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The government has launched the second phase of its social worker awareness and recruitment campaign. The £600,000 campaign aims to increase the number of applications for social work training by 5,000 within three years.

Efforts will be stepped up in areas such as London and the south east where recruitment problems are the most severe.

Targets for the first stage of the campaign were exceeded by 60 per cent, with about 14,000 people calling for more information about social work careers.

This has led to a 20 per cent increase in requests for application forms for social work courses. One in seven calls received by the helpline were from professionals in the business and banking sector. Health minister Jacqui Smith said: "Many people have a negative image of social work, and this campaign will tackle the misconceptions and promote the positive work carried out by social workers on a daily basis.

"We know that a range of people have shown an interest in social work and social care careers as a result of the first phase of the campaign."

The campaign uses an advertisement featuring the story of an elderly cricket fan who fulfills his wish to die at home because of the emotional support and help organised by his social worker.

There had been some concern that a previous advert had overly simplified the care required by an elderly Polish man who had had a number of traumatic experiences during his life.

- The campaign website is at www.socialworkcareers.co.uk