The Social Worker of the Year Awards 2024 winners were unveiled at a ceremony in London last week.
The judges selected 18 gold award winners and 19 silver award winners from the over 90 practitioners, students, teams and organisations shortlisted for this year’s prizes.
The overall winner’s prize, along with the children’s team gold award, went to Norfolk council’s people from abroad team, a specialist social work service that supports citizens of other countries, including those with no recourse to public funds, and British nationals returning from abroad.
Organising charity the Social Work Awards said the team’s work in recent years had included supporting families from Afghanistan and Ukraine to settle in the area. Practitioners had also developed their learning, with three social workers qualifying as registered immigration advisers, a role that involves providing people with advice and support on issues such as asylum claims, residence and deportation.
‘They practice with compassion and without judgment’
Sherry Malik, vice-chair of the awards’ board of trustees, said: “The people from abroad team provide a vital service for families and individuals fleeing their own countries and arriving here in circumstances none of us could ever imagine ourselves in.
“They support them to rebuild their lives, step by step – from accommodation to language needs, from schools for the children to getting to know the area and to settle in the community. They do it with compassion, kindness and without judgment and in creative ways with diminishing resources. Their work truly deserves this accolade.”
Celebrate those who’ve inspired you
For our 50th anniversary, we’re expanding our My Brilliant Colleague series 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.
If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com
The team said: “We love what we do because the people we work with are amazing, they’ve overcome adversity, and it makes us go that extra mile for them.
“We see people at their most vulnerable and we work to get them to a point where they no longer need us and can fly the nest. What is most important to us is empowering people to gain their independence and we know that we’ve done our best and we’ve made enough change that they won’t come back into the service.”
Social Worker of the Year Awards 2024 winners
Student of year
- Tienga Ngale – Brunel University (gold winner)
- Hannah Louise Barnes – University of Sussex (silver winner)
University social work lecturer of the year
- David Marsland – University of Hull (gold)
- Nigel Kelleher – Edge Hill University (silver)
Newly qualified children’s social worker of the year
- Holly Shreeves – Central Bedfordshire Council (gold)
- Helen Podesta – Milton Keynes Council (silver)
Newly qualified adult social worker of the year
- Elizabeth Okankor Badu – Central Bedfordshire Council (gold)
- Aaron Evans – London Borough of Hounslow (silver)
Practice educator of the year
- Zainab Sulaiman – Cambridgeshire County Council (gold)
- Maxine Burt – Essex County Council (silver)
Technology-enabled lives and innovation in practice award
- TACT Connect – TACT (gold)
- Technology enhanced lives service – Kent County Council (silver)
Mental Health Social Worker of the Year
- Fran Ashton – Humber NHS Teaching Foundation Trust & Hull City Council (gold)
- Georgie Dredge – Essex County Council (silver)
Approved mental health professional (AMHP) of the year
- Dr Matt Simpson – Wiltshire Council/Bournemouth University (gold)
- Kenton Fairweather – Sunderland City Council (silver)
Team of the year, children’s services (including MDTs)
- People from abroad team – Norfolk County Council (gold)
- The children’s mental and emotional health team – West Sussex County Council (silver)
Team of the year, adult services (including MDTs)
- Reconnect: care after custody – Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (gold)
- Specialist palliative care social work team – St Richard’s Hospice (silver)
Practitioner-led research award 2024
- Anna Bouch – Brighton and Hove City Council (gold)
- Hannah Kingsford – Kent County Council (silver)
Supportive social work employer award
- London boroughs of Richmond and Wandsworth (gold)
- Hartlepool Borough Council (silver)
Social justice advocate award
- Anti-Racist Movement (A.R.M) – an independent platform for black female social workers nationwide (gold)
- Dawn Henderson – Dorset Council (silver)
Team leader of the year, children’s services
- Clare Luxton – Bath and North East Somerset Council (gold)
- Danielle Jeenah – London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (silver)
Team leader of the year, adult services
- Sue Bunker – Shropshire Council (gold)
- Joe Hockaday – Essex County Council (silver)
- Carol Monahan – Wiltshire Council (silver)
Children’s social worker of the year
- Cherry F Ricketts – London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (gold)
- Hema Johal – Cafcass (silver)
Adult social worker of the year
- Chloe Lambert – Shropshire Council (gold)
- Parminder Sangha – Worcestershire County Council (silver)
Lifetime achievement award
- Susan Banyard – West Sussex County Council (gold)
- Jennifer Gander – Brighton and Hove City Council (silver)
Overall winner
- People from abroad team – Norfolk County Council
The lifetime achievement gold award went to Susan Banyard, who retired recently from her role as a social worker in children’s services at West Sussex council after a career in the sector lasting more than 30 years.
Social Worker of the Year Awards 2024 lifetime award gold winner Susan Banyard, pictured with Vava Tampa (left) and Janati Champaneri (right), from headline sponsor BASW England, and journalist and awards presenter Ashley John-Baptiste (credit: Social Work Awards)
Posthumous award for lecturer-practitioner
The approved mental health professional of the year gold award was given, posthumously, to Dr Matt Simpson, who was senior lecturer at Bournemouth University and an AMHP for Wiltshire, who died in January this year.
He was described as “a much-loved colleague, manager and teacher” and “truly an exemplary AMHP”, said the Social Work Awards.
