. We would be stuffed in cars, inflatable boats and vans, sometimes 80 people, squeezed in together, one on top of the other. There was no room to breathe.
At times, we would be walking at night so the border police wouldn’t see us, because they would shoot at us. It’s not an easy journey, you have to accept that you might not make it to the next day.
There were days when we had no food and survived just on water. And when they did bring food for us, it would be stale bread that would be so hard to crack we would dip it in yoghurt to break it.
I travelled that way to Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy and France, and eventually reached Bradford, England.
I had been told to seek a police officer the moment I arrived, but I can’t say my first encounter was a good one. They did speak to an interpreter and understood why I was here, but then they put me in a cell.
It was so cold. My shoes and clothes were all ripped and the only thing they gave me was a blanket full of holes that didn’t keep me warm. But in the morning, a social worker came in.
I still remember her name, Lucy. As soon as she saw me, she hugged me. I think that was the first time I felt emotional warmth and I just cried.
She took me to social services and then shopping at ASDA for clothes. She quickly found a temporary placement for me and then I moved to a children’s home and my schooling was arranged.
What was your time in care like? How has it informed your practice?
My experience in care had its ups and downs. I faced bullying and discrimination but also received support and care from some staff members. These experiences shaped my approach to social work – respecting cultures and being honest and committed to the children
I work with.
Lucy wasn’t my social worker for long. After her, there were a few temporary ones for a few months and then I didn’t have a social worker for a long time, probably because I wasn’t creating problems.
But, at the same time, I realise now that you’re supposed to see your children once every six weeks.
I do that for the children that I work with. And if they need to see me more, I will make time and go visit them again because they need that.
I never got the answer why a social worker never came to see me. I am grateful to Bradford, but I would advise social workers to be committed to their children, to be open and honest with them.
What inspired you to become a social worker?
My key worker, Jerry Phillips. He’d always find me and speak to me when he was on a shift, bring me books to read, come to my school meetings and review meetings.
He was patient with me, made me understand that nothing should be taken for granted. ‘Today you have support, tomorrow you won’t, so make sure you learn how to be independent,’ he’d say.
He taught me how to cook and was my go-to person. He always used to talk about school, education, standing up for your rights. But if you do anything wrong, put your hand up and say that. There’s always a way out.
When he asked me why I wanted to be a social worker I said, ‘What you did for me, I want to do for every kid out there, because you changed my life’.
He made me believe in myself, had faith in me, was committed to me.
He was open and honest with me. I want to be that role model for the children out there. To this day, I still see him. He came to my graduation and he was proud.
What is your approach to social work?
I have just completed my fifth year as a children’s social worker and I’m loving it. I come to work and I’m always in a good mood because I know I’m here to help change families’ lives.
My approach is to always explain what my role is – because there are misconceptions about what a social worker does – and have an open mind.
On paper, a person can look like a monster, but when you visit them, you realise they might have never been given a chance. And change doesn’t happen overnight, it takes us [social workers] being committed.
As a social worker, my values are to be committed to the people I’m working with, to be honest and open with them and to create an environment where they feel comfortable talking to me, they feel listened to and not judged.
I think clarifying that you are not here to take the children helps; [I] explain which plan they’re going to be on and whether it’s consent-based.
I say to them: ‘There’s nothing we cannot work on. But we need to communicate and work around it. If I can’t do anything in my power, there will be other services that can come on board and help you. I’m here to support you and help you get to where you need to be because you don’t want social workers to be involved in your life all the time.’
They’ll naturally be worrying about what’s going to happen. You need
to reassure them so they feel that you’re working together – involve
them in decision-making and ensure you’re doing things with their consent, not without.
I think because I’ve been through it, I can also relate to the children more.
I can understand what is happening to them, provide them with what they need from me and work with them using a restorative approach.
hear more stories
I was proud to be a social worker
Prior to being elected as the first female MP for South Shields in 2013, Emma Lewell-Buck was a child protection social worker. Watch our video to hear a first-hand account of her experiences.
read
When social work becomes a family affair
A mother-daughter social worker duo speak about the impact social work has had on their family, the lessons they've learned and whether they would recommend it as a profession.
read
Home
introduction
and a word from
our sponsor
a day in the life
of a social worker
advice for new
social workers
people with
lived experience
hear directly from
social workers
what’s next?
further resources
People
with lived
experience
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.
fatima’s story
I spent the first
14 years of my
life in children’s homes, so I have experienced
what it’s like to
feel vulnerable, neglected, insecure, not
loved and guilty,
or to think, ‘perhaps I’ve done something wrong?’
Fatima Whitbread
One day with social workers showed Fatima Whitbread how much
the care system had changed
It’s a warm summer’s day when I meet Fatima, in the offices of Essex County Council. We are here for her to meet social workers and take
part in the ‘It’s My Life’ festival, a week-long event for children in care
held by the council at Danbury Country Park. She’s dressed for a day of outdoor activities, and her yellow Action for Children top with cycling shorts and trainers are hard to miss. She is an ambassador for the charity, having run the London Marathon 2023, and continues to fundraise in various walking challenges.
But first we meet the many social care staff who are eager to have their photos taken with the legendary Olympian. Fatima, always smiling, is keen to see how social work has changed since she was in care, and revels in the multiple photo requests.
When I interviewed the 62-year-old a few weeks ago, she talked very openly about her childhood in children’s homes. What became apparent was how much the care system has changed since Fatima was young.
