Unison campaigns to boost appreciation of social workers

Unison has launched a national advertising campaign costing £50,000 to highlight the role social workers play in keeping vulnerable children and adults safe.

The adverts, which will be published in local and national newspapers over the next two weeks, aim to bring to life the reality of the job through the first-hand account of a child protection social worker.

This is the first time the union, which represents more than a million public sector employees including 40,000 social workers, has run an ad campaign for one professional group.

Million Voices

It forms part of Unison’s broader Million Voices campaign, which aims to highlight the important role of public sector staff at a time when local authority budgets are being squeezed.

“Unison is putting its money where its mouth is, and funding this major national advertising campaign to improve public understanding of social work,” said Helga Pile, Unison’s national officer for social work.

“Over the last few years the profession has taken a battering. While the tragic stories hit the headlines, the thousands of children, families and vulnerable adults that social workers help every year go unnoticed.

“The ad campaign will help social workers get the respect and support they deserve.”

Community Care launched its own Stand Up Now for Social Work campaign last year, calling on the government, mainstream media and social work employers to raise public perceptions of social work after the Baby P case.

Our campaign endorsed the Local Government Association’s recently-published guidance to employers on supporting social workers to engage with the media.

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