Other winners included the Anti-Racist Movement (ARM), a collective that provides a dedicated space for black female practitioners to discuss their experiences of social work, including in relation to racism. The group won the gold award in the social justice advocate category.
A safe space for black female social workers
In an article published on Community Care earlier this year, its founder, Shantel Thomas, said: “Women, especially black women, tend to hold on to their trauma internally and there wasn’t a safe space to express that without having to explain and apologise or try to compensate.”
New this year was an award for practitioner-led research, open to those who had carried out research or helped build a research culture within their organisations.
The gold award for this went to Anna Bouch, professional education consultant in Brighton & Hove Council’s adult social care team, who, according to the judges, “truly embodies the qualities of an outstanding social work researcher
Also new was the technology-enabled lives and innovation in practice award, for which the gold winner was TACT Connect, an online community for care experienced young people and adults currently or previously fostered through the agency TACT.
‘Highlighting social workers’ achievements in difficult times’
The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) England was the headline sponsor for this year’s awards.
National director Maris Stratulis said: “We know that the social work profession faces many challenges with increasing pressures felt by the diverse and unique communities we support. During these difficult times, the role of social work is ever more critical, from upholding rights and challenging injustices, to advocating for fairness and promoting wellbeing.
“That’s why it’s important that, through these awards, we highlight your individual and collective achievements, recognise the exceptional services you deliver for children, families and adults, celebrate the diversity and intersectionality of our profession, and shine a well-deserved spotlight on exceptional social work practice happening across the country.”
“It’s a real honour to highlight the inspiring accomplishments of both individuals and organisations in this often-underappreciated field,” said Peter Hay, chair of trustees at the Social Work Awards. “Congratulations to all of our finalists and winners, and a heartfelt thank you to our sponsors for making these awards possible.”
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 
Hampshire County Council 
Oxfordshire County Council 
South Gloucestershire Council 
Wokingham Borough Council 
Webinar: building a practice framework with the influence of practitioner voice 
‘They don’t have to retell their story’: building long-lasting relationships with children and young people 
Podcast: returning to social work after becoming a first-time parent 
How managers are inspiring social workers to progress in their careers 
Workforce Insights – showcasing a selection of the sector’s top recruiters 
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It’s a shame local authorities do not act with such empathy…Leadership is about service. Sadly in UK LA’s it’s all about narcissists running the show ..because power and control was always their goal
Well done them workers!
They can now hang their awards on the wall, get on with the endless grind on the next day and still wonder how they are going to make ends meet due to the ridiculously low pay.
Working for Children’s Services is the worst job I’ve ever had. No support, backlash all the time. Leadership only concerned with timescales being met and no care for service users and workers.
Glad and proud I’ve left this unrewarding job and be done with the constant backstabbing and being thrown under the bus by narcissistic managers and envious coworkers. I’m done with this manure for good I believe.
You sound quite unhappy and angry, and I cannot help but notice that you’re “done for good” and yet still posting about social work issues. Please consider keeping your negativity to yourself rather than dragging down those who continue to work hard to do a job you have chosen to leave. There’s so much negativity on here – every article seems to be followed by people complaining. It’s not a perfect job for sure (I’ve been doing it 15 years), but I do wish people would consider swallow their bile rather than sharing it with the world.
ABC, I have spent 26 years of my life in statutory children’s social care, and I wish I hadn’t. It cost me my marriage, friendships, life, and freedom, and for what? Loneliness is now my constant companion.
I totally agree with you ABC. We should only praise and celebrate how wonderful social workers are. In my 26 years of frontline practice, never been a manager, all I’ve only experienced is positives and social workers who cannot bear to leave their office so content and enthused they are with our work. Pollyanna social work versus bile ridden burnt out social workers needs a satirist for sure. Happy and glorious etc.
Charlie, complete agree with everything you said, and I am in the process of leaving this unrewarding and toxic profession too. It’s the healthy ones of us who chose to leave rather than be exploited, over-worked, under-paid and under-valued in a broken system. Healthy people with functioning families and active social lives don’t have time to spend their lives at work, but those of us in need of approval or lacking in our lives out everything into our work. I have said no more.
Well said 👏
I would be interested to know is there a service user/carer award.
As Co.founder of a company that enhances Social Work programmes from a lived experience perspective I do believe this is needed.
Changes Plus Ltd has contributed to service design and improvements for nearly a decade Co.Production with SCIE, TLAP and the CQC.
Leadership is an area that we add value via our relationship with the NHS Leadership Academy.
Our Sim-Acting services are widely acknowledged.
Corporatisation of social work pretending to celebrate an honour social workers. Also what isn’t there an.award for the “Social Worker Who Has Worked The Most Overtime With Zero Chance Of Ever Taking Back Time In Liue”? A far better barometer of practice than this subjective tosh.
Annie – agree 100%.
These ‘awards’ are divisive, and insulting to others – the ‘winners’ are doing their job………maybe..
Not a single Independent Social Worker on the list. Is this just serving local authorities??
Credit to all the social workers, students etc working hard to support one another and the people we work for.
What we don’t need is a dystopian approach to rewarding social workers likely breaking their backs, sacrificing their own time and being under paid. Pay social workers better for their time, provide therapeutic support and loudly challenge the systems that hinder our work!
The burn out rate is high for obvious reasons!