by Gemma S.

I have been a qualified social worker since July 2021, and ten months ago, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

An estimated 40 million people live with bipolar disorder worldwide, yet this is often viewed negatively in society. Stigma and discrimination are widespread, both within communities and health services.

‘I found myself hiding my diagnosis’

When I received my diagnosis, I really struggled emotionally. In truth, I mourned for my former self.

I strove to be open, raise awareness and show there was no shame in being bipolar. But I soon discovered it was not as easy as I initially thought. I found myself hiding my diagnosis and feeling ashamed of it.

At the beginning I was even unsure about disclosing my diagnosis at my workplace, out of fear I would be regarded negatively.

As a social worker, I pride myself on showing kindness, challenging injustice and working with people who feel on the margins of society.

But I was not giving myself that same kindness and understanding or standing up for what I thought I needed.

Ultimately, talking to my team felt right – I had built a good relationship with them and had a desire to support others in understanding mental health conditions.

A third of people with bipolar disorder face workplace discrimination

According to a 2020 survey carried out by mental health charity Bipolar UK, while 90% people disclosed their condition to their employer, 24% ended up regretting it.

The reasons for this were evidenced in a follow-up 2024 survey, where nearly a third (32%) of over 1000 individuals with bipolar disorder revealed they had faced workplace discrimination.

This time a quarter chose to keep their condition private.

A 2024 Community Care poll, meanwhile, found that over half of 625 respondents had either experienced or witnessed mental health-related prejudice.

However, one commentator on the related article spoke about how disclosing a diagnosis could help model authenticity about anti-discriminatory practice. That resonated with me.

I do feel that sharing my story with my manager and team has allowed me to be my authentic self.

‘They huddled around me like one big hug’

Having the right people in your corner is paramount.

I feel very fortunate to have an amazing team at the council I work at. They have shown understanding and care about my wellbeing.

On one occasion, when I was experiencing a depressive episode, I messaged my team and manager that I was struggling and feeling low, but that I still felt able to work.

They huddled around me like one big hug; checking in with me, offering a listening ear and recommending support services like occupational health and counselling/support groups within the local authority.

My team supported me with my workload and even brought in snacks and pop. It meant the world to me, and I truly appreciate them all.

Most importantly, this allowed me to continue working full-time and progress in a job that I love.

It makes me sad to know this is not everyone’s experience.

Receiving services as a social worker 

Adapting to my new identity as ‘someone who receives services’ has been a challenging experience.

As a person with lived experience and a professional, I was able to fight for the care I wanted. But there have been times when I felt vulnerable and powerless.

I have had to really fight for person-centred care for myself, to have a say and be part of the co-production around my own care.

When picking up my prescription from the pharmacist, medication changes were made without my input or any notification. I challenged this and asked the community mental health team to work with me, not for me.

I requested regular reviews and asked to be included in all discussions and decisions, as this is what I advocate for the people I support.

‘It’s important to be kind to yourself’

Currently, l feel positive about my future in social work and am returning to university to enhance my learning.

I am managing my bipolar disorder through medication, with support from my mental health team, practising good self-care and managing my wellbeing.

I have realised that being kind to myself is so important, especially when navigating life as a social worker. It requires much self-love, empathy, kindness and understanding.

‘Reach out for support’

I am sharing my experience to raise awareness that, even as a professional working within health and social care, I have faced difficulties with receiving person-centred support.

Working in a pressurised and demanding environment can be a challenge for anyone, but particularly for people with a mental health condition.

It is so important to reach out for support and have the backing of a marvellous team.

Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone who has inspired you in your career.

In this entry, Tony Mushrow celebrates his manager, Sarah Humphray, and her work within Sefton’s Team Around The School initiative, a collaboration between schools and a range of professionals focused on delivering early help to families.

Dear Sarah,

I have today nominated you for My Brilliant Colleague for several reasons. All jokes aside, I think you have been brilliant with Team Around The School (TAS).

You have worked tirelessly to improve this new service and bring in changes that will benefit the children and families we work with across Sefton. 

We know this has not been easy and you have had to manage pushback from both schools and partner agencies.

You have led on several new initiatives and had a hand in everything – from the logo and the referral process to creating a handbook for families, schools and partner agencies that explains our work.

I came into post a couple of months after you joined and, although busy with your own role, you found the time to support me, taking me out to meet staff, involving me in meetings and being there for me when I struggled with understanding this new structure and service. 

