Professor Hilary Tompsett awarded BASW Lifetime Achievement Award
BASW AGM – June 2024
I am genuinely delighted to speak for BASW in celebration of our dear colleague and friend, Professor Hilary Tompsett being awarded the BASW Lifetime Achievement Award.
I have personally known Hilary since about 2007 when I started working as a Director of Social Work for the NHS in South West London and Hilary was then Professor of Social Work at Kingston University and St George's University of London. I got to know Hilary even more when our paths crossed at the College of Social Work in England.
Over recent years we have worked together on many projects in BASW and it would be hard to imagine my 8 years as BASW CEO without Hilary’s involvement, kind guidance and support - and I know this is a sentiment shared by many staff and members. We have benefited hugely from her selfless and gracious attention to a wide range of necessary tasks and responsibilities within the association and on behalf of the profession.
Hilary has had a much-lauded career in social work practice, education and research, spending many years up to her retirement as a Professor of Social Work at Kingston University.
She is a researcher, a social work educator, a university leader and a social worker with a passion and commitment to the advancement of the profession.
Hilary took on many important roles that have been milestones in the development of social work in England. She was a member of the Board and then Vice Chair of the first England regulator, The General Social Care Council. She was a Board member at the College of Social Work in England where, as I mentioned, I worked with her on a number of projects. Like me, Hilary was a longstanding BASW member as well as being involved with the College and she was instrumental in BASW rightly becoming the custodian of the profession-led Professional Capabilities Framework for England which is a very important and influential role for BASW.
BASW has been a place where Hilary has continued to make a huge difference for social work and for our members. Hilary joined Council as an elected member in 2016 and became fully involved in many aspects of the governance and running of the association, always willing to take on thorny challenges, to help, to celebrate and to collaborate. She particularly helped with our professional development activities and to the present day has played a key role in improving our good governance structures.
Most recently Hilary has been part of the Finance and OD committee, Chaired the Remuneration and Recognition Committee and our governance sub-committee. The last has now evolved and established itself as a full Risk and Audit committee, necessary as BASW has grown in complexity and levels of activity. Hilary currently skilfully Chairs this committee in its start up phase. Her wisdom and kindness have been so important in fostering our development as an organisation.
I also want to note Hilary’s involvement in our 50th Anniversary Heritage Project when she supported events and content, and supported those of us who were coordinating the project.
And she played an important role at the one and only live event we could hold before Covid lock down in 2020!
Hilary has supported multi-professional as well as social work endeavours in her research and in recent years as a member of the Royal Optical Council. I was struck by the title of one of her papers with colleagues about child safeguarding in general practice that included the advice ‘Listen carefully, judge slowly’.
That to me sums up Hilary’s wisdom on many matters and her way of treating people with respect while never shying from taken the decisions and making the judgements that need to be made.
I know Hilary will continue to provide wisdom and help in the service of social work, social workers and other wherever she can. I know I haven’t captured all the reasons why Hilary deserves this tribute but I hope I have conveyed some of the many reasons why we are marking Hilary’s contribution and saying thank you for all you have done and continue to do for our profession through this Lifetime Achievement Award.
