Profiles
10 March
Social workers
- Adina Sava
- Alex Paczy-Smith
- Alicja Wysocka
- Amy Callaghan
- Anesa Begum
- Anna Ireland
- Annishia Buss
- Ashmarie Berwise
- Bernadette Heath
- Beth Collis
11 March
Social workers
- Bethany Clarke
- Camila Pickering
- Carris Bruce
- Christopher Shepherd
- Claire Travis
- Daniel Hazel
- Danielle Richardson
- Daynor Bray
- Debbie Dobson
- Emily Hatfield
12 March
Social workers
- Emily Haynes
- Emma Hudson
- Fiona Stuart
- Francesca Horsfield
- Gerald Walker
- Gorka Vazquez
- Harry Green
- Hayley Mallia
- Heidi Bulled
- Helen Powell
13 March
Social workers
- Jacob Baldon
- Jasmine King
- Jigna O'Callaghan
- Joanne Knibbs
- Kally Hawkins
- Kay Rides
- Kirstie Aistrop
- Kristene Williams
- Lauren Glass
- Lauren Oakley
14 March
Social workers
Adina Sava
Adina is a social worker at Cornwall Council and has been recognised by Kelsey Freeman
Adina is an incredible person we are so lucky to have her in our team. Adina is always willing to help and remains a calm presence during stressful or difficult situations. I regularly go to her for advice and she provides a listening ear and offers solutions despite having her own heavy caseload. She always wants to achieve the best outcomes for people and is empathetic, kind and resilient.
Alex Paczy-Smith
Alex is a social worker at Pathways Through Care - Southampton City Council
I am nominating Alex for the BASW Social Work Awards because he consistently demonstrates exceptional dedication, compassion, and creativity in his work with children in care. Alex goes above and beyond to support the young people on his caseload, making a real difference in their lives.
Alex is a fierce advocate for the children he works with. He tirelessly navigates complex systems and challenges to ensure their voices are heard and their needs are met. He recently helped a young person secure funding for specialised tutoring, which significantly improved their academic performance and self-esteem.
Alex builds strong, trusting relationships with the children on his caseload. He takes the time to get to know them as individuals, understand their unique experiences, and connect with them on their level. He attends their extracurricular activities, celebrates their achievements, and provides consistent support during challenging times.
Alex empowers the young people he works with to take control of their lives and make informed decisions. He provides them with the information and resources they need to navigate the care system, advocate for themselves, and plan for their future. He recently helped a young person transitioning out of care find suitable housing and access educational opportunities.
Alex is a valued member of our team. He is always willing to share his knowledge and expertise, support his colleagues, and contribute to a positive and collaborative work environment.
Alex embodies the values of social work. His dedication, compassion, and commitment to improving the lives of children in care make him an outstanding social worker and a deserving nominee for this award.
Alicja Wysocka
Alicja is a social worker at QA Hospital - Adult Services
Alicja always works hard to achieve the best for her clients. As Duty Social worker for QA Hospital Adult Services, she receives a large number of telephone calls, emails and queries each day.
As part of a busy hospital team, Alicja will often speak with relatives of clients who are unwell or being discharged somewhere unfamiliar and will have lots of questions and concerns. The caller can often feel frustrated, angry or upset as they are worried and uncertain of what is going to happen.
Alicja always does her best to resolve these concerns, being compassionate and respectful, whilst giving all the relevant knowledge to help family members feel reassured that their relative is being looked after.
Alicja is always willing to take these calls regardless of the situation and the Admin team are thankful and appreciative that Alicja is always there to support.
On top of this, Alicja deals with a large number of Safeguarding concerns as well as completing client assessments on site as and when required.
We feel she is incredibly hard working, positive, helpful, considerate and an overall valued member of the team and we would be at a loss without her support.
Amy Callaghan
Amy is a social worker at Capstone and has been recognised by Lynne Blencowe
We are a fostering family and Amy is our Supervising social worker. During good times she helps us celebrate the achievements of our wonderful young people and during difficult times she is always there to support us by making sure we are adhering to outstanding practise and she provides a safe space to talk about our emotions.
Anesa Begum
Anesa is a social worker at West Northamptonshire Council, Central Team and has been recognised by Julia Hambleton
I am nominating Anesa, following her having successfully completed her ASYE earlier this month. I was her Practice Assessor throughout the programme and consistently impressed with her commitment to her own professional development for the benefit of those she supports. Anesa has worked for WNC for a number of years and was sponsored by the organisation to undertake her PGDip through the OU. She completed this alongside work, her own family commitments and work she does to support her community, something she gives up her own time for. During her ASYE year, Anesa achieved some really significant outcomes for people with a committed, relationship-based approach, which enabled her to work successfully with partner agencies for the benefit of individuals. Anesa has achieved some remarkable outcomes with people, which their considerable feedback provides testimony of. She is a credit to Social Work.
Anna Ireland
Anna is a social worker at Cornwall Council and has been recognised by Laura Roberts
Anna always goes the extra mile to support experts by experience or / and colleagues, Anna is always willing to step up to help, often this is on top of her day job of working with a number of people as part of her case load. Colleagues have highlighted how helpful and thoughtful Anna is, recently it was shared that Anna had volunteered to ‘buddy’ a new social worker, to help the new social worker to have additional support. In the last week I have also been informed that Anna was involved in a situation where a man allocated to another colleague found himself at risk in the community, the gentleman had been assaulted- Anna stood in immediately to help the gentleman ensuring his health needs and safeguarding issues were addressed, she advocated and ensured that the gentleman was able to return home and that risk was minimised.
