Episodes

14th March 2019 Leeds Town Hall. Safeguarding Impact Conference. Speakers include: Opposition Shadow Minister for Children and Families Emma Lewell-Buck MP Police and Crime Commissioner for W Yorkshire Mark Burns Williamson OBE Dean Coady OBE highly decorated former detective specialising in safeguarding. Andy Woodward Football player and whistleblower of abuse in sport. Colin Radcliffe founder of DEpressON mental health App. Head of Development and Impact at the NSPCC Jon Brown Senior sp...

The internet can be a dangerous place and protecting the vulnerable from those who prey on them is becoming more and more important. Claudia is an expert on digital engagement and online safeguarding. She is co-chair of the Principal Social Workers’ national network. She is a fellow of National Institute of Health Research NIHR and Head of Service within a local authority. She is the founder of “Social Work and Media” Network (@SWSCmedia) which was the first open access social work community o...

A fantastic folk rock CD to raise funds for Looked After Children. The project is Jenni’s brainchild and marries her lifelong love of social work with her passion for folk and folk-rock music. She is an award winning social worker who has retired to live in Cromer and has linked up with the Rees Care Leavers Foundation, a national charity that provides ongoing support for those who have previously been in care. Jenni Randall was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award for her work in social servic...

Professor Ngoh Tiong Tan Chair, Global Institute for Social Work ( GISW ) International Advisory Board —– President, Connexions International. —– Professor, Singapore University of Social Sciences.—– Treasurer, International Association of Schools of Social Work. I’m very pleased to have been invited on to the International Advisory Board that Tiong Chairs and , in this interview, he lays out the vision and the opportunities for the GISW at its five year anniversary. Following that I’ve inclu...

A magazine edition today! 1 ) Chris Walters ( pictured) , a terrific stain glass artist who gives back to the community, talks about his work and his committment. If you’re anywhere near the SW of England go and see his work. (Details below) Chris has been creating glass art work for nearly 20 years. He is a member of the Somerset Guild of Craftsmen and Contemporary Glass Society. Over the years his glass has found it’s way to many countries and he’s taken part in numerous exhibitions and dis...

Welcome again to the podcast. Today it’s safeguarding and the perspective of a senior manager in a large local authority. Jim Hopkinson qualified as a Social Worker at University of Oxford in 1992. In addition to working as a children’s front line social worker both in the UK and abroad he has worked as a Probation Officer, managed alternative education provision, Head of Youth Offending Services, Head of Targeted Early Help and became Deputy Director of Bradford Children’s Social Care in 2016....

Safeguarding in education has always been a high priority as young peoplle sometimes spend more waking hours at school than at home. School staff of all disciplines, are part of the ‘front line’ when it comes to safeguarding. Ann Marie is an Independent social worker. She qualified in 1996 as a social worker and worked in a generic children & families neighbourhood team. She took part in a pilot project in 1999 based in a school as a social worker for four years. Ann Marie completed her ‘practi...

Robert Goodwill MP was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Education on 12 June 2017. He was elected Conservative MP for Scarborough and Whitby in 2005. He is Minister of State for Children and Families. His responsibilities include: child protection (including protection from child sexual exploitation and safeguarding), local authority children’s social care and family law children in care, care leavers and adoption childcare policy including delivery of the 30 hours free chil...

Dr David Colvin and Bill McKitterick both have been lost to us this year. David Colvin David was my friend and mentor. He helped me through many difficult situations with a deep rooted wisdom and a compassionate outlook on life. He was a major figure throughout the Scottish social and care system and was appointed chief social work adviser for Scotland in 1991. He was instrumental in the implementation of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 and was in the forefront of modernising the professio...

We talk of the future of Safeguarding Boards and what the new guidelines could mean following the Wood Review. These new arrangements will affect so many people and, now there is a defined consultation process,it’s important to consider the implications.. Nick Frost is Professor of Social Work (childhood, children and families), at the School of Health and Community, Leeds Beckett University. He took up this post in Feb., 2007. Nick is a qualified and registered social worker, and practiced in...

This programme is about the image of social work and social care. It describes an exiting new initiative in media training and has an interview with the founder of the Social Worker of the Year Awards. Beverly Williams MBE Beverley had worked in the social housing sector for 23 years when, the age of forty, she became a foster carer and first came in touch with social workers. A mother of three, she qualified with a Diploma in Social Work in 2004. She works as an independent social worker and...

An interview with Christina Gabbitas about her book for 5 to 8 year olds on keeping themselves safe and how she is committed to safeguarding children.. Christina is a children’s award winning author, poet and voiceover artist. Christina’s first publications, The Felicity Fly series of books teach childreabout the world around them with fun. Christina is passionate about encouraging children to read and write, winning a national Dame Beryl Bainbridge Award for encouraging children to writeand re...

