The Relational Social Work Podcast

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Matt and Hannah are joined by Jade Barnett, co-founder, CEO and Director at Power2Prevail Community. This episode explores how Jade turned her care experienced activism into an idea to support care experienced young people in London, and how through working with The Care Leaders Fellowship helped her to turn this idea into reality. Thank you for listening to The Re...

Send us Fan Mail This episode was recorded live from the Madlug Pop-Up Experience in Leeds as part of National Care Leavers Month. Hannah and Matt are joined by three incredible care leavers, Leigh, AJ and Scarlett, as well as Dave Linton (Founder and CEO of Madlug), Phoebe White (Policy and Influencing Manager, National Youth Advocacy Service), Danny Hooper (Life Long Links Co-Ordinator, Coventry...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Matt is joined by Rachael Wardell, President of the Associate of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), to discuss what has happened during her presidency. The discussion includes progress with the social care reforms, child poverty, how the ADCS and its members have responded to unrest across the country and Rachael’s hopes for the remainder of her term. Hannah...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Matt and Hannah are joined by Mary Jackson, Chief Executive at Frontline. This episode explores what Frontline does as a charitable organisation, through the qualifying programme and support for newly qualified social workers; leadership programmes; and supporting innovation. Conversations delve into to the strengths of Frontline’s programmes, as well as some of th...

Send us Fan Mail This week Hannah and Matt are not only joined by guests, Sophie Clarke, Managing Director at We Are Juno, Joanne Smith, Interim Head of Commissioning at Liverpool City Council Children and Young People Services, and Scott Darragh, Chief Executive at Social Adventures, but also have a guest host, Shoayb Khalifa, Operational Lead for Placements and Commissioning at Coventry City Cou...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Matt and Hannah are joined by Jonny Hoyle, care experienced social worker, and Group Manager for Leaving Care at North Yorkshire Council. This episode explores Jonny’s personal and professional experience, from being in care to working for the council, and how AI has supported social work practice in North Yorkshire.  Thank you for listening to The Relational Socia...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Hannah and Matt are joined by Katia Parent who is a social worker who works for the Prison Advice and Care Trust. This episode explores the pilot that Katia has been a part of, having social workers in women's prisons, to support mothers separated from their children, and the importance of relationships in this work. Thank you for listening to The Relational...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Matt and Hannah are joined by Lorna Stabler, Research Fellow at CASCADE(Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre).  This episode explores Lorna’s personal and professional experience of kinship care, from her own experience as a kinship carer, and her research and wider research into this area. Thank you for listening to The Relational Social Work Pod...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Matt and Hannah are joined by Nadia, Fran and Eugene, social workers and co-founders of Social Matters. This episode explores diversity, inclusion and belonging, particularly focussing on anti-racist practice and allyship; emphasising the importance of relationships and hope, and considering the role of social work at a time when there is so much division across th...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Hannah and Matt are joined by Rebekah Pierre, care-experienced author, social worker, campaigner and Deputy Director of Article 39. Hannah and Matt chat to Rebekah about Free Loaves on Fridays, the work of Article 39, and Rebekah's recommendations for local authorities in supporting care experienced people in accessing their records. Please note: There are som...

Send us Fan Mail We are back for Series 4 after our summer break! In this episode Matt and Hannah are joined by Luke Rodgers, founder at CEO at The Care Leaders to talk about The Care Leaders Fellowship. This episode explores what The Care Leaders Fellowship is, and some of the amazing innovations which have been supported through this.  Thank you for listening to The Relational Social Work Podcas...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Producer Arin's back with a mic, posing listener questions to Matt and Hannah, many of which are social work related.  Thank you for listening to The Relational Social Work Podcast. We are always interested to learn what you thought of the episode and welcome your feedback, suggestions, or ideas for future topics. Stay connected and join the conversation on o...

