News

Nearly 5,000 calls have been made to the social work recruitment help line since the launch of the government skills drive on 19 October.

Figures from the launch up to the end of Monday show that the help line has received 4,926 calls, more than half way towards the target of 9,000 for the first month. Meanwhile the website has received 3,797 visitors, with the course finder pages being accessed the most.

Adverts are appearing in the national press and on regional radio during the six week £1.5m launch campaign, but not on television. Radio advertising will stop in mid-November while the press campaign finishes on 3 December.

The advertisements’ storylines depict service users including a girl who becomes pregnant by her mother’s partner, an autistic child, and a father and young girl suffering abuse from the girl’s mother.

A Department of Health spokesperson said that the campaign aims to illustrate the depth of social work, raise questions and challenge people’s perceptions as well as demonstrating that social work is a profession as well as a vocation.