Winners of BASW’s Social Work Journalism Awards 2024!
The annual awards aim to celebrate creative, informed and accurate reporting of social work in the media across the UK. It forms part of BASW and SWU’s wider campaigning to improve public representation and understanding of the social work profession.
The finalists were invited to an awards ceremony during BASW’s UK Conference, which this year was held at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh.
Entries were sought from social workers, students, journalists, and members of the public across eight categories. A special award was also presented for an outstanding contribution to journalism featuring social work. The full list of winners are as follows:
Broadcast National
Ruben Reuter – Channel 4 News – “How can we meet changing care needs of people with learning disabilities?”
Regional Broadcast
Deborah McAleese - UTV Northern Ireland – “More than 4,000 children on waiting lists for social care help with many waiting over a year”
Written Journalism
Holly Bancroft – The Independent – “Surge in children needing care in wake of pandemic as councils drastically overspend budgets to cope”
Lived Experience
Kids – Channel 4 - a documentary series following teenagers in the care system through a crucial year in their lives
Messy Fostering – Today, Radio 4 - a guest edit by young people with lived experience of the care system
Written Media Regional
Paul Britton – The Manchester Evening News – “The innocent children who think they are in love”
Trade Press
Dan Worth – Tes Magazine – “Something bad will happen: how social care cuts hit exclusions”
Drama
Call the Midwife – BBC 1 - for its depiction of ‘Cyril’, a social worker involved in a case of two abandoned children whose mother suffers domestic abuse
Podcasts
Robert Dyer and Nana Akwasi Yabbey-Hagan – The Social Worker and the Mentor – for an episode titled ‘The working conditions of social workers: to strike or not to strike’
Special Award
Catriona Stewart – The Herald.
Catriona has delivered accurate, balanced, and nuanced writing on social work and social issues over the years, including a piece that challenged stigma associated with poverty in Scotland. She has also been a champion of women’s rights and has put a spotlight on violence against women and girls.
Thank you to everyone who nominated and supported the awards this year. BASW and SWU are proud to champion positive and fair coverage of social work in the media, and it’s fantastic to be able to recognise great examples happening across the UK.
Entries for the 2025 awards will be open soon – keep an eye on our Social Work Journalism Awards webpage for updates!