This has ensured that the gentleman’s quality of life has been enhanced, his human rights adhered to and that all services involved are complaint with the mental capacity act. Anna is an absolute credit to the team, we are so fortunate to have someone who always puts others first.
Annishia Buss
Annishia is a social worker at Path 2 Recovery Drug and Alcohol service and has been recognised by Maria Sinko
Annishia is a fantastic Social Worker. She manages a team responsible for Safeguarding and Tier 4 treatment in a busy Substance misuse service. She also facilitates and gives her time to mentoring student Social Workers, providing a rich, hands-on experience of Social Work in the community. Annishia is extremely compassionate and empathetic towards our service users and really works hard to ensure their well-being, that their views are being listened to and promoting empowerment. Annishia is persistent in ensuring other services are fulfilling their duty of care to our service users and being a strong advocate on their behalf when needed. She has a genuine passion for the welfare of those she supports and this is the driving force behind her amazing work. Despite the high demands of her role, she manages to do it all with a dazzling smile on her face, bundles of patience and calm reason!
Ashmarie Berwise
Ashmarie is a social worker at City of Wolverhampton, Children and Young People in Care - Team 1 and has been recognised by James Fox
Ashmarie is so very committed with her children and young people (C&YP) and she ensures that all of her C&YP are seen and supported with their care planning to achieving permanence. Just this year Ashmarie has worked so hard in writing detailed child permanence reports, which have been commended and leading to achieving Special Guardianship to Adoptions for her children. Ashmarie writes clear, concise and very reflective of the child’s needs. Ashmarie has also worked within many challenging situations and worked so hard with her young people and / or their homes to ensure that the care and safety plans are implemented and progressing for safeguarding her young people. Ashmarie is an amazing social worker and thank you Ashmarie for all that you do.
Bernadette Heath
Bernadette is a social worker at Gloucestershire County Council, Children and Young People in Care - Team 1 and has been recognised by Helen Blanch
Bernadette is a valued member of the Duty Team in the Cotswolds' , known for her exceptional interpersonal skills. She quickly adapts her approach to connect effectively with those she serves. Throughout her tenure, she has achieved remarkable outcomes by prioritizing a person-centred approach and embodying the Make the Difference Model. Despite the urgent nature of her work, she takes the time to understand each individual’s needs and priorities, conducting thorough assessments and often collaborating with other professionals during joint visits. Recently Bernadette received high praise from an individual who experiences physical and mental health challenges, which they feel usually prevent them from engaging with professionals, who took the time to personally thank Bernadette for her approach and enabling them to ‘feel heard’.
In addition to her social work expertise, Bernadette draws on her background in health and pharmacy, enhancing her ability to support clients. Her efforts have helped many regain their independence or receive tailored support, often resulting in no further action needed. She has cultivated a strong network of multi-agency colleagues and is highly respected among health and voluntary sector professionals, who enthusiastically endorse her nomination, stating, ‘It is a pleasure to work with her'.
Beth Collis
Beth is a social worker at Cornwall Council and has been recognised by Sabine Clarke
Outstanding commitment to peer support, exemplary advocate for neurodiversity and unconditional positive regard. Beth always makes time to support others, facilitating regular, safe, reflective learning spaces accommodating shared learning opportunities, creative thinking and best practise. Sharing regular research/articles/resources to promote individual, team outcomes and shared knowledge. Beth is openly reflective and promotes professional curiosity to explore objectively the thought processes/learning experiences for individuals, enabling practitioners to identify ways forward informed by always holding the person at heart of the process.
Beth in practise is as wonderful to observe as she is with her colleagues, demonstrating beautiful interpersonal skills with individuals ensuring she identifies and highlights strengths. Individuals, families and carers feel heard and recognised by their individuality not their needs. Beth advocates for individual’s rights upholding a commitment to her social work values not tarnished by systems/ processes, her application of language in person and her assessments is considered and refreshing as always is led by the person.
Beth’s care for others is evident throughout the many systems she works within, applying the same level of care and commitment to everyone irrespective of role/status promoting a respect and value which reflects in the outcomes and morale of those around her.
Bethany Clarke
Bethany is a social worker at Hull City Council and has been recognised by Claire Rutherford
Bethany is one of those gems who was born to be a social worker and to make a difference in the lives of children. She oozes enthusiasm and care for her children and their families, and always goes above and beyond to support them. She clearly has a life calling to work with our children in care and beyond, often staying in contact with young people post 18, and providing consistent support and continued care beyond the remit of her role. This is a clear indicator of her passion and holistic care for young people in Hull, and understanding that this does not end at 18. Within the office Beth is a key part of the service, always being available for her team to provide support when needed, with the student/ apprentice social workers in particular. She always had a smile on her face and has time for others.
How have they made a positive impact -
Bethany is a senior social worker based in the children in care team. Bethany has an inner passion to support children in care, she takes her responsibilities as a social worker seriously and is honoured to be a corporate parent. Bethany has strong relationships with the children and young people she supports and works hard to safeguard them. This has at times included difficult situations for young people resulting in secure accommodation. Bethany always ensures that their rights are enhanced and embraces the principles of the Laura Lundy model of child participation. The decision making involved the children, their parents and carers and when difficult decisions have been endorsed by Court, Bethany has been there to reassure the young people and continued to inspire them to do well.
Bethany is well respected and liked by the children and young people she supports, they like to see her and she loves to see them. Bethany often reflects on the privileged position she is in and on the days when it has been difficult and challenging days she ensures that she shares her emotions and accesses supervision and peer support.
