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  • Social work around the world: Ghana

    Social work around the world: Ghana
    2025/09/04
    In the latest episode of The Social Work Community Podcast, we speak to two social workers with experience of working in both Ghana and the UK As part of the ‘Social work around the world’ series, this episode features two social workers who have practised in Ghana and England.

    Although social work practice in Ghana mirrors much of what is taught in the UK, a lack of government funding and an emphasis on cultural values that promote community mean that social work in practice is quite different in both countries.

    It is commonplace for family members to informally adopt children than them going into care and similarly, elderly family members are retained within the family network rather than being house in residential homes.

    Jemimah, who qualified in social work in Ghana over 20 years ago, and Emmanuel, who qualified in Ghana in 2021, share their unique experiences of supporting children and adults in both countries.

    In the discussion, Jemimah refers to an organisation called FIDA Ghana, which stands for The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Ghana). https://www.fida-ghana.org/know-fida/

    About The Social Work Community Podcast The Social Work Community Podcast explores the issues that matter to social work practitioners in their working lives. Senior commercial editors Kirsty Ayakwah and fellow host Sharmeen Ziauddin, interview experienced and inspiring guests, including frontline social workers who speak from the heart about their jobs, the sector and society.

    It was nominated in the podcast category at the 2024 BASW Social Work Journalism Awards following its first season, which ran from October 2023 to April 2024. It can be found on all major podcasting platforms including:
    • Spotify
    • Apple Podcasts
    • Spreaker
    Click ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe’ on your podcast app so you know when a new episode is published. You can also listen to the episode here:

    Read the transcript.
    To whet your appetite for season three, check out our podcast page to listen to previous episodes from seasons one and two.
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    44 分
  • What to expect from your first job in social work

    What to expect from your first job in social work
    2025/08/26
    This is a special episode of our live webinar which was recorded in June 2025.
    Guests include Curtis Powell, podcaster and deputy team leader and two newly qualified social workers, Kai Tutton (adults) and Lashonte Royal (childrens) and was chaired by Sharmeen Ziauddin, an editor at Community Care.

    They talk about their respective jobs on the ASYE programme, how they prepared for their roles and how they overcame challenges. How helpful were their universities in preparing them for life as a social worker? How do they manage their caseload as well as working on the ASYE portfolio? What is the best way to learn how to write assessments?

    Listen to the answers of this and many more questions which were sent in by the audience.

    Essential listening for all social work students and newly qualified social workers.

    Watch it on The Social Work Community
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    55 分
  • Hampshire Hive: a fostering support network - a conversation with Amy and Johnny

    Hampshire Hive: a fostering support network - a conversation with Amy and Johnny
    2025/08/21
    Welcome to a new three-part series, in collaboration with Hampshire County Council’s Fostering Service, called Hampshire Hive: Fostering Through a Community of Families.

    Hampshire Hive is a network established by Hampshire County Council to provide support to foster carers in the county. We speak to Hampshire Hive manager Amy and foster carer Johnny about how the Hive works

    Hampshire Hive is a unique support network funded by Hampshire County Council, that assists fostering families across the county. To date, the network helps 27 Hampshire Hive groups with 23 foster care support workers and over 500 registered foster carers collectively.

    In this episode, you will hear from one of these foster carers - Johnny who was involved in the original pilot scheme for the service back in 2021 - and Amy, the team manager of Hampshire Hive. Both highlight how this community-focused fostering support network has been so transformational for the families they support.

    If you would like to find out more about fostering with Hampshire County Council, please visit hants.gov.uk/fostering to download their comprehensive information pack. You can also sign up for one of their upcoming virtual Q&A sessions attended by both a member of our recruitment team and a Hampshire County Council foster carer.

    Please find the transcript here:
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    15 分
  • #9 Ask The Experts: I am scared to go back into frontline work

    #9 Ask The Experts: I am scared to go back into frontline work
    2025/08/18
    In this episode, Dame Lorna Boreland-Kelly, Claire Barcham and Kayleigh Rose Evans offer advice to an experienced social worker who is looking for a role that offers career progression opportunities after going through some challenging experiences in practice.

