BASW honours Angi Naylor with Lifetime Achievement Award

Tributes were paid at a special event for BASW/SWU activist, social worker, and folk singer, Angi Naylor to mark her retirement from the SWU Executive.
Angi Naylor
SWU General Secretary, John McGowan and Angi Naylor with her BASW Lifetime Achievement Award

You have been a huge, dedicated contributor to BASW and SWU over decades. Your commitment to social work values and to fellow social workers and members has been unstinting throughout. 

BASW Chief Executive, Ruth Allen

Angi joined BASW as a student member in 1980 and is especially proud of her 10 years of work with the BASW Special Interest Group on Ageing (SIGA), including two terms as SIGA Chair. After SWU formed in 2011, Angi joined its Executive Committee, and has served as SWU Vice Chair for the past two years.

Angi has also been Chair of the Austerity Action Group (AAG) since its inception in 2017. The AAG was born out of the Boot Out Austerity campaign, famous for its anti-austerity protest march from Birmingham to Liverpool and has been funded by SWU since 2019 to continue campaigning for a more socially just society. Angi feels passionately about addressing the growing divide of digital poverty and fairly remunerating those with lived experience for their time and expertise.

She is also a great supporter of the musician led We Shall Overcome movement that has held over a thousand events nationwide fighting austerity and raising help for those suffering most in our communities.

Angi Naylor
Angi at a Boot out Austerity march

BASW Council awarded Angi the BASW Lifetime Achievement Award. This was presented to Angi in person by John McGowan and online by BASW CEO Ruth Allen who spoke to Angi as part of the online gathering of colleagues. Ruth presented the award and spoke of why Angi so deserved it:

“BASW UK Chair and all of BASW Council are so pleased to give this award to you, Angi. It is only the third award of recent years. Colleagues at this gathering will share more about why you deserve it – there are so many reasons – but here are just a few.

“You have been a huge, dedicated contributor to BASW and SWU over decades, joining the association in 1980 and active ever since. Your commitment to social work values and to fellow social workers and members has been unstinting throughout. You have taken these values into your years of peerless activism and protest.  And, of course, you are our straight-talking social work poet in song. You are compassion in action. 

“You have always supported BASW staff too. My personal thanks for your kindness, reaching out particularly throughout Covid. You keep us on our toes and are always positive and encouraging. You always remind us to look after ourselves as well as our members.

“You carry much of the history of social work – and I remember well the visit I made with you to Joan Barraclough at her home to see her archive, as part of the BASW Heritage project, in 2019 which you supported in many ways.

“I found a typically forthright email exchange between us in 2018 related to social work awards. You wrote ‘I am in principle against awards for social workers’. I took that to be an expression of your deep commitment to equality, solidarity and mutual support over picking people out for special praise. Well, I hope you accept and enjoy this one because it gives us such great pleasure to give it to you, a very special person.”

Angi Naylor

Alongside the Lifetime Achievement Award, John McGowan also presented Angi with an AAG Campaign Action Pack mug from the SWU Executive and a Harry Venning original drawing of Angi marching alongside Clare from Clare in the Community. 

The drawing is a fitting testament to Angi's years of hard work and determination to challenge social injustice and inequality.

Commenting, John McGowan said:

“I first came across Angi when I joined the SWU Executive when the union formed just after 2011. At that time, I was going ‘Who is this person?’ You could really feel her energy. Angi was a great mentor for me and as a mentor really built up my skills. She has acted as AAG Chair and SWU Vice Chair and brought her experience of being active in campaigns.

“Angi, you’ve been such a great person to have at SWU. The legend, friend, and fellow activist – you will be deeply missed in SWU and more widely throughout social work. Your contribution will remain enshrined in our history.”

BASW UK Chair, Julia Ross added:

“Angi, you have always been there for us, and it gives me huge pleasure to join with others in thanking you for your huge contribution over the years. I have long regarded you as a true warrior for the social work cause and will miss the very active part you have always played.

“Your songs, poetry and music continue to inspire more than you know, as does your unwavering commitment, passion and hard work towards achieving a fairer, kinder, and more compassionate world for all.”   

The event concluded with a round of music. Dr Peter Unwin, Poet Austeriate, played his guitar and sang a deeply touching original song called “Angi Naylor, There’s Only One You”.

Angi said, “If you hand me a guitar I’ll conclude with a song, a Methodist hymn – it’s just a feelgood song and it’s true.” Angi played “When I Needed a Neighbour” and everyone joined in for the chorus of a heartfelt “The Social Workers Chant – Boot Out Austerity”.