Your responses will help continue to make that case for additional funding in services that help some of the most vulnerable children and young people across the England.
The Chairs of the British Association of Social Workers Northern Ireland and the Irish Association of Social Workers have jointly written to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP, and An Tánaiste, Simon Coveney TD, highlighting grave concerns about the potential impacts of Brexit on the social work profession on the island of Ireland.
During the first part of my time as Chair I had the pleasure of working alongside Luke Geoghegan, who was elected to Council at the same time as me, as Chair of the Finance and Human Resources Committee. After being re-elected with me in 2016, Luke stood down having become our new Head of Policy and Research, where he is developing a tremendous programme of work together with Policy and Research Officer, Godfred Boahen. Between 1998 and 2008, Luke was the Chief Executive at Toynbee Hall, the first Settlement in London’s East End, where Clement Attlee worked before the First World War. I feel a strong connection with the East End Settlements now myself, living near to them and being a frequent visitor to Oxford House and St Margaret’s House in Bethnal Green. This is a companion post to my previous “From Attlee to eligibility criteria”, in which I looked at the balance in social work between collective and individualised approaches. Here we focus on the former, beginning with an exploration of how the Settlement Movement helped to develop social work as community work.