Bethany has demonstrated that she genuinely cares, she gets the basics right all the time. If she arranges visits she makes sure she is there and on time, she doesn’t forget birthdays, school plays or important life events. Bethany has very high aspiration for the children and young people and if they lack in self-confidence or belief she exercises her corporate parenting responsibilities and reminds them of how important they are, how much they mean and the strengths they possess. Bethany, has then co-ordinated support with a decisive multi-agency approach to care planning.
This kind, loving and persistent approach has had a huge impact on some very vulnerable children and we have seen significant improvements in-terms of risk reducing liked to exploitation and self-harm. Given the adverse childhood experiences of some of the children Bethany supports, it has always been essential to take the time to build a trusting and respectful relationship. This is a particularly strong area of her practice and she has done this with a trauma informed approach.
On days that are challenging and at times emotional, Bethany reflects with her team, seeing the benefits of reflective circles and appreciative inquiry.
Since qualifying Bethany is someone who will be remembered by so many children, because she genuinely cares and this comes across in all her interactions.
Her Group Manager Katie Fisher feels she is very worthy of this nomination
Camila Pickering
Camila is a social worker at ELFT - Evergreen
Millie always goes the extra mile when giving care and support to the young service users on the ward. She is friendly, approachable, enthusiastic and a great member of the team - just few qualities of many she holds.
Carris Bruce
Carris is a social worker at Coventry Children’s Services and has been recognised by Kimberley Morgan
Carris has gone above and beyond in her duties as a social worker to support a young person and their parent with a complex immigration situation that was likely to result in them being deported from the UK. She has been relentless in trying to secure legal advice and services for them, has been empathetic and empowering in her practice, and has championed her role as an advocate for young people. These are traits she has shown time and time again in her role with many other families where her passion for the children she supports has really come through. Carris is strongly guided by social work ethics and values and upholds these so well. We are immensely proud to have her supporting children in our area!
Christopher Shepherd
Christopher is a social worker at North Lincolnshire Council and has been recognised by Becky Jackson
Chris always comes to work with a smile on his face, he is a valued member of the team, he always makes time to support anyone and works really hard. His bouncy presence makes a tough day brighter. Chris brings fun to the team and makes safeguarding fun! You will often see Chris speaking with other teams and partners to support their safeguarding practice advising and keeping the person at the centre of all decisions.
Chris is able to build rapport with others really quickly and this enables him to build relationships to support the best outcomes for people who are at risk of harm.
Chris always volunteers to deliver training on safeguarding and is keen to share his knowledge and debunk any myths around safeguarding adults. Chris is relaxed and creates discussion which helps the people attending to feel able to ask questions and feel at ease. He brings a huge amount of passion to these sessions and always keeps others engaged.
Chris has recently completed his Practice Education qualification. Chris didn't feel her was a 'natural' Practice Educator and he put a lot of work into reflecting on his approach to supervision and support. He developed really well through the process of becoming qualified and showed insight into the changes and adaptations he needed to make and embraced feedback.
Claire Travis
Claire is a social worker at North Lincolnshire Council and has been recognised by Becky Swan
Claire has a willingness to undertake work which is above her level as a newly qualified social worker and welcomes any challenges she may encounter with the service users she supports. Claire recognises complexity and seeks out support as required. She has an awareness of her learning needs and actively seeks opportunities to continue her development.
Claire is a pro-active practitioner, and within her time as a student and as a newly qualified worker she has mentored other students and new members of the team, as well as delivering training on theory to other placement students. Claire has always achieved excellence feedback from service users, families, other team member and practitioners.
Claire has always delivered a high standard of practice; she values herself on her professionalism and how she builds meaningful relationships. Claires personality and approach is one of her skills that allows her to continually deliver at a high level. This has had a positive impact on the service user she supports and enables her to deliver a holistic approach. Claire works as strengths-based practitioner, embracing people’s strengths to achieve positive outcomes. Claire promotes individual’s rights; she will appropriately challenge as required and is a strong advocate for people.
Daniel Hazel
Daniel is a social worker at Worcestershire County Council, Onward Care Team (discharge team at the Alex hospital) and has been recognised by Lauren Wright & Sarah Gardner
Dan's works within a health setting, which highlights the contrast between the medical and social model on a daily basis. His approach is unwavering, often challenging Social Work values which Dan holds firm within his practice. By building supportive relationships within the wider MDT, he is able to positively challenge conflict, resulting in positive outcomes for service users. Dan is a role model to the Social Work profession and feedback from the wider MDT team often refers to Dan as ‘The ideal Social Worker'. Dan's approach is always consistent, calm, considerate and reflective of his own practice. He has a sound knowledge of legislation and theory when working with service users and their families, which he uses to manage expectations with sensitivity in often challenging situations. Dan is a supportive practitioner to students, newly qualified workers and non-qualified workers - he shares his knowledge, experience and offers shadowing opportunities to support their development. Since Dan has joined our team, it has been a pleasure to watch his practice and confidence grow which is why we have nominated him for this award.
Danielle Richardson
Danielle is a social worker at Merrick House Community Mental Health Team
Danielle always puts her team and clients before herself. Is always the first in and last out. Danielle has been a fabulous social worker and leader in supporting new starters and NQSW through their induction and ASYE programs .. all off her own back!
Daynor Bray
Daynor is a social worker at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust/Imp Primary Care Network and has been recognised by Ceesay Saikouba & Rehaan Ansari
Ceesay said:
Daynor is an exceptional member of our PCN, her exceptional leadership and role modelling has been commended. I confidently recommend Daynor for this award.
