The Relational Social Work Podcast

Send us Fan Mail This episode was recorded at Compass Jobs Fair in Birmingham with a live studio audience. First Matt and Hannah speak with Kellie Doubtfire (Publishing and Events Director at Compass) about Compass and Social Work Today, before speaking with a panel of guests: Beverley Barnett-Jones (Associate Director at Nuffield Family Justice Observatory), Rich Devine, (Consultant Social Worker...

Send us Fan Mail This week’s episode was recorded at the Family Justice Council Conference in Birmingham. Hannah and Matt are joined first by Sir Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division, Head of Family Justice and Chair of the Family Justice Council, to discuss the role of the Family Justice Council before sharing some key messages for social workers about working in proceedings. Jenny...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Hannah and Matt chat with Ryan O’Donnell, Co-Founder and CEO of Sunlight and previous foster carer in America, about his experience of fostering a young boy who had “no family” and how a chance encounter found his father. This episode explores a journey of reunification which saw many injustices for a black father and his son, the friendship that developed between...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Matt and Hannah speak with Yvette Stanley, National Director of Social Care at Ofsted about inspection and regulation. The episode explores how Ofsted captures relationships, love and care in their reports, and how they have embraced relational practice. Yvette talks about the changes that are coming to the ILACS (Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services) fr...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Matt and Hannah chat with Sue Hammersley, Director at National House Project, and Chloe, Care Leavers National Movement Champion, about the work of the National House Project and changing the narrative in relation to young people with care experience. The episode explores the importance of relationships, and how these relationships support young people leaving care...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Dez Holmes, Director of Research in Practice and Strategic Director of the National Children’s Bureau, talks with Matt and Hannah about evidence informed practice, the complexities of relational practice and how practice is a by-product of systems, leadership and infrastructure. Thank you for listening to The Relational Social Work Podcast. We are always interested...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Hannah and Matt are joined from New Zealand by Tony Stanley, National Practice Advisor at Oranga Tamariki – Ministry for Children. The episode explores child protection practice in both New Zealand and the UK and the importance of practice frameworks as a scaffold for social work practice. Tony talks with Matt and Hannah about Family Group Conferences and provides...

Send us Fan Mail This episode starts with Matt and Hannah’s reflections on the discussion they with Josh MacAlister last week. Hannah and Matt are then joined by Anna Glinski, Deputy Director of the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse. The episode explores some of the recommendations of The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel’s report into protecting and responding to child sexual abuse...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Matt and Hannah chat with Josh MacAlister, Labour MP, former teacher, founder of Frontline and Chair of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. The episode explores the progress of social care reforms since the review was published, how it has informed the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, and his hopes for the future of social work with childre...

Send us Fan Mail It’s Blue Monday, so this episode starts with Matt and Hannah sharing some of their own struggles with their mental health and wellbeing. They are then joined by Emily Frith, CEO of Adoption UK, exploring the importance of relationships and support in adoption, open adoption and what this means for children, birth families and adoptive families, and the importance of the right sup...

Send us Fan Mail It’s the first episode of Series 2, and Hannah, Matt and Producer Arin are delighted to be back in the studio. In this episode Matt and Hannah chat with Katrin and John about their book, ‘Social Work, Parents and the Child Protection Process’. This episode includes an exploration of some of the representations of parents which Katrin and John have identified through their research...

Send us Fan Mail In the final episode of series 1, Hannah, Matt and Producer Arin talk about previous episodes, sharing their reflections of the series as a whole. Matt and Hannah then chat with Jessie Ben-Ami and Frances Flaxington from The Innovation Unit about the work they do, with a particular focus on Always Hope, a project which has brought prison, probation and Children’s Social Care toget...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Matt and Hannah speak with Sukriti Sen, the Director of Coventry City Council’s Children’s and Education Services. Sukriti shares her experiences of growing up as a person of colour, her experiences of racism, her sense of fairness, and the importance of Children’s Services representing the communities that they serve, and how this led her into social worker. Discu...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Matt and Hannah chat with Beth Vecchione, founder and Director of Care to Dance, about the impact that dance can have on the lives of care experienced young people. The episode explores the importance of access to the arts, trauma informed approaches, and how social work can be brought into a creative space to support young people to thrive. Thank you for listening...

Send us Fan Mail In this week’s episode Hannah and Matt speak with Michele Simmons, Simon Howarth and Natasha Phillips, authors of ‘Eroding the Right to Family Life: Human Rights violations in Britain’s child protection systems’. This episode explores the findings of this report, developed through the voices of over 600 parents and young people who have experienced child protection and care procee...

Send us Fan Mail To mark World Children’s Day which takes place on 20 th November, in this episode Matt, Hannah and producer Arin, will share stories from their childhoods, reflect on how these experiences have shaped them, and reminisce about their favourite TV programmes and childhood foods. This episode explores identity, loss, shame, strength and the importance of wider family in children’s li...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Professor Richard Rose speaks with Matt and Hannah about therapeutic life story work and the importance of helping children and young people make sense of their stories, and how this can support healing from trauma. 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 feedb...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Matt and Hannah chat with Tim and Rich about the meaning of relational activism, what this looks like in the context of child protection practice, and how family group conferences, connecting with the community, and parents participation and peer advocacy are key to relational practice. Thank you for listening to The Relational Social Work Podcast. We are always in...

Send us Fan Mail To mark National Care Leavers Week 2024, in this episode Matt and Hannah chat with Hannah McCowen, National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum Manager at Catch 22 about some of the challenges that care leavers face in the UK, some amazing work which is happening with care leavers across the country, and how as a society we need to do more, to support care leavers to flourish.  Thank...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Sian Williams, CEO at Switchback, talks about the the importance of financial inclusion to build a fairer and more just society. The power of co-production in designing services is explored, as well as the importance of trusting relationships in supporting young men leaving custody to move towards their future aspirations. Thank you for listening to The Relational...

Send us Fan Mail To mark Kinship Week 2024, in this episode Pam Ledward, Principal Social Work Adviser at Family Rights Group talks with Matt and Hannah about working ‘with’ families, in their widest sense, including how Family Rights Group champions kinship carers, and changes that the organisation would like to see in how kinship carers are supported. Thank you for listening to The Relational So...

Send us Fan Mail "With relational trauma we need relational healing, and relational healing happens when we make a legitimate connection". Episode 2 features Ian Thomas, a social worker with a master’s degree in criminology, who brings a wealth of both lived and professional experience in trauma, addiction, criminal justice, and the children in care sector. In this episode, Ian shares hi...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 1 featuring Dr. Beverley Barnett-Jones, Associate Director for System and Impact at the Nuffield Justice Observatory. This episode will introduce you to the podcast hosts, Matt Clayton and Hannah Bedford, and explore how to create hope and support change with families, recognising the struggles which families face, balancing when the state needs to intervene in the lives o...