The finalists for the Social Worker of the Year Awards 2024 have been unveiled.
Over 90 practitioners, students, teams and organisations have been shortlisted across 18 categories for the annual awards, which are designed to celebrate high-quality practice, practice education, leadership, teamwork, innovation, research, teaching and advocacy within social work.
They were chosen by a panel of judges independent of the organising charity, the Social Work Awards Ltd, including previous award winners, social workers, sector leaders and people with lived experience of social work.
‘Inspirational achievements of an over-looked profession’
The chair of the Social Work Awards, Peter Hay, said: “This year we received hundreds of entries which goes to show how passionate organisations and individuals are to shine a light on the inspirational achievements of an often-overlooked profession.
“We would like to thank all those who took the time to nominate a friend, colleague, or team for an award this year. To our finalists, we’d like to say congratulations! Being nominated for a national award, whilst supporting others during very challenging times in a year of big changes, is a remarkable achievement of which you should be very proud.”
The category winners, along with an overall social worker of the year, will be announced at a ceremony in London in November 2024.
Social Worker of the Year Awards finalists
Social work student of the year
| Name | Place of study |
| Hannah Louise Barnes | University of Sussex |
| Katie Teeling | Edge Hill University |
| Scott Richardson | Open University |
| Tienga Ngale | Brunel University |
| Vishal Udaya Kumar | Brunel University |
University social work lecturer of the year
| Name | Employer |
| David Marsland | University of Hull |
| Emma Ainsley | Canterbury Christ Church University |
| Nigel Kelleher | Edge Hill University |
| Rebecca Stephens | University of Sussex |
| Stephanie Jones | Staffordshire University |
Newly qualified adult social worker of the year
| Name | Employer |
| Aaron Evans | London Borough of Hounslow |
| David Heaton | Northumberland County Council |
| Elizabeth Badu | Central Bedfordshire Council |
| Ellie Vincent | Norfolk County Council |
| Jodie Gooday | Essex County Council |
| Tafadzwa Nathaniel Gonditii | Humber NHS Teaching Foundation Trust & Hull City Council |
Newly qualified children’s social worker of the year
| Name | Employer |
| Chloe Ann Turner | Central Bedfordshire Council |
| Emma Cove | Portsmouth City Council |
| Helen Podesta | Milton Keynes Council |
| Holly Shreeves | Central Bedfordshire Council |
| Klaudia Skubera | Cambridgeshire County Council |
| Louise Allonby | Essex County Council |
Practice educator of the year
| Name | Employer |
| Clare Alexander | North Lincolnshire Council |
| Maxine Burt | Essex County Council |
| Tamsin Suttenwood | Essex County Council |
| Wendy Jill Hardman | Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust |
| Zainab Sulaiman | Cambridgeshire County Council |
Team of the year, adult services (including multidisciplinary teams)
| Name | Employer |
| Adult learning disabilities team | Sunderland City Council |
| Adult social care – Lincoln Hospital | Lincolnshire County Council |
| Hull community mental health team | Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust |
| People from abroad team | Norfolk County Council |
| Reconnect – care after custody | |
| St Richard’s Hospice specialist palliative care social work team | St Richard’s Hospice |
Team of the year, children’s services (including multidisciplinary teams)
| Name | Employer |
| Asylum through care team | Redcar and Cleveland Council |
| Mosaic foster care social work | Mosaic Foster Care |
| People from abroad team | Norfolk County Council |
| Staying together team | London Borough of Bexley |
| The children’s mental and emotional health team | West Sussex County Council |
Supportive social work employer
| Employer |
| Cambridgeshire County Council |
| Hartlepool Borough Council |
| London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham |
| Together For Children, Sunderland |
| Wandsworth Council |
| West Sussex County Council |
Team leader of the year, adult services
| Name | Employer |
| Carol Monahan | Wiltshire Council |
| Charlotte Gordon | Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council |
| Gina Grimes | City of Stoke-on-Trent Council |
| Hazel Welburn | North Lincolnshire Council |
| Joe Hockaday | Essex County Council |
| Sue Bunker | Shropshire Council |
| Yvo Heidemans | Essex County Council |
Team leader of the year, children’s services
| Name | Employer |
| Andrew O’Sullivan | London Borough of Hounslow |
| Carolyn Ellis | Essex County Council |
| Clare Luxton | Bath and North East Somerset Council |
| Danielle Jeenah | London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham |
| Hayley Driver | Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation Trust |
| Michael Radley | London Borough of Sutton |
Technology-enabled lives and innovation in practice award
| Name | Employer |
| Rebecca Alton | Lincolnshire County Council |
| Stockton Borough Council Adult Social Care | Stockton Borough Council |
| Tact Connect | TACT- The Adolescent and Children’s Trust |
| Technology Enhanced Lives Service | Kent County Council |
Practitioner-led research award
| Name | Employer |
| Anna Bouch | Brighton and Hove City Council |
| Dr Julie Feather and Nicola Whiteside | Edge Hill University |
| Hannah Kingsford | University of Kent |
| Katy Cleece | Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust |
| Nick Perry | East Sussex County Council |
| Revelstoke Road Children’s Home | Together for Children |
Social justice advocate award
| Name | Employer |
| Anti-Racist Movement | |
| Dawn Henderson | Dorset Council |
| Helen Hewitt | Hull City Council |
| Natasha Winters | Derby City Council |
| Ola Tony-Obot and Edward Garwe | Together for Children Sunderland |
Mental health social worker of the year
| Name | Employer |
| Anthony Walton | Sunderland City Council |
| Emma Crowe | Stockton Borough Council |
| Frances Ashton | Humber NHS Teaching Foundation Trust & Hull City Council |
| Georgie Dredge | Essex County Council |
| Hannah Rogerson | City of Doncaster Council |
| Nicole Jones | Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust |
AMHP (approved mental health professional) social worker of the year
| Name | Employer |
| Andrew Jamieson | Stockton Borough Council |
| Dr Matt Simpson* | Wiltshire Council / Bournemouth University |
| Kenton Fairweather | Sunderland City Council |
| Lorna Cornett | Brighton and Hove City Council |
| Richard Nunn | Warrington Borough Council |
| Stewart Telford | Devon County Council |
*Dr Matt Simpson has been nominated posthumously. He died in January 2024, after a short illness.
