We would like to thank our exhibitors and visitors, including this year’s sponsor (Vigoroom UK) for their great efforts in making the event such an engaging and successful day.
With over 1400 social work professionals registered, visitors attended the live conference which featured a wide range of seminars, workshops and social work films covering the latest practice in social work with children, young people and families, adult social care and mental health.
Sessions were led by social work professionals from across the UK, including local authorities, voluntary sector organisations, universities and more.
Social work organisations including Social Workers Union hosted a Q&A session on ‘How to improve stress and working conditions for UK social workers in 2022’, with a presentation on the 2022 findings of the working conditions for social workers survey.
Representatives from Social Work England also presented a session on Peer reflection and CPD requirements and discussed how the new expectations for CPD recording could bring benefits – including wellbeing – to social workers, organisations and the people who receive service.
Renowned author, Dr Neil Thompson, hosted seminars on ‘How to survive in social work’, as well as ‘Stress – Who has responsibility’ exploring workplace stress and who has responsibility for it.
Commenting on the sessions, one visitor said:
“Neil’s sessions were incredibly useful and interesting. It was a great way to understand common mental wellbeing issues in the workplace and learn how to tackle them.”
Social work career adviser, Steve Stuart, also held sessions in the Professional Development Hub on how to stand out in social work interviews, offering tips, techniques and skills for those looking to secure their first job or moving into management.
Children’s charity, Become, hosted a workshop on their latest report: ‘Sky’s the Limit: Reimagining ‘Leaving Care’, which explored a new vision of support for care-experienced young adults which started from the desire to completely reimagine ‘leaving care’.
Find out more: https://www.socialworktoday.co.uk/News/Charity-calls-for-reimagining-of-what-%E2%80%98leaving-care%E2%80%99-should-look-like
Exhibitors included, event sponsor, Vigoroom UK – a new wellbeing platform for employers and employees, with over 1,000 resources helping social work professionals to manage stress, as well as physical and mental wellbeing, including videos, activities, workouts and challenges.
Local authorities exhibiting included Bradford City Council, Cheshire East Council, Cheshire West and Chester Council, Coventry City Council, Falkland Islands, Manchester City Council, Oldham Council, Powys County Council, Rochdale Adult Care Service, St Helens Borough Council, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and Wigan Council.
Exhibitors were quick to express their success at The Social Work Show:
“We had an amazing experience at The Social Work Show yesterday. The opportunity to complete a CPD seminar and network with others is very much appreciated. We were overwhelmed by the amount of people who attended the seminar and the amazing feedback we got from visitors to the event, and whom have shown an interest in working at Wigan Council following yesterday’s discussions.”