The large and small actions such as checking-in with other members of the team in times of need, and the continued interest in day to day operations by Daynor have brought us together and motivated us as a team.
Rehaan said:
Daynor has been a core part of the delivery of the Primary Care Mental Health Team, one of our most successful PCN led services.
She has been a fantastic clinician to some of the most complex patients within the network, as well as a valued colleague and leader within the team.
Debbie Dobson
Debbie is a social worker at North Lincolnshire Council and has been recognised by Hazel Welburn
Debbie is an inspirational social worker; she is the perfect example to our grow your own staff. Debbie was a case worker within the mental health social work team for over 6 years before she progressed to complete her social work apprenticeship, this followed with her completing her ASYE. Debbie has always shown support and guidance to her team and her colleagues. This was evidenced when she is recently completed her Practice Educator 1. Debbie completed this to support her other colleagues progressing on there social work apprenticeships, so she can offer the support and guidance she has experienced to give back, to support the growth of our team, new apprentices and student social workers.
Debbie is now currently undertaking her AMHP Training. Debbie is continually progressing her social work career, and she is an inspirational support to others from her achievements to the support she gives to others. Debbie always makes herself available to others. This includes colleagues and the residents she works with. Debbie is a person centred social worker and continues to advocate and support our residents to ensure they receives the best possible outcomes.
Emily Hatfield
Emily is a social worker at Hull City Council and has been recognised by Claire Rutherford
Emily works with children in care and is a thoughtful and passionate social worker, she is a very well-grounded member of her team and her inner desire to make life better for children shines through. During the last few months Emily has demonstrated that she will go above and beyond for the children she serves, she is an exceptional corporate parent. Emily, supports a number of teenagers and has developed strong relationships with them, this is always evident when she talks about their achievement and the great things they are doing.
Social Work is not a 9 to 5 job and in recent months Emily has supported children with health needs and medical care. Emily offers extra support - she collaborated with the carer and young person and worked flexible over a weekend to reassure the child. Her physical presence, reassurance and care helped the child to feel reassured, cared for and less worried. Nothing is too much when it comes to putting people first and evidencing that they matter.
Emily has an impact on the lives of children in care, they share positive stories about her support. This is extended by partners and foster carers, who value her commitment and mostly her passion. In social work, we need to be flexible, to meet the needs of children, this is just one example of her putting others first and this one action helped the child to receive support. Emily is also mindful of her own health and the need to have a home work life balance, so when times can be tough embraces the support from her manager and the team around her. I particularly like how calm and measured Emily is, she keeps the child at the centre of her decisions. Her team are particularly fond of her kind and caring nature.
Emily Haynes
Emily is a social worker at City of Wolverhampton Council and has been recognised by Laura Carter
Emily is an experienced social worker, who shows such a strong sense of practice leadership, therefore deserves recognition as an amazing social worker. Emily is involved in various projects, such as working with younger adults and the use of innovative technology. Within these, she makes an invaluable contribution, testing as new initiatives and ideas, sharing learning with her colleagues focussed on making improvements to the lives of adults and carers within Wolverhampton.
Emily also supports the wider service, building a positive representation of social work within the city, for example feeding back her experience of social work to Councillors at a high-level meeting. Emily supports the next generation of social workers, carrying out the role of work based supervisor for student social workers, and is planning to start her Practice Educator training next year.
Emma Hudson
Emma is a social worker at City of Bradford Metropolitan Council and has been recognised by Ruth Bartlett
When I called Adult Social Care I was beyond despair. I was in burnout and had been repeatedly let down when I tried to access support. Emma became my champion and my advocate, helping me to communicate with services, helping me to get some control back and offering me compassion and care when I needed it most. I am not sure if I would be here now if she hadn't stepped in. 200 words isn't enough to do her justice. More generally I would also like to praise Bradford Council's neurodiversity team, the only service I have come across that is making a genuine attempt to understand and help neurodivergent adults like myself.
Fiona Stuart
Fiona is a social worker at Cornwall Council Coastal Team
Fiona has juggled some very challenging, difficult and time-consuming cases during a tough ASYE year. She helped support positive outcomes for the high-risk individuals whom she has worked with whilst also ensuring her team members are feeling supported and valued. Well done Fiona!
Francesca Horsfield
Francesca is a social worker at Oldham MBC and has been recognised by Kim Nield
Francesca is a social worker in Oldham, her practice stands out and in my view is the way that social work should be done! Francesca's work with one family in particular has stood out for me - under tragic circumstances a family that she has worked with lost their child to suicide and the kindness, compassion and empathy that Francesca has shown is inspirational. Francesca has worked closely with the child protection chair (Rachael) to carefully plan and prepare for the child protection conference. Whilst ensuring that the safeguarding concerns are addressed, they have also engaged with the family to support them through grief; giving bereavement bags to the children when they visited together to prepare for the conference. They have listened to the mum's views that she would like all of her children to be discussed and celebrate her child's life. The preparation that both Francesca and Rachael have put into this conference is amazing and the way that they go the extra mile to engage the families that they work with truly deserves recognition!
Thank you for being an amazing social worker!
Gerald Walker
Gerald is a social worker at Maethu Cymru/Foster Wales and has been recognised by BASW Cymru
Gerald truly is an inspiration and an amazing social worker and his hard work and dedication to the profession was recently highlighted in the media in Wales.