As a Community Care journalist, I was eager for Fatima to see the changes in social work practice since the darker days of the 60s, which she describes as an era “where children should be seen and not heard”.
A childhood of abuse and abandonment
And Fatima was equally as eager to spend the day with social workers and children in care, and share her childhood story with them.
And what a story it is. I hear it a few times throughout the day but it still shocks every time. Abandoned as a baby and taken into care by Hackney Council, Fatima vividly recalls the memories of her early childhood.
In the 60s and 70s, house aunties and uncles used to run children’s homes with the children contributing to the chores and having to abide by strict routines. There were 25 children in one home where Fatima lived.
What motivated her to become an ambassador for Action for Children and speak so candidly about her upbringing?
“It’s really important to know where I’m coming from. I spent the first 14 years of my life in children’s homes, so I have experienced what it’s like to feel vulnerable, neglected, insecure, not loved and guilty, or to think, ‘perhaps I’ve done something wrong?’
“I’ve been emotionally, mentally and physically abused, and sexually abused too so I guess at this stage of my life it’s because I want to help give these children a voice so they can be heard and be seen.”
Being adopted
Fatima was 14 when she met Margaret Whitbread, a PE teacher and coach, who gave her the first gift she had ever received: a javelin. Fatima practised javelin throwing in the garden of the children’s home but got into trouble for breaking a few windows. Soon after, she was invited to stay with the Whitbread family for the summer holidays, and Margaret went on to adopt her.
“When Mrs Whitbread asked me to stay I was nervous and excited. When the house aunty found out she said, ‘what do you want to do that for?’. But she was constantly telling me, ‘we’re going to push you up to a place in London and you’ll end up on the streets as a prostitute’.
“It’s not the ideal encouragement for us kids and I was petrified about what was going to happen to me. So obviously when Mrs Whitbread offered me the love of the Whitbread family it was no surprise what a wonderful experience that was for me.”
Unsurprisingly, Fatima is a huge advocate for fostering and adoption, and wants to raise awareness of the need to recruit more foster carers.
“There’s a shortage of 9,000 foster carers,” she tells me. “We need social workers in the same vein as we need foster carers, that have got that wealth of knowledge, that empathy and understanding, that have got the passion and the drive to make a big difference in a young child’s life.”
A key professional
There is one professional in her early life who Fatima speaks of fondly: her Aunty Rae, one of the support workers in the children’s home.
“I was fortunate to have Aunty Rae. She was such a lovely lady. My day didn’t start until Aunty Rae got me out of bed. When she was on duty I’d wait there, she’d say, ‘come on Fats, up you get’. She kind of humanised me and that made me feel happy and I know I was eager to please, and that’s all kids really want.
“Aunty Rae was a shining star in my life and this is what I want every child to have, a shining star, someone they can connect with so that they can believe in themselves, and feel loved and secure so that they can thrive, not just survive,” she says.
In an incredible coincidence, Fatima tells me that Aunty Rae’s granddaughter, Jo, works at Essex County Council. When we are walking around the council offices in the morning, Fatima spots her. Not only
is Jo a social worker, but she is in the fostering team. They have an emotional embrace, and the rest of us are left stunned, thinking what
a small world it is.
Becoming an adult
One of Fatima’s main concerns is the support care experienced young people get when they become adults. When she was growing up, the state relinquished responsibility for children in care at 16. Her own son is 25 and still lives with her.
“I experienced this myself in my childhood days, but if you’re emotionally disturbed and your emotional needs are not being met, it’s very hard to concentrate and study and get the qualifications. You need them to skill you up enough to be able to survive so it is a great concern of mine. Eighteen is still a very young age to ask these children to stand on their own feet and support themselves,” she says.
At midday, when we get to the outdoor centre in Danbury Country
Park, Fatima is in her element. After all, it is sport that she refers to
as her “saviour”.
The outdoors and physical activities, such as the high ropes and zipwire, make her feel right at home. The annual festival invites different groups of children in care on separate days. Today, it is all about the 8 to 13-year-olds, and Fatima is keen to talk to as many of them as she can.
She shocks some of the children when they find out she’s been on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! (twice).
“Have you met Ant and Dec?”, one girl asks in amazement. Fatima reminds them that it’s not about celebrities and glamour, but about believing in yourself and going out and doing what you love.
Her warmth and the passion she has to help vulnerable children is obvious. There is a certain child-like innocence that Fatima possesses which makes her the endearing character she is.
She spends the afternoon talking to many different children while joining them in the various activities.
Reflecting on change in the care system
Towards the end of the day, when we leave the country park, I ask Fatima if her opinion of social workers has changed. “Yes massively! Completely different. [They have] much more connection with young people. They’re all passionate about what they do.”
She explains that when she was young, she used to see a social worker about once a year, across a table in a stuffy room, and then never saw
them again.
“Now they live in [the child’s] world, they’re not segregated in the way that we felt with our social workers, they came every so often and disappeared and that was that.
“They’re [now] someone [the child] can trust, someone [with whom]
they can share what’s going on in their lives, what’s in their hearts and
also emotionally as well. They don’t have to be hiding away, they can
be themselves.”
Does she think her childhood would have been different if she had the support of a social worker like one of the ones she met today?
“Massively,” she says. “I wouldn’t have felt isolated, and I wouldn’t have felt so scared of the future.”
hear more stories
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.
listen
She’s been a mother figure to me
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.
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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.
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