Supported to thrive: adult social care in Wokingham

In collaboration with Wokingham Borough Council adult social care, social workers from the hospital discharge team team tell us why they love working there. Josh, Noku and principal social worker Vicky describe what it is like working in this market town west of London. Hospital discharge teams ar…

Neurodiversity belongs in social work (part 3): dyslexia

In the final instalment of the Neurodiversity belongs in social work campaign podcast miniseries, Sharmeen speaks to 26-year-old Elizabeth Glandfield about being dyslexic.  Elizabeth, diagnosed in primary school, talks about growing up with dyslexia and how she navigated the world around her.  Ha…

Neurodiversity belongs in social work (part 2): autism and ADHD

In this episode of the Social Work Community Podcast, part of the Neurodiversity belongs in social workcampaign miniseries, Sharmeen speaks to 'Stacey' (not her real name) talking about her experience of being diagnosed with autism and ADHD (AuADHD) in her forties.  Stacey, a social worker, has no…

Neurodiversity belongs in social work (part 1): Black, dyslexic & female

In this special miniseries tied to Community Care's 'Neurodiversity belongs in social work' campaign, Sharmeen Ziauddin interviews Dr Arlene Weekes, social work professor and academic. Dr Weekes has over 35 years experience in the sector and was diagnosed with dyslexia later on in life, while writ…

Social work, burnout and racism: one practitioner’s experience

Welcome to the first episode of Season five of the Social Work Community Podcast! This podcast episode, especially recorded for World Social Work month/week/day, features an interview with Nadine KL Boyne, an experienced social worker and author of the book Social Work is Not Self-Harm.  Trigger …

Showing kindness takes minutes: social workers in adult social care champion ways to be more trauma aware

The foundations of trauma awareness are rooted in kindness and compassion and over the last two years, adult social care practitioners at Essex County Council have been on a journey to embed values like these into their direct work, supervision and in shaping Essex’s practice model. Listen as prac…

A pathway home: how one council is helping children return safely to their families

At the end of 2025, Hampshire County Council’s children’s services introduced a new pathway plan designed to safely support the process of children safely going home to their parents. The Going Home Pathway uses pre-screening tools that are child centred, family focussed and  backed by evidence to…

How digitising work in the integrated front door team has improved workforce efficiencies

Introduced initially as a pilot in January 2025, the Council’s Integrated Front Door team tracks contacts and referrals using digital whiteboards that share live data. The new technology means an end to time-consuming manual recording, freeing up more hours for practitioners to focus on their work…

How one local authority uses a community social work approach to shape support for families and children

North Lincolnshire Council's children and families service is committed to working collaboratively with families through its One Family Approach practice model - an approach that uses co-production to shape support for families and practitioners. In the final segment of this three-part mini-series…

How direct work is transforming support for children

In the first in a three-part series from North East Lincolnshire Council,  social workers from children's services explore some of the changes that contributed to a significant improvement in the authority's Ofsted rating. Earlier this year, the council, previously graded inadequate, was rated goo…