You always find the time to help and support both the staff on the team and those in partner agencies.

Your organisation and presentation about TAS to the new cluster was brilliant.

There were a couple of hundred people in that room, including local councillors, senior managers, the head of service and the director of children’s services. Yet you remained confident, informative, relatable and personable throughout – all the things you need to be a brilliant communicator.

At 59, I have been in social work for 25 years and, to be honest, was feeling quite burnt out and flat about my old post.

But working with you and witnessing your enthusiasm, dynamic energy, focus and drive has definitely inspired me to work harder and do better.

I want to learn more, do more, and help and support you to transform Team Around The School into an even better service for the children and families within Sefton.

Thank you, Sarah. Keep being the brilliant you.

How to nominate a colleague

You can nominate anyone who has inspired you in your career – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a letter or a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.

*Despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry.*

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com.

From the Front Line is a new series where social workers share their experiences on various topics and running issues within the sector. To express an interest in taking part, email us at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com

Frontline social workers operate within hierarchical organisations under the guidance and direction of managers at various levels.

Yet, the relationships with managers are complex; the inherent power imbalance can blur the line between advice and instruction, making open dialogue difficult.

Mentors can serve as an impartial guide – a trusted sounding board who offers wisdom, support and space for professional growth.

But what defines a good mentor? And how do you find one?

Three experienced social work professionals described how mentorship influenced the course of their careers, and provided advice on where to find one and what it takes to be one.

Tiffany Green, practice development lead, 22 years’ experience

I’ve always pushed myself to try different things, but that also goes back to my mentor. I got my mentor through the College of Social Work because, back then, I wanted to be a director of social services.

I didn’t know what that looked like or what steps I needed to take to get there, so I was allocated a mentor who had been in that role.

She’d have me write out actions I needed to take and taught me how to use the resources I already had to get the skills I needed and create opportunities.

For example, if you want to be a director, you need management experience. One way is to become a practice educator, where you can learn your threshold around balancing your daily work while managing someone else’s.

She also had me do one-year, three-year and five-year projections as to where I wanted to go and look at job descriptions for directors to see what skills I needed. Then we’d work backwards – what roles in the local authority could give me those skills?

She also made me think about what was good and bad about the managers I had. How do I avoid becoming the bad manager? And could I integrate the skills and the practice of the good ones?

It was an enlightening, insightful, and challenging experience, but in a good way. It challenged me to think about who I wanted to be.

It was the first time someone showed me that I get to choose how I do things.”

Your supervisor or manager will talk to you about opportunities for training, but you’ll rarely get a manager who’s comfortable if you say, “I want to be a manager”.

Having that separate person, who was just focused on me and what I wanted professionally, was really helpful.

Andrew Gambrill, independent practice educator and trainer, qualified in 2007

All my mentors were informal. I’ve always had at least one or two at any time and some of them stayed with me throughout my career. I guess it’s about, when things are going wrong, who do you call?

I might not speak to them for months but they’re your go-to people who can help you make sense of things.

As you progress, you leave one job for another, but you retain some people – it’s friendship slash mentorship. I think the difference here is that a friend would say you’re brilliant no matter what, while a mentor would go, “Actually maybe that’s not the right approach. These are your strengths but this is what you need to work on as well.”

It’s also good to have someone outside the organisation because, otherwise, you can get a corporate answer, even from a mentor. From the outside, they might be a little more critical and look at it from a different point of view.

At one point, I was going through a bad spell, a bad relationship with a manager, and when I spoke to a mentor outside of that organisation they offered a good balance of “Yes, that’s not fair how they’ve been treating you,”, but also, “Be a good professional. The reaction you described wasn’t good either. Avoid getting petulant and stick to your values.”

So having that balance was great.

You need mentors who can be positive and encouraging but equally have the courage to be critical.

You need someone saying, “Here’s your strength, build that strength, but you’ll hit a ceiling with certain elements. Don’t try to be that version of you because that’s not where your skills lie.”

On a practical level, I’ve always struggled with comprehensive writing. I’ve always been quite succinct in my writing, when sometimes more elaboration was needed, and having someone help me was really encouraging.

I’ve also had good mentors who didn’t wait for me to say, “I’m struggling”. When you start to struggle you’ll always wait and think, “Oh maybe I’ll get better and is it a weakness to say it?”

