‘She has been dedicated to the families of Swansea for over 20 years’

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, Kate Ronconi, a principal care officer at Swansea Council’s care and support unit, celebrates her colleague Carol Jones, the supported care planning hub manager, who is affectionately known as ‘The Oracle’.

Carol Jones has been dedicated to the families of Swansea for over 20 years.

First as a social worker and now as a team manager in supported care planning, she works tirelessly to support her team so that they can be the best that they can be for the children and families they work with.

Carol is affectionately known as ‘The Oracle’ for her incredible knowledge and memory, and her energy is infectious. Her fair and balanced approach is hugely valued, and she is a tremendous advocate for children, never failing to keep them at the front and centre of every conversation she has.

Everyone in the office has utter confidence in her judgment and recognises that she always goes above and beyond for her colleagues. When describing her, some words used are  ‘knowledgeable’, ‘reliable’, ‘amazing’, ’empathetic’, ‘exemplary’ and ‘supportive’.

Anyone who has worked in a child protection team will know that it can challenge the resilience of the best of us.

But Carol remains a strong, supportive manager, who enables her team to maintain high-quality practice even during the most difficult of times. She always strives to help children and families achieve the best possible outcomes.

I am incredibly proud to work alongside her and would love for her to be celebrated far and wide for the difference she makes in our community.

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.