Foster carers Jane and Chris from Port Talbot, who have fostered over 100 children, wanted to go on the record in a media article about them to thank their social worker, Gerald, who was now, as they put it, “part of the family.” The couple wanted to speak to the media to counter negative stereotypes of social workers and highlight the passion and support Gerald has for his job and hopefully encourage more people to come forward to become foster carers. Gerald has gone above and beyond to ensure vulnerable children are protected, safe and happy. His commitment to social work values and consistently building relationships with children, their families and foster carers consistently stands out in supporting and facilitating children to have positive outcomes.
In his role, Gerald said he wanted to create 24/7 access to support for all the families he works alongside and building real, personal connections with both the families and children. “Seeing those children grow and reaching their potential, it is really touching and that is what social work is all about for me,” Gerald said.
Gorka Vazquez
Gorka is a social worker at City of Wolverhampton Council and has been recognised by Catherine Holden
I worked alongside Gorka to offer a student Social Worker their final placement. Gorka was the Placement Supervisor. I am nominating Gorka as he provided a brilliant placement, very supportive and educational. The student found some aspects of the role quite tricky but encouraged by Gorka with his patient and considered approach, coupled with his skills in explaining and educating, they developed across the placement acquiring and cementing skills, behaviours and knowledge to make them a rounded Social Worker, who I believe will be an asset to the profession. Gorka played a vital role in this. Gorka is also very supportive of his team, sharing his knowledge and experience with them and encouraging their development. More recently Gorka has embraced and is playing an important role in our test and learn of Magic Notes.
Harry Green
Harry is a social worker at York City Council and has been recognised by Paul Twitchell
I am nominating Harry to recognise his leadership and role modelling of excellent social work practice within our Assessment and Duty Service. 2024 has been a challenging year and as an experienced child safeguarding practitioner, less experienced social workers have been looking to Harry for guidance and support. Despite a busy and demanding diary, Harry will always make time to invite a shadowing opportunity, engage in a peer reflection or support a colleagues visit. Harry is a calm presence within the office who brings kindness and humour to work and his passion and commitment is modelled across the workforce and makes a massive, positive impact on the children and families we are working to keep safe and supported. I am grateful to have Harry working in my service and he’s a great asset for the profession.
Hayley Mallia
Hayley is a social worker at Northern Care Alliance and has been recognised by Rachel Dodge
Hayley is quite simply an exceptional social worker. Hayley has worked in the Intermediate Care Social Work team throughout her career, for approximately 8 years, and has made it her speciality . We get a large number of complex cases in the team, which Hayley deals with exceptionally well without complaint. Hayley's diligence, kindness and professionalism has been recognised by colleagues and people with lived experience and their families in numerous emails of praise. Hayley's kind and empathic approach to work with individuals is matched by her diligence to effective risk management and strict adherence to policy and procedure. Hayley is a leader amongst her peers both as a level 3 social worker as well as a ASYE mentor and Practice educator. Hayley is particularly skilled at managing people with a significant cognitive impairment who wish to live at home. Hayley manages the risks associated with this whilst also balancing a person's right to live an autonomous life and live with risk in order to achieve their goals and wishes. Hayley is quite simply the social worker you'd want, if you ever needed one.
Heidi Bulled
Heidi is a social worker at Gloucestershire County Council and has been recognised by Michelle Petty
Heidi is an amazing senior social worker who truly inspires others within the team to want to learn and develop which has contributed to a culture of continued learning within the team. She leads by example and has set up in-house CPD sessions, giving others in the team the confidence to lead sessions as well.
She always goes the extra mile in her work with individuals achieving positive outcomes, proving excellent social work skills and skillful communication. As a result, she will often receive amazing feedback, one family recently wrote “you have given true personalised care”.
Heidi has a calming approach and embodies the BASW ethics and values, at the heart of her work is to foster great working relationships, her practice always comes from a strength-based approach, ensuring that the person is at the centre of her involvement. Has supported individuals to believe in their own abilities and has empowered them to be able to progress in their own lives.
Valued and well-respected member of the team, who has a strong work ethic, alongside being a great role model for the social work profession. If I ever needed a Social Worker, I would want them to be like Heidi!
Helen Powell
Helen is a social worker at Wiltshire Council and has been recognised by Sarah Johnson
Helen is the ATM in my team. She assists social workers with the most complex of cases and is frequently involved in urgent work. She is repeatedly involved in collaborative work with the Police, other council departments and the health service. I can honestly say that with her case work she has worked well above and beyond and frequently thinks outside the box. It is not to much of a stretch to say that without Helens input there are people in the community in Wiltshire who would no longer be with us if it hadn't been for her determination, expertise and dedication.
One of the parts of Helens role is to manage allocations. Historically there were issues around allocations and working out how to clinically justify allocations. This was not just in my team but across the teams. Helen was instrumental in setting up the Allocation Referral Form which enable the teams to justify the weighting of cases coming in and the prioritisation of cases which is essential in our role.
Although everyone in my MDT knows (and does) contact Helen she does it in such an unassuming way that it is so easy to miss all that she does.
