The social work assistant who became ‘the glue that holds the team together’

For Community Care’s 50th anniversary, our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone who has inspired you in your career.

In this entry, Bridgend’s west integrated network team has nominated social work assistant and student, Charlotte, who, over the past five years, has become the “glue that holds them together”.

Pictured: Charlotte

Charlotte has been with the team for five years, employed as a social work assistant, and is now in the final year of her social work degree.

We would like to highlight her as a brilliant colleague, not only for the incredible person-centred work she completes with individuals, but also for being a source of fun and support for all members of the team.

In her time with us, Charlotte has successfully managed a number of complex cases. This has included a case of extreme self-neglect, where she deftly navigated difficult situations alongside the family and other professionals with charm and empathy.

Charlotte provides support to all colleagues in the team, always going above and beyond what is expected, and so earning herself the titles of ‘go-to person for information’ and ‘social organiser’.

She has made a huge difference to the morale of the team and has often been described as the ‘glue that holds us all together’. Colleagues in the team praise her knowledge, willingness to help and can-do attitude.

Her dedication to both her role and the team is admirable and we have every confidence in her qualifying as a social worker.

We feel that she will have a continually developing career, shining her light on all who are lucky enough to work with her in the future.

How to nominate a colleague

For our 50th anniversary, we’re expanding our series My Brilliant Colleague to include anyone who has inspired you in your career – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by either:

• Filling in our nominations form with a letter or a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.
• Or sending a voice note of up to 90 seconds to +447887865218, including your and the nominee’s names and roles.

Despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry.

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com.