In the Spotlight with Ruth Cartwright

Ruth Cartwright, Professional Officer England, British Association of Social Workers

What’s your first memory?
I was one of four children living in straitened circumstances so my childhood was punctuated with cries of ‘It’s not fair!’ sometimes from me and sometimes from others.  So it’s an auditory memory which maybe led to my interest in fairness and justice as I grew up.

Which three words best describe you?
Committed, distracted, flippant, nosey, and innumerate.

What’s been your best job?
Probably my second social work job in an Intake Team.  The work wasn’t easy, Child Protection, Mental Health Act assessments, crisis work and longterm work, but the team was great and really worked together well and I still meet up with members 20 years later.

If you were stuck on a desert island and you could take one person and one object with you who and what would they be?
My friend Chris (who would be no use at all but is very funny) and a  library.

Who inspires you and why?
Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu for their amazing powers of forgiveness and determination to construct something positive rather than be trapped by the past.

Where is your favourite place?
City – Venice; countryside – Cornwall  indoors – Tate Gallery and Pitt Rivers Museum

Which celebrity would you want to play you in a film?
Julie Walters

What was the last CD you bought?
‘Who Needs Actions when you’ve got Words’ by Plan B for my older son, Joshua, and ‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue.’.

What are you reading?
‘Victorian London’ by Liza Picard and ‘Never End’ by Ake Edwardson (Scandinavian detective novels are great for train journeys).  Also PG Wodehouse golf stories with my younger  son, Joel – Stop Press, replaced by ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’.

What’s your favourite film?
Gone with the Wind.

Big Brother – treat or trash?
Trash.

Pets – yes or no?
Cats.

If you were on Death Row, what would be your final meal?
Something cooked by my husband (as long as I hadn’t been condemned for murdering him!)