There is a relief of somebody else saying, “Listen, you’re struggling,” and offering support. Those are the good mentors. I’ve had one tell me, “I’ve been through these situations as well and I wanted to be the person I needed then.”

Managers can double as mentors, but it’s incredibly difficult because the ideal mentor is almost separate from this corporate process.

I’ve had some who have been good mentors for a lot of the time but sometimes it was a challenge because of the balance of the role.

What I’ve learned is that you’ve got to reach out and recognise who is able and willing to be your mentor. It is tricky because, as newly qualified staff, you get a lot of formal mentors, like managers and leads, but sometimes the informal ones are those who count. They are the ones who sit in the corner and tell you the stuff you need to know that no one else tells you.

But it’s about being appreciative as well. You could send back some love and say, “I really appreciate you, thank you”.

That can be a good reward for the mentor and encourage them to keep going, because we all need the feedback. We all need the positive strokes.

Jane Mathew-Byrne, national professional lead, over 30 years of experience

Eight years ago, Farrukh Akhtar, my colleague at Kingston University, where I was a lecturer, became the BA course lead so I worked closely with her.

She got to know me and pushed me to try new opportunities. She’d say, “Oh Jane why don’t you take up the mentoring scheme? You’re already mentoring students.”

She recognised that my strengths and skills were in building relationships with people, mentoring and championing them, not telling them what to do.”

I was able to go to her and chew things over. I don’t think it matters how experienced you are. It’s always good to have a sounding board. She wasn’t my supervisor or manager, but even if she had been, that wouldn’t have been a problem because of her style of work. We built up that relationship.

She inspired me to encourage other team members to do that as well. Her mentoring was an excellent example that helped me further my skills.

Looking back, she supported me to realise it was time to move on. Part of me knew that, but I left it right at the back of my mind.

As a mentor, you don’t tell people what to do. You don’t have that authoritarian aspect, what you want to do is develop the individual.

It’s very much being with the person. You can give them the space they need and reflect together and they don’t fear saying something wrong.

I would advise new mentors to always listen. Don’t direct and be supportive. And if it’s too much, then go speak to your senior.

Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone who has inspired you in your career.

In this entry, mental health practitioner Sam celebrates her manager, Claire, who, despite knowing her for a short time, has supported her throughout major life and professional changes.

I would like to nominate my senior and new manager, Claire.

I’ve recently started with a new mental health team, started a social work apprenticeship and left my abusive husband.

Claire has stuck by me, supporting me personally and in my work and apprenticeship – she has been completely wonderful! This is despite her only knowing me for a relatively short period of time.

Her support while I got acclimatised to a new role, studying and making it through personal hurdles, enabled me to feel supported and valued.

I believe she’s gone above and beyond for me. But I know she consistently does this for other colleagues and offers the same support to the people on her caseload.

Claire is an excellent person, a wonderful social worker and manager.

How to nominate a colleague

You can nominate anyone who has inspired you in your career – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a letter or a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.

*Despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry.*

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com.

Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone who has inspired you in your career.

In this entry, corporate safeguarding lead Natalie Stanley from Birmingham City Council, celebrates her mentor, social worker and independent safeguarding specialist Maria Barnett.

She describes Maria as a source of inspiration, expertise and kindness, who always sees the potential of those she works with.

Since I began working with Maria four months ago, her exceptional skills, dedication and compassion have made an enormous impact on my personal and professional growth.

While Maria has been a dedicated social worker for decades, her mentoring, guidance and unwavering support these past few months have been transformative for me and countless others.

Her wealth of experience in social work, coupled with her genuine care for others, has been a source of inspiration. Her extensive knowledge of the field is evident not only in her work, but also in her ability to simplify complex situations and offer practical advice.

What sets Maria apart is her unique approach to mentorship.

She listens with empathy, shares her insights without judgment and empowers others to grow.”

From the beginning, she has shown a deep commitment to my development. She has patiently guided me through challenging moments, offering advice that has helped me navigate both personal and professional challenges.

Her ability to connect on a human level, to see the potential in those she works with, is remarkable. I have grown not just as a professional but as an individual, and I attribute much of that to Maria’s mentorship.

Maria’s influence also reaches far beyond our work together. She has always been a compassionate advocate for those in need, and her legacy as a mentor, a leader, and a supporter continues to ripple through the lives of everyone she touches.

For these reasons, I strongly believe Maria deserves to be recognised. Her selflessness, expertise and kindness are qualities that have enriched my life, and I am sure others have been equally blessed by her guidance and mentorship.