Jacob Baldon
Jacob is a social worker at Tameside Children's Services and has been recognised by Allison Sollom
Jacob joined the Cared for Children service of Tameside Children's Services in September 2024, only 2 months ago, and has been working in the role of Social Worker for children with complex needs. This means that the children he is working with are those, within the service, who have the most complex needs, perhaps as a result of the trauma they have experienced, mental health difficulties or additional needs. He is an astonishingly excellent Social Worker and I have received a number of compliments relating to his practice, including from colleagues in our legal services team who have said "If only every social worker was as efficient and effective as Jacob". A further compliment has come from the parent of a 7 year old boy, who has particularly complex needs and Jacob has been able to provide intervention both to him and his mother, and working collaboratively with partner agencies. He has been in residential care for 2 years, from the exceptionally young age of 5 years old, because his needs could not be met in foster care. In the 2 months Jacob has been with us, he has been able to safely and effectively reunify the boy to his mother's care; the impact of this will be significant for this little boy's future. This is only 1 example of the fabulous work he is doing; there are many others. In addition to excellent care planning, which is child focused, collaborative and timely, Jacob is always willing to support his team and the wider service and goes above and beyond every single day. He completes case recordings and paperwork in a timely way and to a high standard. If I could clone Jacob, the quality of service provision and relational social work our children and young people receive would immeasurably improve. Well done Jacob!
Jasmine King
Jasmine is a social worker at Hampshire County Council - Adults Health and Care and has been recognised by Gemma Bayfield
Jasmine is an excellent social worker, she always goes above and beyond for the individuals she supports. Jasmine takes time to understand a person's needs and will actively advocate for them even in difficult circumstances.
Jasmine is a valued member of our team, she displays openness and resilience, she is active team player and supports others where she can. I have been very impressed with the dedication she has given to her role and feel she needs to be recognised for this.
Jigna O'Callaghan
Jigna is a social worker at Power2
From a mobile number Jigna found deep in the case notes of her young person, she was able to reunite them with their siblings. The siblings were adopted separately from the young person she was working with. She had the whole team supporting and the reunite was a success. The young person continues to engage with Jigna and greets all of the staff in the service.
Joanne Knibbs
Joanne is a social worker at Lincolnshire County Council Adult Social Care Sleaford
Jo is such a knowledgeable and thoughtful person. She is able to support her colleagues in all aspects of the social care role. Her problem solving and rationale are extremely good and is able to share her vast experiences of all situations that arise.
Jo will share information from meetings and forums she is part of, she will break them down so the information in clear and concise. Her ability to empower her colleagues to come to an informed decision is second to none.
More importantly the personalised approached to her work ensures that the persons wishes and outcomes are met in positive way. Her calm but assertive demeanour makes her approachable to service users and the circle of support, fellow professionals and her colleagues as well as higher management.
No job is to much for Jo and will go out of her way to help anyone. She has gained the respect of many people she has worked for and with.
She will hate the praise but richly deserved for all that she has achieved in Social care and the lives she's made better.
Kally Hawkins
Kally is a social worker at Midlands Partnership University Foundation Trust and has been recognised by Robin Lycett-Smith
Kally completed a fantastic piece of work supporting a man with chronic and severe mental health needs who had been estranged from his family for many years due to these needs, and who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Kally supported this man to transition from his home into a care setting and, with his consent, helped him make contact with his family and facilitated their reconciliation before the man sadly passed away.
In his last weeks he spent time with family including his son, daughter and grandchildren, which brought him much joy.
His family were extremely grateful for Kally's work which she delivered with sensitivity and compassion.
Kay Rides
Kay is a social worker at City of Wolverhampton Council and has been recognised by Charmayne Dean
I would like to nominate Kay Rides for an ‘amazing social worker award’. Kay has been part of the Send Family Help Service for almost 2 years and plays a pivotal role in how families can access the service. She has become a huge asset to the team and has had an incredibly positive impact on team data which would not have been achieved without Kay’s efforts, hard work and creative problem-solving skills. Kay upholds values of dignity and respect and has opened doors and promoted inclusivity allowing families to receive the support needed. Kay is a proud social worker and embodies empowerment, advocacy and dedication to her role. I would like her to know how valued she is to our team.
Kirstie Aistrop
Kirstie is a social worker at Hull City Council and has been recognised by Claire Rutherford
The HSCP is responsible for ensuring that children and young people receive the earliest possible timely and appropriate response to their safeguarding needs to ensure that they feel safe and that we make a positive difference to their lives. Working Together 2023 places an annual responsibility on local safeguarding partnerships to produce and publish a report to provide an account of what has been achieved under local child safeguarding arrangements. In the last 2 years the annual reports have evidenced a tremendous amount of work that has been achieved and has had a profound impact on the lives of children, young people and their families in Hull. The work that the partnership undertakes pays particular attention to neglect, contextual safeguarding and domestic abuse and includes a robust system to measure progress in relation to learning and how effectively plans have been implemented and impacted on the people we serve in the community. The success of HSCP is linked to the fruitful relationships between safeguarding agencies and every year this is strengthened by people wanting the very best from people in Hull. The ethos of working in collaboration alongside a positive culture of healthy professional challenge and discussion, has assisted in shaping effective arrangements through multi-disciplinary discussions and learning from one another. There are many people who contribute to the HSCP, to many names to list, but special mention needs to be given to Lara Davidson, Partnership Manager who has transformed the safeguarding approaches and maximised learning across the partnership. Ensuring learning is accessible and relevant to all safeguarding agencies. A fine example of this is the ‘Line of Sight’ meetings. The impact is widely recognised and commented on across the partnership.
Kirstie Aistrope Senior Safeguarding Officer and social worker has contributed and supported the partnership work and as a result there have been quotes from partners such as:
Quote from Consultant Paediatrician (Hull Royal Infirmary)
“Not only has the Line-of-Sight meeting provided a great opportunity for multi[1]agency reflection, facilitated in a supportive and engaging way, it has also resulted in rich learning and actions which will help to improve practice in the future”.