Dave is a Barnardo’s Children’s Service Manager in Bradford and is Young Lives Bradford VCS representative on Bradford Safeguarding Children Board. The VCS has played a central role in the business of BSCB since the Board was launched in 2006 (and included as a signatory of the ‘Statement of Intent’). The VCS are well represented within the BSCB structure and it is important for the sector and for the welfare of children and young people across the district that the sector maintains this coordin...

This time I’m looking at a magazine format with two radio interviews and an introduction to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse chaired by Professor Alexis Jay on the day it commences its hearings. The interviews are on the real problems of social care funding where the Government is allowing some ringfenced council tax increase to be introduced and, secondly, what are the issues in dealing with inappropriate staff behaviour that is not enough to prosecute but enough to worry. Cont...

Damien Miller is a Superintendent within Bradford District who leads on Safeguarding Partnerships. Within his portfolio he has responsibility for the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), Child & Adult Safeguarding, Domestic Violence, Safer Schools, Missing People, Mental Health and Families First. He started in this role in September 2016, but is no stranger to Bradford, having worked in the District for the last five years. He had responsibility in his previous role for Operational Policing as...

Jonathan Phillips is a qualified social worker. For many years he worked in social services in a number of frontline, training and management roles. He then moved to the voluntary sector as a Director with National Deaf Children’s Society. An interest in Deaf people comes from his daughter who is Deaf ( and now so is her partner and one of her children). He then worked for the social services inspectorate and moved to the Commission for Social Care Inspection when it was set up as a National Dir...

This is the second podcast from the Bradford series. Shirley is a Consultant in Public Health for the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council and Chairs the Child Death Overview Panel for the Safeguarding Board. She was a hospital doctor and GP across West Yorkshire for 10 years & also worked in Mozambique for 3 years. She was a GP partner in Bradford district in the inner city for 5 years until 1997. She then re-trained in Public Health from 1999 onwards and worked across Bradford and ...

Dr Tan Ngoh Tiong is Professor of Social Work and former Dean of School of Human Development and Social Services, SIM University Singapore. He is the Chair of the Global Institute of Social Work, was Co-chair of Commonwealth Organization for Social Workers (COSW), Past President of Singapore Association of Social Workers, past Regional President (Asia and Pacific) of International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW). Prof Tan is He led IFSW and COSW’s FAST (Families And Survivors of Tsunami) Pro...

This is the first in a series of podcasts looking at the Bradford Safeguarding Children Board which I have the privilage to Chair. Initially, in five interviews with key members of the Board, you will get to experience a flavour of the work of the Board and the people who serve on it. The first is with Michael Jameson. Michael is the Strategic Director of Children’s Services having responsibility for strategic leadership across education, employment and skills, social care, safeguarding childr...

Hello again. This programme features a short radio interview I gave on recruitment , retention and the reasons behind vacancy rates/agency staff numbers. Then my guest is Deona Hooper, based in South Carolina and the founder of Social Work Helper digital newsletter/magazine.. She describes it as a “woman owned mission driven progress website providing news, information, and resources related to social issues, social justice, social good and human rights issues”. Deona is the Founder, Developer...

Justin Humphreys is the Executive Director of Safeguarding of CCPAS. This Charity , formed in 1977, has over 8000 subscribing organisations, churches and other bodies that look to it for training, consultancy , DBS checking and general support. It operates all through the UK and has strong links abroad. Justin talks of the challenges facing faith based organisations in the current climate of attention on historic abuse and what CCPAS is able to do to make them safer. The objective is to make v...

I felt that it was important to look at the private sector and Sanctuary provides staff across health and social care. James is one of the most influential figures in this sector and the interdependence that exists with employers seems likely to continue indefinitely. After 20 years of developing and resourcing work within adult and children’s social care, James , as the Chief Executive, has built up a unique understanding of the sector. Agency staff and interim appointments are part of the fab...

Dr Ruth Allen joined the British Association of Social Workers as Chief Executive on 11th April 2016. She was previously Director of Social Work at South West London & St Georges’ Mental Health Trust and Chair of the Mental Health Faculty at the College of Social Work. Previous to that she was a head of social care, social care manager and practitioner within local government and the NHS working with client groups of all ages. We talk of the range of challenges facing social work in the months ...

Alan Wood has been asked by the Secretary of State, Nicky Morgan MP and the Minister, Edward Timpson MP to lead a fundamental review of the role and functions of Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LCSBs). This will include the child death review process and consideration of how the intended centralisation of serious case reviews (SCRs) will work effectively at local level. Alan was a previous guest on the programme when President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services. His CV ...