AAG members Daz Hull and Angi Naylor hold limited edition print copies of the updated Campaign Action Pack The Austerity Action Group (AAG) proudly launched the Battling the Cost-of-Living Crisis: Campaign Action Pack at the SWU Conference on April 27th at the historic Mechanics Institute in Manchester. The event brought together social workers, students, and trade unionists from across the UK to discuss the common threads of solidarity, activism, and social justice. The Campaign Action Pack is a step-by-step guide on how social workers and their communities can take action against o ..read more

Angi Naylor brings you up to date with the Annual General Meeting (AGM) Motion 5 and asks for your support and action. “This AGM recognises that the Austerity Action Group (Boot Out Austerity Marches On) continues to identify and lobby with and on behalf of disadvantage groups and individuals whose lives have been blighted by the ongoing effects of government driven Austerity measures imposed on them over the last decade.” Many of these citizens find themselves ‘ghost like’ disenfranchised and unable to participate in everyday activities and systems due to Digital Poverty. It is estimated th ..read more

Social work students and apprentices be sure to submit your entries by the end of day Sunday 16th June 2024 for the chance to win £500. The Social Workers Union (SWU) is pleased to announce that Lynne Gargiulo, Rebecca Austin, and Professor Jermaine Ravalier will be marking this year’s SWU Assignment essay competition. Our marking panel members are looking forwards to reading the responses from social work students and apprentices from across the UK to the question:  “Why does reflective supervision matter in social work? How does it support social worker wellbeing and practice ..read more

Political party leaders have been warned that vulnerable adults and children living in cold, damp, mouldy homes is a national scandal in an open letter from campaigners. The letter comes after research among members of the Social Workers Union found that two-thirds (61%) of children’s social workers witnessed young people living in conditions with excessive levels of mould. At a wider level, the study found that over half (55%) of adult, child and mental health social workers saw the people they support living in cold damp homes and many reported disabled people restricting their use of energy ..read more

SWU Assistant General Secretary Calum Gallacher reports on the first Diaspora Social Worker Conference in the UK, which was sponsored by the SWU Campaign Fund On the 18th of March 2024 SWU attended and witnessed a momentous event, the first ever Diaspora Social Work Conference held at Brunel University, Diaspora Dialogues: Celebrating Social Worker on the Move. It will not be the last, evidently there is a need to maintain momentum through campaigning for better support of social workers migrating to the UK and the BASW Diaspora SIG have made a remarkable start to increasing awareness and ..read more

The weeks surrounding World Social Work Day (WSWD) on March 19th were busy this year and SWU participated in several outstanding events. SWU spoke at the BASW Student Conference, Compass Birmingham Jobs Fair, and SASW WSWD webinar. SWU also sponsored and attended the inaugural Diaspora Dialogues: Celebrating Social Workers on the Move conference which SWU Assistant General Secretary Calum Gallacher reports on in his upcoming article. BASW UK Student Conference 2024 On March 16th at the BASW UK Student Conference, SWU Executive Members Anna Collins and Rebecca Austin shared learning from the ..read more

Councils and other employers of social workers will soon be able to sign up to a new pledge to celebrate neurodiversity in the profession. The pledge has been created by a group of neurodivergent social workers with the backing of the SWU Campaign Fund and the launch in April comes after a trailer video was released as part of Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2024: The pledge’s authors hope it will encourage employers to recognise the contribution neurodivergent social workers bring to their roles and commit to act towards a neuro-inclusive workplace. Deb Solomon, a social worker from Derbysh ..read more

The Social Workers Union (SWU) and British Association of Social Workers (BASW) are proud to support the updating of this activism toolkit and hope you will join us for its launch on April 27 in Manchester. The Austerity Action Group (AAG) was born out of the 2017 Boot Out Austerity campaign and is funded by SWU. The AAG was created to tackle the issues of poverty and inequality that continue to negatively affect people who use social services and is a key vehicle in the ongoing campaign by SWU and BASW for a more socially just society. The updated Campaign Action Pack aims to facilitate and s ..read more

Exclusive research conducted by The Independent and the Social Workers Union (SWU) lays bare a social services sector on the brink of a breakdown and Dickensian living conditions. SWU invited all members to respond to a survey commissioned by The Independent between 25 January to 12 February 2024, and 716 social workers responded. Austerity has decimated social services and more funding is urgently required The Independent included the results of this survey in their March 30th news story “Social workers admit they can’t keep children safe after murder of Fin ..read more

In the last 18 months two-fifths (40%) of social workers have raised concerns about cases where they don’t believe appropriate action was taken. Of these, almost a third 29% have highlighted more than 5 cases in that time.  The findings come in an exclusive report in The Independent which commissioned research among members of the Social Workers Union (SWU). [1] The figures show a slight decrease from the last time SWU ran the survey in 2022 (when 48% reported raising concerns without then seeing action from bosses), the numbers of social workers who reported more than five cases has rema ..read more