How to nominate a colleague

You can nominate anyone who has inspired you in your career – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a letter or a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.

Despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry.

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com.

For Community Care’s 50th anniversary, our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone who has inspired you in your career.

In this entry, social worker Noemi Dziatkowska has nominated her supervisor, Sharon Modeste, who she describes as the “heart” of Wandsworth’s early help team.

Sharon Modeste is a qualified social worker with over 20 years of experience working within vulnerable and diverse communities, including in the prison service and various child protection and safeguarding teams.

She is currently a senior practitioner in Wandsworth Council’s early help, targeted parenting and family support service.

To Sharon,

I want you to know just how much you mean to me and to everyone in our team. Your contributions to the social work community are nothing short of extraordinary.

Photo: Sharon Modeste

You bring so much compassion and warmth to everything you do, and your positive spirit makes it a joy to come to work each day. Even on the hardest days, you lift us up and inspire us to keep going.

As your supervisee, I feel so incredibly lucky to have you as my guide. When I joined early help in October 2023, as a nervous, newly qualified social worker, I didn’t know what to expect. In just a year, you’ve given me so much more than just knowledge. You’ve helped me grow my confidence and find my voice.

Every supervision session with you feels like a gift because I always take away something new and valuable. You care so deeply about my growth, always encouraging me to stretch myself and embrace new learning experiences.

I couldn’t have asked for a better mentor. More than that, Sharon, you are the heart of our team.

You’re always the first to offer help when someone is struggling and you consistently go above and beyond when we’re under pressure. Your kindness and dedication shine through in everything you do.

You don’t just do your job, you pour your heart into it, and that makes all the difference.

We are so lucky to have you, and I’m endlessly grateful for everything you’ve done for us all.

I hope that I can take on the learning you passed on and be as successful as you are one day.

Noemi

How to nominate a colleague

For our 50th anniversary, we’re expanding our series My Brilliant Colleague to include anyone who has inspired you in your career – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by either:

• Filling in our nominations form with a letter or a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.
• Or sending a voice note of up to 90 seconds to +447887865218, including your and the nominee’s names and roles.

Despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry.

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com.

The first years post-qualification are daunting for any social worker.

It is the challenging transition from theory to practice, when practitioners find their footing with children, families or adults and shape their professional identity.

However, on top of this, they often face high caseloads, increasingly complex needs, and a loss of experienced staff to support them.

Community Care’s 2022 caseloads survey found social workers in their assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE) were overwhelmed by their caseloads and missing out on learning from experienced colleagues who were unable to offer support due to their own workloads.

It’s a tough environment to build professional confidence in or even solidify your decision to remain in the field. According to Department for Education workforce statistics, two-thirds of those who left the children’s sector in 2020-21 had been with their local authorities for five years or less.

So what could help new social workers navigate their first years post-qualification? We asked practitioners attending Community Care Live 2024 for their views.

‘Experienced managers need to nurture new practitioners’

Cassy, now head of safeguarding in a public inquiry, can still recall her nervousness when starting out 22 years ago.

“I was really nervous about being transparent with families or making phone calls in the office in front of colleagues,” she says. 

“There was just a general lack of confidence in speaking to families about difficult issues and things I was concerned about.”

The key components to building her confidence were, ultimately, her managers and colleagues.

“You need experienced managers and colleagues nurturing less experienced social workers, allowing them to model their skills and have enough time to learn and embed them in their own practice.”

‘Never be afraid to ask questions’

Even those with prior social care experience needed time to settle into the role.

Though she had over a decade of social care experience before qualifying, senior social worker Naomi says it took her a couple of years to feel fully confident in her new position.

She too credits her manager’s support for helping her find her footing as a practitioner.

“I’ve moved on to roles since where the manager hasn’t been supportive and that makes your job 10 times harder. If you’ve got a supportive, understanding manager, it’s very helpful,” she says. 

Share your story

Picture: daliu/fotolia

Would you like to write about a day in your life as a social worker? Do you have any stories, reflections or experiences from working in social work that you’d like to share or write about?

If so, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com

“You also need colleagues you can turn to and who are comfortable saying, ‘You know what, I’ve been here 10 years but I don’t know that question, let me find out.’ It’s good to know that, no matter how experienced you are, not everyone knows everything.”

