A partnership between Kingston upon Hull City Council and local universities, colleges and voluntary organisations is aiming to buck the national trend by recruiting new social workers.

Christopher Parker took a close look at the innovative link-up to discover the secrets of its success

One night last week Hull's Guildhall became a magnet for the region's potential carers and social workers.

Instead of watching England battle it out with Greece in the World Cup qualifier, they queued up to learn more about a profession cursed by high "burn out" rates among staff.

Workload pressures, fatigue and the sheer stress of frontline social work can be daunting to even the most experienced professional.

But organisers of the special event aimed at promoting social work as a career said they were delighted at the turnout and the varied background of people wanting to find out more about caring.

All this at a time when finding new social workers is becoming as difficult as convincing people to enter teaching and nursing in Hull.

The purpose of the Big Bash event was to promote a so-called "grow-your-own" initiative in a bid to make short-term work placements and sessional work more accessible to a greater variety of people, in order to encourage more recruits towards a long-term career in the profession.

Previously only available to social work students on university courses, the placements are now being offered to school-leavers and college students. There is a new drive to find the social workers of the future in Hull and - if the enthusiasm of the organisers of last week's event is anything to go by - it could well be a great success.	'Some people may just have a genuine interest in caring'

Dave Richmond, principal child care manager for Hull's Social Services department, was keen to promote the scheme which he said "opens the doors of opportunity for many local people".

He said: "This is a structured format that allows people with limited qualifications or experience a fantastic insight and taster of real social work and different caring roles.

"The grow-your-own partnership allows people the opportunity to step up into a career in social work and compliments a complex curriculum followed by the education services.

"We appreciate how difficult it can be for people to get work experience placements. However, we are determined to change that and hope that many participants will go on to complete their Diploma in Social Work or go into the caring profession within the social services.

"Some people may already have degrees in sociology or just a genuine interest in caring. We hope to tap into that potential and real commitment.

"We also aim to raise the awareness of people and students of the reality of working in the caring sector, while allowing them to make an informed choice regarding their careers."

Mr Richmond gave the example of one man who attended the Big Bash event as just the kind of candidate the scheme is aimed at.

'We aim to reach as many local people as possible '	A labourer who was interested in putting his caring nature to good use, the man came along to seek help and advice on making the career change into social work.

He was given appropriate information and, after undergoing police checks, was now being offered an opportunity to undertake some sessional work or the chance to apply for a further education place.

Mr Richmond added: "Our aim is to reach out to as many local people as possible and provide information on training, education and work experience."

Nationally, the shortage of social workers is a cause for concern. In some areas, shortfalls in the numbers of childcare social workers have been as high as 15 to 20 per cent, putting pressure on existing staff.

The Hull scheme has been set up and is being run by a partnership of organisations, including the Humberside Partnership, Hull College, Beverley College, and the voluntary sector. Over the past year it has helped ensure that all qualified social work posts in the city have been filled.

Jan Didrichsen, Hull's director of social services, said: "We have been very successful in filling social work vacancies, but we will always need to maintain a supply of suitable staff.

"We are particularly keen to attract home-grown staff who are more likely to stay in local employment, rather than people whose roots are outside the local area."

Used courtesy of the Hull Daily Mail

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