‘The Line of Sight’ meetings are held to provide a platform to reflect on those with experience of the service, what has worked well, and what needs to be different. The approach taken has maximised the opportunity for social workers, Police, health workers and other professionals, to learn from the experiences of children and their families, so that we can improve services and they are all published.
The work she has recently supported linked to the threshold guidance has been excellent, she has increased awareness and supported developing practice across Hull. Kirstie is someone who goes above and beyond everyday to help other people and her role is helping to create change and protection across the city of Hull
Kristene Williams
Kristene is a social worker at MPFT and has been recognised by Erin Thraves
Kristene has had personal difficulties this year. To see her battle through her own difficulties gaining strength from supporting people to not only achieve their desired outcomes, but to make such meaningful tangible differences to people’s lives is nothing short of an inspiration. Kristene works hard to build really strong inter-agency relationships. This is one of her many strengths, as such she has literally changed lives of people she supports. She leaves no stone unturned, her passion and desire to seek out solutions to the difficulties others experience is so noticeable. As her line manager, I often get feedback from other professionals complementing her on her tenacity and professionalism. Clients and families of clients will often send such warm and genuine compliments about the support she has given them at such difficult times.
Kristene says social work is her calling and shows genuine gratitude and privilege to do her job each day. This is why I believe the work she undertakes is so positive.
Lauren Glass
Lauren is a social worker at Midlands Partnership Foundation NHS Trust and has been recognised by Samantha Hornby
Lauren has only just joined our team and wow what an impact she has had. She is one of our social care and Approved Mental Health professional coordinators, which is no easy role by any stretch of the imagination. With fervour and fortitude Lauren supports our AMHP colleagues managing requests for Mental Health Act assessments. Her approach is always putting the person at the centre of any decision making and ensuring that all least restrictive approaches have been implemented, she is the gatekeeper, our ‘Gandalf’, in ensuring that this is the right approach to take at the time. Lauren also manages high expectations from a multitude of partners and agencies. She undertakes this with sensitivity, pragmatism and understanding, acknowledging the challenges across systems and serves to be a supportive measure to our fellow colleagues. It’s a tough role and her talent to manage the high demand is exceptional. She gives her all to the role 100% of the time. Her professional leadership and support to the AMHP workforce is deeply appreciated and we want to celebrate her value and contribution.
Lauren Oakley
Lauren is a social worker at MPFT - Shropshire Care Group and has been recognised by Nikisha Ellis
I would like to nominate Lauren Oakley, she joined the Telford and Wrekin assessment team August 2023. Lauren is a qualified mental health social worker currently working in a mental health practitioner post, since joining the team Lauren has been a fresh air and has been really keen to put social work on the map! Lauren has forged strong connections with the Mental Health Alliance committee and attends the Alliance meeting weekly to encourage joint working with Telford and Wrekin CMHS and to ensure patients receive good quality care from all service providers.
Lauren has also built links with social services and attends their monthly huddles - which has helped with improving relationships with our team and social services. Lauren is keen to make sure social work is recognised and will often volunteer to link in with the team and other teams so she can share her social work knowledge .
Lauren has received many compliments from external colleagues, internal colleagues and from patients - all commenting on how thorough she is, her professionalism , her enthusiasm & passion and how the patient is always at the forefront of her mind.
Lauren is very passionate about being a social worker, and her passion outspills onto the team, patients and others!
Lisa-Marie Jones
Lisa-Marie is a social worker at Hampshire County Council and has been recognised by Mollie Power & Sinead Murray
Mollie said:
Lisa-Marie is a truly outstanding social worker. She is person-centred and manages expectations well. She works to the true meaning of safeguarding being everyone's business and puts so much effort into building relationships with the individuals she supports to help them play to their strengths and achieve their goals. Not only that, she is incredibly knowledgeable and takes time with colleagues to share her wisdom. She is kind and hardworking and a real inspiration. In these difficult times with increasing demand for services and funding pressures , she does her utmost to ensure service users feel heard and cared for. She is so passionate about her career as a social worker and delivering a high quality service to the people of Hampshire.
Sinead said:
Lisa Marie Jones is a fantastic Senior Social Worker. I have worked alongside Lisa Marie for many years within mental health social care team. She is both passionate and focussed on meeting the needs of those with whom she works with. She has developed alongside a DSM a new team that focusses on assessment/safeguarding and risk mitigation for high-risk cases on our awaiting list. She leads a team that focuses on good practice, theory and research, supports her team to critically reflect on their practice, develop their knowledge, skills and legal literacy and encourages others, including myself, to continue to develop and raise our standards. She works to a strength-based approach whilst respecting the dignity and worth of a client. She recently worked hard on a case where the client was residing in a rat infested home due to clutter build up. This client suffered from negative symptoms of his mental disorder- others deemed him as "lazy" but Lisa Marie was able to gain good insight that it was lack of motivation related to his mental disorder that caused him to reside in such circumstances. She ensured that his GP/ CMHT /Housing/advocacy were all involved and communicated clearly that this client was indeed unwell and required input from all agencies. She completed mental capacity assessments in re care/support needs/residency and was able to move this client safely to extra care where he is now doing well. Given the increase in self-neglect and associated SARs Lisa Marie has provided lifesaving interventions, to more than one client, by displaying professionalism and professional curiosity taking on national and local learning and advocating for clients to ensure that they receive crisis interventions from the appropriate agencies. She is and remains a fantastic Senior Social Worker that still holds true social work ethics and values.
