Focus on the North West

UNITED BY TIDE OF BOOM AND BUST

The experience of growing up in predominantly working class areas with a toughness inherited from years of economic boom and bust has – together with trade and immigration through the once great port of Liverpool – forged an identity for people from the North West.

That the North West has always been a hotbed of creativity has never been in doubt (think LS Lowry, The Beatles, Oasis and many great sportspeople, authors, designers, architects and engineers) but come the mid-1980s the lack of economic opportunities from the loss of traditional industries such as mining and shipping, urban decay and drugs had eaten in to the region’s confidence.

But over the past few years the North West has largely recovered. On the back of a revitalised economy the inner cities have been regenerated and are attracting young people back in increasing numbers and although large pockets of deprivation remain there is a genuine sense of an area on the up.

This could also be said of many of the social services departments in the region. They make up some of the highest scoring councils in the Commission for Social Care Inspection’s star ratings for England and a number are at the forefront of service development in the country, whether that be getting young people interested in social care in Blackpool or changing the way older people are cared for in Lancashire.

There are plenty of opportunities for social care professionals to be part of this new beginning for the North West, and, alongside constant factors such as the region’s natural beauty, there may never have been a better time to consider a move there.

Star quality

Manchester: An asbo oasis

Fair grounds for attraction

Closing credit