    Read the transcript here

    Send us an email at: careersadvice@markallengroup.com

    You can catch up on all the Ask The Experts episodes on The Social Work Community, our forum for social workers at all stages of their career.You can also read past career questions from social workers – and our experts’ responses – on the Community Care website.
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    18 分
  • Social work around the world: Zimbabwe

    Social work around the world: Zimbabwe
    2025/08/04
    This is another episode from the Social work around the world series!

    This month the focus is on Zimbabwe. Sharmeen Ziauddin speaks to Theresa Kambani and Weston Mudimu about their careers as social workers in Zimbabwe to working in local authorities in England.
    What are the key differences in practice in the two countries? What challenges did both practitioners face when they moved to England? What unique skills have they brought over with them? What do they miss about Zimbabwe and what made them choose England?

    Theresa mentions 'ubuntu', a philosophy originating from Southern Africa, that promotes humanity towards others. It can be loosely translated to, "I am because we are", meaning the emphasis is on the interconnectedness of humanity and the importance of community, and this is at the centre of her practice.
    A really informative discussion with a lot of learning for all practitioners.

    Read the transcript.

    About the podcast

    The Social Work Community Podcast explores the issues that matter to social work practitioners in their working lives. Sharmeen and fellow host Kirsty Ayakwah interview experienced and inspiring guests, including frontline social workers who speak from the heart about their jobs, the sector and society.


    Click ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe’ on your podcast app so you know when a new episode is published.

    Join the Social Work Community
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    51 分
  • Career Transitions: From considering a career with the police to children's social worker

    Career Transitions: From considering a career with the police to children's social worker
    2025/07/21
    Senior social worker Faisa Abdirahman initially had her sights set on entering the police after gaining a BSC in criminology.

    However, she pivoted to social work after learning that looked after children were at more risk of being criminalised in the criminal justice system compared to those that are not care experienced.

    In this episode of the Social Work Community Podcast with senior careers editor Kirsty Ayakwah, she explains why her desire to support children and young people, earlier on in that journey resulted in her pivoting away from a career in the police force into social work.


    Read the transcript of the interview here.

    You can listen to our previous episodes in the Career Transitions Series.

    *According to 2022 data from the Office of National Statistics, more than half (52%) of looked-after children born in the academic year ending 1994 who attended school in England had a criminal conviction by the age of 24 years compared with 13% of children who had not been in care. We’ll leave more details about the ONS statistics in the show notes.
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    29 分
  • #8 Ask The Experts: 'Help! I am struggling with my ASYE'

    #8 Ask The Experts: 'Help! I am struggling with my ASYE'
    2025/07/14
    In this episode, Dame Lorna Boreland-Kelly, Claire Barcham and Kayleigh Rose Evans offer advice to an international student social worker who is struggling with aligning her expectations about social work with the reality of securing a role for her ASYE.

    Read the transcript here.

    Send us an email at: careersadvice@markallengroup.com

    You can follow all the Ask The Experts questions and responses on: www.thesocialworkcommunity.comRead past questions from social workers with a career question and read the responses here.
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    15 分
  • #7 Ask The Experts: How do I transition from adults' to children's services?

    #7 Ask The Experts: How do I transition from adults' to children's services?
    2025/06/24
    Are you an adults’ social worker who is considering moving into children’s social work but don’t know how to make the transition?

    In this episode, hear from Dame Lorna Boreland-Kelly, Claire Barcham and Kayleigh Rose Evans as they respond to this question and highlight the invaluable skills that adult social workers can bring to children’s services. They also highlight how you can find that relevant job, and why the British Army could hold the key in that transition.

    Read the transcript here.

    Send us an email at: careersadvice@markallengroup.com

    You can follow all the Ask The Experts questions and responses on: www.thesocialworkcommunity.comRead past questions from social workers with a career question and read the responses here.
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    21 分