Hardey Barnett, an independent reviewing officer, also stressed that newly qualified practitioners should “never be afraid to ask questions”.

“I’ve been there before, where I don’t want to ask a question out of fear of being embarrassed,” he says.

“But these are opportunities for learning so always ask. Never be afraid because it can rock your confidence if you are left without answers. I guarantee there will be half a dozen other people in the room going, ‘Oh my God, thank you, I had no idea what that is.’”

‘Management has become more oppressive’

Yet, despite many praising supportive managers for helping them through their initial years in social work, Janet says today’s environment isn’t as nurturing.

An agency worker with over 30 years of experience, Janet believes the newly qualified experience is now undermined by constant changes in policy, pressure of complex caseloads and micromanagement.

“Management has become more oppressive, whereas before it was about caring and supporting each other. Now there’s this expectation that you should be able to just do the job from the start,” she says.

“It can eat away your confidence and how you feel about being a social worker if you’re working in an environment that feels quite stressful and micromanaged.”

Janet credits her first team, and working relationships with other professionals assisting in cases, for making her feel she had “made the right decision” as a newly qualified.

“It was always about knowledge sharing and being able to go to people and ask, ‘How do you do this?’ I could get the support and assistance I needed.”

Over the past 30 years, she has found that closeness rarely exists anymore within teams. Her solution is mentorships, where new practitioners can have someone to advise and support them who is independent of their management.

“We’re human beings as well and we take on a lot,” she says. “We’re involved in a lot of people’s trauma and lives and we have a certain level of control over them. But what is it doing to us as human beings? So I think mentoring could be a good thing – [having] someone who is experienced that can support newly qualifieds to build their confidence and make them feel they made the right decision.”

‘I had good supervisors but a poor manager’

Olle Chima, a social work lecturer who qualified in 1997, can empathise with practitioners who don’t feel supported by management when starting their careers.

“I remember feeling daunted, my risk awareness was so heightened. I was always terrified that I would miss something,” she says of her initial years as a children’s practitioner.

“But I also had a poor manager. When I raised an issue of concern once, he said, ‘Oh, don’t worry. I know we want to save all the children, but we can’t.’ I thought it was a terrible thing to say.”

Instead, it was her supervisors who walked her through the necessary procedures to address her concerns.

“They told me what to do, what to check for, and how to ensure I had crossed all the Ts,” she says. “For me it became about whether you have done everything practicable and lawful that you can do. And that’s enough.”

She cites psychologist Lev Vygotsky’s theory on learning environments as a lesson managers should carry with them when bringing newly qualifieds into their team.

“Vygotsky believed if you’re doing tasks alongside the child you should give them the space to do some difficult things on their own but still stand back [to help if need be],” she says. “It’s a great approach to have with new practitioners.”

“I always encourage that with students. You don’t have to do everything [on your own], you can always seek advice from senior practitioners. Because otherwise, they are just left anxious.” 

How long did it take you to build your confidence after qualifying?

For Community Care’s 50th anniversary, our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone who has inspired you in your career.

In this entry, substance misuse lead Andy Whapham celebrates Debbie Brough, his former practice educator and role model, who continues to be a source of advice and support years after his placement with her.

Debbie Brough has been and continues to be my inspiration and role model.

She was my practice educator during my university placement and again during my assessed and supported year in employment.

She pushed me out of my comfort zone, challenged me to better myself, and supported me when I was going through difficult times.

She has a wealth of knowledge and experience that she is always willing to share. To this day, she continues to provide me with advice whenever I need it.

I can’t thank her enough for everything she has done and I most certainly would not be the practitioner, and indeed person, I am today without her.

Debbie is the best of us!!

How to nominate a colleague

For our 50th anniversary, we’re expanding our series My Brilliant Colleague to include anyone who has inspired you in your career – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by either:

• Filling in our nominations form with a letter or a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.
• Or sending a voice note of up to 90 seconds to +447887865218, including your and the nominee’s names and roles.

Despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry.

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com.

For Community Care’s 50th anniversary, our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone who has inspired you in your career.

Social worker Nicola Silk lost her mentor and friend of 16 years, Pat Curtis, just a couple of weeks ago.

In the following letter, addressed to Pat, Nicola remembers the years she spent beside her colleague and the lives that were touched by her.

Pat,

It was almost 16 years to the day I met you.

Me, a newly qualified social worker at a time without protected caseloads or formal mentoring, and you, a strong-minded, opinionated and experienced child protection conference chair.