Send us Fan Mail This episode was recorded in Leeds at National Leaving Care Bench Marking Forum with Harlie, Victoria, Dyllan and Mark from the Young Person Bench Marking Forum. This episode explores what Young Person Bench Marking Forum is, and key recommendations which have come out of the ‘In Their Own Words’ Report in relation to working with and supporting care experienced young people. Than...

Send us Fan Mail This episode focusses on reunification, with the main body of the episode recorded at the Reunification Conference in Coventry. The episode features Matt’s opening of the conference, followed by speakers from the day and the voices of families and practitioners from Coventry’s reunification service. Thank you for listening to The Relational Social Work Podcast. We are always inter...

Send us Fan Mail This week Matt and Hannah are joined by Luke Rodgers, a lived experienced leader, award winning social entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Care Leaders. This episode explores the reasons behind why Luke made the decision to stop sharing his own story of being in care, his views on care experience as a protected characteristic, and key messages for social workers about working...

Send us Fan Mail This week Hannah and Matt are joined by Lemn Sissay, poet, writer and founder and trustee of the Gold from the Stone Foundation. In this episode Lemn shares his experiences of being a young person in care and leaving care, and the importance of love and care in the care system. We discuss poetry, writing, the Gold from the Stone Foundation, and Lemn flips the episode and asks Matt...

Send us Fan Mail This week Matt and Hannah are joined by Catherine Gladwell, Founder and Chief Executive of Refugee Actions UK to talk about the importance of education for refugee and asylum-seeking children. The episode explores some of the insights that Catherine has gained from working with children, young people and teachers through humanitarian work, and how this led to her founding Refugee...

Send us Fan Mail This episode begins by Hannah and Matt discussing the tragic event which happened at the Liverpool Premier League celebrations, and the reaction to this in the media and online. Hannah and Matt are then joined by Dr Lisa Cherry, to talk about her new book, ‘Weaving a Web of Belonging’. The episode explores trauma informed practice, key messages from the book, and Lisa’s health and...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Hannah and Matt are joined by Jo Williams, an independent social work consultant, author and research, with a particular interest in supervision and social work leadership. This episode explores the components of good quality supervision, and how supervision does not only take place within one-to-one and group settings, but that situational supervision happens in t...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Matt and Hannah are joined by Donald Forrester, Professor of Child and Family Social Work at Cardiff University, the Director of CASCADE the Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre, and the Deputy Director SCALE the Centre Social Care and Artificial Intelligence Learning. The episode explores the use of AI in social work, the importance of love in so...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Matt and Hannah are joined by Cllr Pat Seaman, Lead Member for Children’s at Coventry City Council. Pat talks about the importance of relationships, community and help being available for families when they are in need. We discuss Pat’s journey into politics and the role that local politics plays in how Children’s Services is delivered, and the role of the Lead Mem...

Send us Fan Mail This episode starts by announcing which two of our newsletter subscribers are the first winners of a Madlug bag and some podcast merchandise. Hannah and Matt are then joined by Isabelle Trowler, Chief Social Worker for Children and Families. The episode explores Isabelle’s role as Chief Social Worker, and social work as a political profession. Isabelle shares learning from Pathfin...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Matt and Hannah speak with Rachael Wardell, Executive Director of Children, Families and Lifelong Learning (DCS) at Surrey County Council and President of The Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS). This episode explores the work of the ADCS and Rachael’s hopes for her presidency, including tackling child poverty, championing diverse senior leadersh...

Send us Fan Mail We are back after having a break over Easter with the first episode of Series 3! In this episode, Matt and Hannah chat with Dave Linton, founder and CEO at Madlug. This episode explores how Dave went from being a youth worker to a social entrepreneur, after hearing how many children in care have to move their belongings in bin bags, and that the Madlug movement aims to end this, a...

Send us Fan Mail It’s the final episode of Series 2! In this episode Hannah and Matt are joined by Laurie Kilby, Co-Founder and Practice Lead at the charity Now Foster. This episode explores Weekenders, an innovative approach to foster care, based on wrapping love and support around young people, building life long relationships and connection, and taking on the role of a foster aunt or uncle, rat...