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Social Workers are ‘shining bright’

5th December 2024

Social Workers from across the Southern Trust joined together for the annual Professional Social Work Forum which shed a light on the invaluable role that social work plays in our communities.

The event, ‘Shining a Light on Social Work’, brought together social work staff and managers to discuss and review challenges and opportunities from the past year on how the social work professional contributes across the local community and the entire organisation.

Throughout the morning those in attendance heard from a number of service developments and how by “working together, everyone achieves more”. The event also heard about the shared work being done across the Trust in improving social work staff recruitment and retention in what was described as “a challenging year”.

Other presentations included inspirational stories from a range of social workers on ‘Why Social Work Matters’. This was an opportunity to reflect on the far-reaching impact social work plays across the adult community services and children and young people’s service.

Colm McCafferty, Executive Director of Social Work and Children and Young People’s Service, said:

“I was delighted to join so many of our social work colleagues at our annual event, which is so important to hold as social work plays a critical role in respect of many Trust services.

“It has been a challenging year but despite the challenges our social work colleagues have faced, they have and continue to shine bright.

“I believe it is really important to take some time to reflect, listen and learn from each other and develop our professional relationships and not to be afraid to reach out to each other for mutual support and I was delighted to hear about the brilliant work that is being undertaken despite the many challenges our social workers face.”