Presentation by Julie Fish at World Social Work Day Conference, 20th March 2018, linking Social Work pracitice to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

1. Social Work at
De Montfort University
celebrates
World Social Work Day
Together with 30
countries globally, our
students and our local
partners
#WSWD18 #UKsocialwork1

2. A coincidence?
2

3. 3

4. 1. End poverty in all its forms
• Poverty affects the users
of social work services in
many different ways;
• Free school meals;
• The life expectancy of the
poorest girls in England
has fallen for the first
time since 1920s;
• The gap in life expectancy
between the poorest and
most advantaged females
is 7 years and 5 months;
4

5. Two babies born one mile apart
In two neighbourhoods in Glasgow, the baby born in poor
area of Drumchapel will most likely be:
– born underweight;
– live ten years less;
– twice as likely to die before their first
birthday ;
– three times more likely to die of heart
disease or bronchitis ;
– three times more likely to die of breast
cancer ;
– twice as likely to die of lung cancer;
– 4X more likely to suffer from a psychiatric
disorder.
5

6. 2. Zero Hunger
6

7. The food issue: why food is at the
heart of social work and social care
• How should social workers
react when presented with a
very overweight child?
• The UK has the worst child
obesity rates in Europe
(1 million children).
• Is obesity a child
protection issue?
7

8. 3. Health and welfare inequalities
Social work is the
preventive medicine
8

9. Social factors play a role in health and
illness
9

10. 4. Child development and early years
• Child
development;
• Life story work;
• Educational
attainment of
looked after
children;
• Child protection.
10

11. 5. Gender equality
• Living Without
Abuse;
• Women’s Aid;
• New Futures;
• Multi-Agency Child
Sexual Exploitation
(MACSE);
• New Dawn, New
Day.
11

12. 10. Reduce inequalities
• All users of social work
services experience
inequalities;
• Panel 2: Sarah Morris,
Mandy Ewart &
Tiernan Welch
• Calais Children
• Student posters B/O 1
• Juliet Kisob, Deborah
Hadwin & Eric
Nkundumubano B/O 3
12

13. 11. Sustainable communities
IFSW statement on Grenfell
• Social workers played a
significant role in supporting
the ‘victims’ of this tragic
event;
• Urges all public authorities to
listen to and respect the
views of residents;
• Urgent action required for
the numerous other tower
blocks at safety risk.
13

14. My social worker changed my life

15. For my social worker on WSWD
15

16. Our tree of motivation and
commitment.
On a post-it note:
please make a pledge to action and/or
offer encouragement for all social
workers and especially for our
students who are currently on
placement
16

17. Student competition
• SWU - World Social Work Day assignment
• Four grants of £500 are to be presented to
winning social work students undertaking an
undergraduate or post graduate social work
degree.
• The criteria: a 750-1000 word assignment with
the following title:
• “How can social workers solve austerity?”
https://www.basw.co.uk/wswd/
17

18. Thanks for listening!
Any questions?