Adult social worker of the year
| Name | Employer |
| Charlotte Chastney | Suffolk County Council |
| Chloe Lambert | Shropshire Council |
| Jane Hawthorn | Nottinghamshire County Council |
| Lauren Warner | Gloucestershire County Council |
| Parminder Sangha | Worcestershire County Council |
Children’s social worker of the year
| Name | Employer |
| Debbie Barnes | Essex County Council |
| Florence Ricketts | London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham |
| Hema Johal | Cafcass |
| Jonas Kurkalang | London Borough of Hounslow |
| Peter Byrne | Sefton Borough Council |
Lifetime achievement award
| Name | Employer |
| Helen Taylor | Warrington Borough Council |
| Hilary Barrett | Cafcass |
| Jennifer Gander | Brighton and Hove City Council |
| Michael Crozier | Sunderland City Council |
| Rachel Humphries | Cafcass |
| Rebekah Button | Kent County Council |
| Susan Banyard | West Sussex County Council |
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.
Photo by Daniel Laflor/peopleimages.com/ AdobeStock
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
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Mosaic Foster Care is a private fostering agency that paid £200k to shareholders last year.
Unclear how a private limited company with a vested interest in profiting from children’s services can be nominated in the Children’s Team of the Year category of the Social Work Awards?
I agree. Placement costs for vulnerable children who need a safe home are through the roof and draining limited local authority resources. No one should profit from children who have suffered loss, abuse or neglect.
That being said, if the team is providing excellent care, great long term outcomes for children and stability, they deserve to be recognised.
Agreed, shameful that a social work award is celebrating them.
I believe that all the names of the nominated social workers should be made public. I have nominated someone who I feel truly deserves recognition in these awards. While I understand that not everyone can be selected as a nominee, it would be wonderful to see all their names acknowledged. Additionally, I invested time and effort into writing the nomination, so it would be appreciated to at least see the names of all those nominated.
It’s an arbitrary competition the selection criteria of which are opaque. In a competition also runs and never runs are the debris that validates the process of anointing the chosen ones. Expecting equity from a publicity driven shindig is like expecting a hen to lay golden eggs. Against the rules.
Where’s achieving for children Windsor and Maidenhead. As I thought not one nominee from the council . There work is irricursable unduely uncorrectable. Looks like Neither Slough borough or RBWM have any awards any ideas how we think we can improve that? Private company empower the social worker teams on adamitlly achieving targets for adoption why are Windsor and Maidenhead staffing their social services privately this is the borough where the Kings castle is. Why is the borough letting our kids down year after year. !!! And shouldn’t we be proud to live in a borough where so many tourists visit year on year and so many home country people travel to yearly , No because social services are letting it’s own boroughs kids down , full of corruption . Other areas where I feel the award is due is Hounslow or areas in the UK not sufficiently privatized. If one of the government officials is reading this – this is where we are going wrong hitting those targets from adopters . Without consenting or funding the investor in recognizing the birth parents as parents . Too many children go for non consensual adoption for sake of reaching adoption targets UK nationally I hope you bear this in mind One child being given non consensual adoption should Not be happening let alone 100’s . One is by far too many.
Totally agree. Also, all the Social Workers in very deprived and cash strapped boroughs with high poverty and a high population who work long hours and weekends -for free – deserve all the thanks and praise as they are the unsung heros working tirelessly , often for free, and go without spending time with their own families. The system is broken, not fit for purpose, and of course Kier Starmer has allocated no money in the budget for adult or children’s social care, but wants to raise all our taxes. Thanks Kier, can you please take a pay cut as well?
It is good to see workers being appreciated. I personally think this will motivate us all.
Not me. Nothing inspirational about a process that says some are excellent and most are not.
Think Rachel morgon is good scial worker Pembrokeshire put in ward
Telling us a few are exceptional while the many are pedestrian plodders is a strange definition of diversity in social work.
The “be kind” social worker backslapping love-in exposed as the careerists face clawing scramble to join the elite chumocracy it actually is. The canapes are awful by the way.
While we have social workers who can regale us with against the rules Golden Egg laying hens and face clawing careerists scrambling to join the elite chumocracy, social work is in good health. Even I as a never repenting cynic can laugh at that. Better representation of the energy majority of social workers bring to their practice than this nonsense. Someone with better wit then me can surely parody Social Worker of the Year awards and Best in Show at Crufts.
My colleague Peter Byrne is an example of the values of social work. In my 25 years I have seen and worked along many fitting and deserving of this award.
But Peter, dedication and professionalism, is your true ingredients. So proud of you.
I know some of the families you serve will be delighted for you and say you made a positive difference.