Stand Up Now for social work – what you can do

March 11, 2009 in Workforce

Community Care’s Stand Up Now for Social Work campaign is demanding RESPECT for social workers:

Responsible, balanced, fair and accountable reporting
End to inaccurate and misleading coverage
Support from employers
Positive images of social work’s successes
Equal media treatment with other professions
Commitment from government to support social work
Training to improve media relations

Every week we will suggest some small actions that you can take now to Stand Up Now for Social Work and help achieve our campaign goals.

Week 17: 2nd July

Request a Thank God for Social Workers badge from Take a Break magazine

Week 16: 25th June

Share your social work success story with Community Care and Take a Break magazine. Contact Community Care at comcare.campaign@rbi.co.uk and TaB at thankgodforsocialworkers@bauer.co.uk

Week 15: 18th June

Don’t forget to keep sending examples of good and bad press coverage of social work to comcare.campaign@rbi.co.uk. We’ll feature some in The Monitor blog www.communitycare.co.uk/monitor

Week 14: 11th June

What are you doing to Stand Up Now for Social Workers? Pledge your support and tell us what you are going at www.communitycare.co.uk/SUNpledge

Week 13: 4th June

We’re preparing advice for journalists about covering socal work stories. Send your advice to comcare.campaign@rbi.co.uk

Week 8: 29th April

Sign our petition. There are only a few weeks left to sign our petition calling on The Sun to report more responsibly about social work. Join the 5,600 people who have already signed by visiting www.communitycare.co.uk/petition

Pledge your support. The directors of children’s and adults’ services at Newcastle Council have pledged their support for the campaign. If you’re a social worker, ask your director what they are doing to support the campaign. If you’re a director and want to Stand Up Now for Social Work, tell us by e-mail at comcare.campaign@rbi.co.uk

Bookmark www.communitycare.co.uk/SUNaction – to see new actions you can take every week.

Week 7: 23rd April

Tell us about your experiences of working with journalists. Does your employer let you speak to the press? Have you been interviewed? Tell us at www.communitycare.co.uk/SUNmedia

Visit The Monitor blog at www.communitycare.co.uk/monitor, and send us examples of good and bad coverage of social work from your local press. E-mail comcare.campaign@rbi.co.uk, share your web links at www.communitycare.co.uk/SUNcoverage or post articles to Community Care, RBI, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS.

Bookmark www.communitycare.co.uk/SUNaction – to see new actions you can take every week.

Week 6: 16th April

Visit The Monitor at www.communitycare.co.uk/monitor, and send us examples of good and bad coverage of social work from your local press. E-mail comcare.campaign@rbi.co.uk, share your web links at www.communitycare.co.uk/SUNcoverage or post articles to Community Care, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS.

Send us stories about social workers making a difference. E-mail us at comcare.campaign@rbi.co.uk or share experiences at www.communitycare.co.uk/proud.

Bookmark www.communitycare.co.uk/SUNaction – each week we’ll add details of new actions that you can take, so visit each week for updates.

Week 5: 9th April

Tell us about your experiences of working with journalists. Have you been interviewed by a reporter from your local paper or the national press? Or have you been banned from speaking to the media by your employer? Tell us about your experiences at www.communitycare.co.uk/SUNmedia

Send us examples of good and bad coverage of social work from your local press. E-mail comcare.campaign@rbi.co.uk, share your web links in our online discussion at www.communitycare.co.uk/SUNcoverage or mail articles to Community Care, RBI, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS.

Bookmark www.communitycare.co.uk/SUNaction – each week we’ll add details of new actions that you can take, so visit each week for updates.

Week 4: 2nd April

Tell us about the times when you have made a real difference to someone’s life. Email your success stories to comcare.campaign@rbi.co.uk or join the discussion at www.communitycare.co.uk/proud

Bookmark www.communitycare.co.uk/SUNaction – each week we’ll add details of new actions that you can take to Stand Up Now for Social Work, so visit each week to catch up on the latest developments

Week 3: 26th March

Help us to celebrate and promote social work successes by telling us about the times when you have made a real difference to someone’s life. Email your success stories to comcare.campaign@rbi.co.uk or join the discussion at www.communitycare.co.uk/proud

Send an email to your friends, family and contacts asking them to visit and sign Community Care’s petition for better coverage of social work in the press. Community Care has 46,000 readers: if they all signed and asked 27 people to do the same, we could match the 1.2 million signatures that The Sun collected on its petition!

Week 2: 19th March

Let us know of negative or inaccurate portrayals of social workers in the media – or share with us a balanced and helpful piece. Log your examples, particularly from your local media, at www.communitycare.co.uk/SUNcoverage. Community Care will hold the media to account by recognising good coverage and naming and shaming those responsible for bad coverage.

Write to the chairman of the British Press Awards judges, who nominated The Sun’s Baby P campaign for a national award. Contact details and a form letter

Week 1: 11th March

• If you haven’t done so already, sign our petition calling on the Sun to back social work and ask your MP to support Early Day Motion 692 in support of our campaign

• Log on to CareSpace, Community Care’s discussion forum, to tell us about some of the misconceptions people have about your job and the reactions you get when you tell people you are a social worker – we’ll use your comments to help draft a set of reporting guidelines for journalists to help them write more accurately. You can comment in the campaign section on CareSpace

• Bookmark this page – each week we’ll add details of new actions that you can take to Stand Up Now for social work, so bookmark the address and visit each week to catch up on the latest developments.