BASW Social Work Journalism Awards returns for second year

The British Association of Social Workers’ (BASW) awards scheme championing high-quality social work journalism has returned for a second year.

The BASW Social Work Journalism Awards 2024 has an expanded list of categories including new gongs for podcasts, drama featuring social work and coverage that gives voice to people with lived experience.

“We want to encourage journalists to create output that shows understanding of our challenging and rewarding sector and that helps develop better public understanding,” said BASW’s chief executive, Ruth Allen.

‘Captivating stories of social work’

“There are so many captivating stories of social work to be told and we want to encourage that.”

Last year’s awards celebrated stories on the harm to children who went hidden during the pandemic, agency social work practices and the experiences of newly qualified social workers.

Among the winners were Community Care’s assistant careers editor, Sharmeen Ziauddin, who won the trade press in-depth features award for a piece on the role of social workers in palliative care.

Our editor, Mithran Samuel, was one of two winners of the outstanding contribution to journalism featuring social work, alongside BBC social affairs editor Alison Holt.

The awards will be judged by a panel including leading journalists, BASW and Social Workers Union officials and members of the association’s experts by experience group.

Entries must have been published or broadcast from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

Anyone can submit a nomination by the deadline of 31 March 2024, using this entry form.