The British Association of Social Workers establishes London branch at London Met.
Date: 9 March 2016
On 10 February 2016 the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) held their inaugural meeting entitled Reclaiming radical visions of social work in the Henry Thomas Room at London Met formally setting up the London BASW branch.
BASW already has over 4000 members in London and the new branch will provide a networking base, organising events and debates.
Reclaiming radical visions of social work was organised and chaired by Karen Goodman, BASW London professional officer and former social work lecturer at London Met, together with Brian Douieb member of the BASW England Committee and part-time social work lecturer at London Met and Dr Liz Davies, Emeritus Reader in Child Protection.
Over 70 registered social workers and BASW members attended the event including BASW Chief Executive Officer Dr Ruth Allen, BASW Chair Guy Shennan and staff from the BASW publication Professional Social Work.
Dr Liz Davies opened the meeting by speaking about the need for social work activism to confront current issues in practice especially serious concerns about children’s safety since the privatisation of delivery of frontline child protection services.
She explained the importance of a strong BASW group in London to contribute to parliamentary processes and social work media coverage. Professor Ray Jones, Head of Social Work at Kingston University, presented an inspiring lecture, entitled War and Peace and social work 2016, about the impact of privatisation on social work and the importance of social workers meeting face to face to debate current professional concerns.
There were requests from the audience for London groups to address whistleblowing, the need for a black workers group, social work education, the impact of cuts and a culture of bullying in management.
The event was reported in the Professional Social Worker magazine where Dr Liz Davies has just been elected to the editorial board.
London BASW will be organising debates, lectures and seminars some of which will be open events to be held at a number of social work education locations in London.
