Calderdale Council employee Brian Mitchell has been announced as Practice Teacher of the Year at the Social Work Awards 2013, as a result of his outstanding work.
This is a prestigious award – there were only 49 finalists across 11 categories. The awards were judged by leading influencers, including Annie Hudson (Chief Executive, The College of Social Work), Professor Eileen Munro (London School of Economics) and newly-appointed Chief Social Workers Isabelle Trowler and Lyn Romeo, who both made keynote speeches during the evening.
Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Social Care, Cllr Metcalfe said:
“We are delighted that one of our social workers has won this award, which is a fantastic achievement. It is a real credit to Brian and the work he has done in Calderdale.”
Beverley Williams, the awards founder, commented:
“These awards are about recognising the best work in the profession and to reach the finals is an outstanding achievement in itself. The awards aim to raise awareness of the challenging and diverse work that social workers do and they are helping to improve the reputation of social workers everywhere.”
The awards ceremony was held at the Lancaster Hotel in London, on Friday 29 November.
Brian and colleagues within the Adults, Health and Social Care directorate have excelled in terms of investment in the social work profession, and this year Brian has enabled 98% of the social work workforce in the directorate to undertake additional post qualifications awards in social work.
In recognition of the hard work of the team, Lyn Romero, Chief Social Worker for England, has agreed to visit frontline social work staff and service users in Calderdale in January to see firsthand how they work to support vulnerable people.