Lisa Scarlett
Lisa is a senior social worker at Gloucestershire County Council has been recognised by Carol Smith
Lisa is a senior social worker managing a caseload of complex individuals in Adult Social Care who require expert support. Many of these cases involve court intervention and collaboration with a range of multidisciplinary professionals. Given the diverse needs of her clients, Lisa frequently consults with various experts and conducts research on conditions, legal matters, and available resources to ensure optimal outcomes for those she serves.
In addition to her demanding workload, Lisa excels at providing comprehensive professional development for her entire team. She regularly participates in training sessions and shares key insights with her colleagues. Lisa also supports joint visits, leads learning sessions on important topics, and assists staff during these visits. Despite her busy schedule, she remains approachable and always offers a listening ear for her team's practice challenges.
Highly regarded by her peers, Lisa embodies humility, intelligence, and a strong commitment to social work values and ethics. She inspires her team to strive for excellence and fosters a culture of quality in their work. She is a really good social worker and great asset to the team.
Louise Harris
Louise is a social worker at North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust and has been recognised by Laura Sharp
Louise is an outstanding social worker, her professionalism, her compassion and her all round work ethic is inspiring. Louise demonstrates a consistent person-centred approach advocating for vulnerable adults in a complex team with limited resources available within her professional field. Louise always ensures that the work she completes with and for individuals is of an outstanding standard, she is a compassionate, empathetic social worker, wellbeing advocate and colleague. She is invaluable to our MDT and a most valued clinician amongst our client group. Her humble personality means that she is not always recognised for the difference she makes on a daily basis.
Thank you Louise.
Louise Jones
Louise is a social worker at City of Wolverhampton Council and has been recognised by Lucy Jones
Louise is an excellent social worker. She is kind, generous, thoughtful and very conscientious. She always goes above and beyond for her children and young people and for her colleagues too.
Louise always offers to support her colleagues and often takes on extra work because of this. Every social work team needs someone like Louise! She's an inspiration. :)
Louise
Louise is a social worker at Northumberland County Council
Louise is the Northumberland LADO which is a role she has continuously developed and streamlined over the last 18 months. She had worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the role and the responsibility of all to make enquiries or referrals in response to worries about people that work with children and young people.
The process to contact the LADO is now clearer and easier, as is how enquiries and referrals are managed. Feedback is consistently positive about how knowledgeable and supportive Louise is and how clear the advice and guidance is that she provides.
A huge development has been Louises practical contributions to the new performance dashboards that help us to monitor referrals and the identification of trends.
Louise’s commitment and drive were recognised in our recent Ofsted inspection where she was described as "tenacious in following up actions and holding others to account". She is an absolute credit to our service, ensuring allegations about people working with children are responded to and managed in a fair and timely way.
Lynne McGarty and Heather Jackson
Lynne and Heathter are social workers at South Lanarkshire Council, Lanark Children and Families Team and have been recognised by Iain Nairn
Lynne and Heather were involved in a case recently whereby the children were unable to remain in the care of their parents due to very significant care and protection issues. The obvious action was to place the children in foster care to allow time to explore other familial options. However, they went above and beyond expectation and due to their tenacity and ingenuity, located a relative who lived over 400 miles away in another country. They dropped everything in their own lives and transported the children to people who they were familiar with. They were on the go for over 36 hours with little time for rest or recuperation. The case was much more complicated than I have outlined, however, the values and flexibility shown by these two workers highlight everything we should be proud of as a profession.
Lynsey Horrocks
Lynsey is a social worker at Warrington Borough Council and has been recognised by Hayley Lack
I am pleased to nominate Lynsey for her exceptional dedication and tireless commitment to her clients and the community. Lynsey consistently goes above and beyond her duties as a social worker, demonstrating an unwavering passion for improving the lives of those she serves.
Lynsey has been a vital member of our transfer of care team, consistently going above and beyond to ensure that patients and their families receive the support they need during some of the most difficult times in their lives. She possesses a deep understanding of the complex social and emotional challenges patients face, particularly in a hospital setting, and she is unwavering in her commitment to advocating for the well-being of every individual she works with.
Maria Riley
Maria is a social worker at City of York Council and has been recognised by Katy Hogden
Maria has been selected for this award, because she is an all round team player, role model and generally a positive person. She makes people feel valued and heard - not only the individual's that she supports, but also her peers and her managers.
Maria is a woman of many talents. When she is not supporting people in the community, she enjoys spending time with her young family. She even partakes in some club singing where she stretches her vocal cords in order to unwind from the stressful demands of the social worker role. Although Maria has not long being qualified, she is not phased by the challenges and her resilience is one to be desired. Maria embraces difficult situations through perseverance, not to mention being super-duper organised . Her attitude to work and life is uplifting. She has a genuine interest in people and will give all her time and attention. Alongside this her overall positivity is contagious and it's people like Maria that make the difficult job that we do so much nicer. Thank you Maria for being you .
Mev Clewes
Mev is a social worker at City of Wolverhampton Council and has been recognised by Laura Carter
Mev should be recognised as an Amazing Social Worker, as she is always on hand to support her colleagues and team. I have witnessed this first hand, with Mev offering support and guidance with a new technology project. She is the 'go to' person on her team, always happy to support.
Mev is a cultural consciousness champion, championing equalities and identity. Mev brings such valuable reflections thoughts and ideas support our development around the persons identity.
Michael Balkow
Michael is a lecturer at University of Derby and has been recognised by Shannon Underhay
Michael is an excellent advocate for the social work professional and is a great lecturer for the future generation of social workers. Michael is empathetic with students, and has been a great support to me. Michael shares his knowledge of child protection with students to help them use this knowledge for good. He is an amazing social worker!