Meet the DJ social worker bringing communities together

As a community radio DJ in the north of England, Samea Mahboob is hearing firsthand about continuing fallout from the riots in Harehills.

And as a social work student she is also acutely aware of the impact such events have had on professionals working in the area.

Unrest erupted in the Leeds neighbourhood after children from a Roma family were forcibly removed from a house following alleged safeguarding concerns.

Social workers turned up at the property and the police became involved, sparking a night of violence on the streets.

Samea studies and works in West Yorkshire and has a regular slot on Radio Sangam. Her show is all about building bridges, strengthening networks and promoting the positive side of social work to a population frequently mistrustful of it.

She says: “The social workers I know are feeling quite intimidated and overwhelmed at the moment. 

“There were already plenty of negative perceptions around social work out there and it’s gone triple since Harehills. I don’t want these protests to become the norm. It isn’t safe.

“Social workers are there to champion human rights and so I want to focus on what they do for people, because more often than not social workers are our heroes.”

Samea says TikTok has become a labyrinth of ‘Chinese whispers’ since the rioting, with highly charged views still circulating and false information abounding.

It’s one of the reasons she went into radio – she saw a huge gap in how the perception of social workers is challenged beyond the walls of the university she attends.

“My radio show is all about raising the positive profile of social work,” she explains.

“We cover all the topics under the social work umbrella –domestic violence, racial discrimination, policing, mental health…

“Just before Harehills I was talking to my course professor about doing a show on child protection, in terms of demystifying it and changing the mindset that’s out there.

“I wanted to approach the issue in terms of it not always being a punishment, but sometimes a source of help. It’s not always a threat.”

But the negative image of social work and the people who carry it out still persists, and there is so much work that still needs to be done, Samea says.

“I used to encounter it on placement. When I was in the Youth Justice Service, I was working in the magistrates court and when I told some of the young adults there that I was a social work student, I got instant hate. 

“What I’m learning is that social work is more about reflecting than reacting.

“We have to understand where these attitudes are coming from. It’s like ‘Give me 20 minutes of your life and I will change your mind…’

“Yes, I’m a social work student, but I am also Samea. I explained to these kids a little about my own life. And they ended up saying, “Oh she’s alright, she is…”

Samea doesn’t want any special treatment and is very much a person who just gets on with things, but equally, she never forgot the help she and the family got from social services when she really needed it: “People were really kind and considerate,” she remembers.

Her own path into social work is informed by the core qualities she saw on display in the professionals she first encountered: “It’s all about respect, dignity, being compassionate, listening, not judging,” she says.

“There’s a fine line when you are training because you are told not to judge people but then of course as social workers this is what we end up doing. We judge and assess, but I do think that a really good social worker employs great personal skills, has the ability to be a good listener and the sense to separate their personal and their professional views.”

It was when Samea was working in adult social care in dementia services that she first spotted a disconnect in how things were being delivered.

“I looked at the demographic locally and it was clear that the workforce didn’t represent it,” she says.

“Services just didn’t reflect local diversity and I found myself asking why we needed all these interpreters when we could just recruit from the community.”

Samea decided to go into social work to be part of the solution.

The radio work followed when she realised she wanted a bigger platform to raise awareness around mental health. She approached Radio Sangam and remembers: “They were like ‘When can you start?’”

They trained her up and she says she has found the guidance of more experienced broadcasters like colleague Mohammad Idrees invaluable.

Samea has the full support of the station and says she couldn’t do what she does on her show without their help.

“All my topics are very seriously linked to my social work course, and at times even I can get a bit scared about what I’m covering.

“But it seemed to me it wasn’t enough to just educate social workers at university, great though the lecturers and speakers are.

“What was needed was for some of what we learn to go out into the wider community, to show people how social workers are trained, how we are taught to be non-judgmental and compassionate, dignified, and respectful.

“Community radio is the best platform because you really can go out there and change perceptions. It’s radio for all the stakeholders… you have the freedom to discuss things.”

Samea is planning a show on the aftermath of the Harehills riots, speaking to social workers and the wider community about how to repair the damage done and get people talking again.

“It’s all about social justice for me,” she says. “If you broke me in half, you would see social justice, diversity, and equity written right through me.”

She is also working on a project building bridges between faith communities in the area and the LGBTQ+ population.

“We want to invite faith leaders to a national conference with a focus on education because I’ve noticed that in schools, you will have Pride days, but the Muslim students don’t attend because of what their religious leaders are telling them, and then they get pulled into detention by school for not attending.

“There’s a clear gap between these two communities.”

Samea says she was proud when she received a nomination to be a BASW Amazing Social Worker this year but says: “It made me realise what a huge responsibility I have, and I got the sense that I need to work even harder.

“My real achievement will come when I am a qualified social worker, providing an outcome for a family or meeting the needs out there in the community.”

Samea admits that some of her radio work means she is taking risks and tackling extremely sensitive and contentious issues.

“But if you get it right, and you are respectful, if you plan and do your research it can be done.

“I’m a big believer in the poet and scholar Rumi, who says “There is always room to improve.”

“And the Prophet says you are always learning, until the day that you die.

"Clearly, I have a lot to learn yet, but I have taken my first step on the ladder.”

• Samea is looking for social workers to contribute to her radio show on the Harehills riots. If you want to get involved you can email her at s.mahboob10@bradford.ac.uk or call Radio Sangam on 07444 202155.