I was told to come to you for support in writing a conference report for a family whose social worker had been off sick. This started 16 years of mentorship, advice and friendship that moved out of the workplace and intertwined with our personal lives.

Pat Curtis (photo by Nicola Silk)

You welcomed me and my husband into your home and family, something I have valued over the years.

I have never taken for granted your wisdom, in fact I have more than once called you my social work inspiration. Over the years, whenever I sought your advice, you were always keen to listen, tease out my thoughts and help me come to a solution. I know this is what you did for many.

You can’t say your name in the Peterborough and Cambridgeshire area without someone recognising it. Everyone comments on how supportive and knowledgeable you were, but also how honest and straight-talking, something you are remembered fondly for.

You started out as a primary school teacher before moving on to the world of social work, where you remained as a practice educator and mentor until very recently.

You’d proudly tell me there were few students you hadn’t been able to support to pass their placement and you took great pride in seeing them flourish.

Even when you retired, you couldn’t quite let the practice educating go. At the time, I teased that you would be doing it until the day you died. I didn’t know how true this would be.

I can’t even begin to put into words the impact you have had on the social work profession, the sheer number of people who have somehow had their professional or personal lives touched by you and the gaping hole you now leave. There are few people who have such a legacy to leave to the world, but you, Pat, are one of them.

Pat Curtis holding her silver award for practice educator of the year at the Social Worker of the Year Awards 2023 (photo by Nicola Silk)

When I spoke to Peter [Pat’s husband] and Geraldine [her sister] about writing this, we all cried together and then laughed.

We all agreed you probably would love this, but not before saying how much you’d hate it and that I shouldn’t waste my time writing about you. Because despite all your hard work and achievements, you were humble.

In November 2023, you were a finalist in the Social Worker of the Year Awards for practice educator of the year. I can’t believe it took that long to be nominated and, even though you didn’t win (which I thought was a great injustice), you were just as thrilled to even be a finalist and be well enough to attend the awards event.

When I think of you now ,Pat, you will always be smiling a big beaming smile and wearing colourful glasses and clothes that always reminded me of autumn colours. If I see sweet peas, it will be a reminder of you growing them each year in abundance.

I never got to tell you I had been successful in getting the consultant family court adviser job, but as I start this new chapter of my career, and with my first student since joining Cafcass, I only hope I can do you proud.

Thank you for always sharing your time and knowledge.

Nic x

Pat Curtis, 22 April 1949 – 11 July 2024

In memory of Pat, Nicola and Pat’s family are raising money to plant a tree in her memory. You can find the fundraiser page here.

How to nominate a colleague

For our 50th anniversary, we’re expanding our series My Brilliant Colleague to include anyone who has inspired you in your career – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by either:

• Filling in our nominations form with a letter or a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.
• Or sending a voice note of up to 90 seconds to +447887865218, including your and the nominee’s names and roles.

Despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry.

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com.

For Community Care’s 50th anniversary, our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone who has inspired you in your career.

In the latest entry, a social worker from Liverpool City Council has nominated three family support workers – who happen to be brothers – for going “above and beyond” for both families and their co-workers.

I’m nominating my colleagues, Carl, Gary and Danny McCluskey, who are family support workers with Liverpool children’s services – and also brothers.

They have each worked for the authority for over twenty years and have extensive knowledge about supporting the most complex families in the city.

I have worked on cases with each of the brothers and they complete their work with compassion and care. They will go above and beyond to support not only children and families in the city, but also the team members they work with.

Danny, in particular, will go out of his way to make new members of his team feel comfortable and settled. He readily shares his knowledge, and newly qualified social workers learn so much from him about following a trauma-based approach.

Danny also deeply cares for his colleagues and is always at hand to give advice or be a listening ear for anyone who is having difficulties.

Our children’s services are lucky to have these three amazing brothers, who always strive to support children and families in the city.

I have no doubt that there are many, many families who have benefited from the work that the McCluskey brothers have completed with them. The care, compassion and knowledge they each share have changed people’s lives for the better.

How to nominate a colleague

For our 50th anniversary, we’re expanding our series My Brilliant Colleague to include anyone who has inspired you in your career – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by either:

• Filling in our nominations form with a letter or a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.
• Or sending a voice note of up to 90 seconds to +447887865218, including your and the nominee’s names and roles.

Despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry.

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com.