North Lincolnshire Council's children and families service is committed to working collaboratively with families through its One Family Approach practice model - an approach that uses co-production to shape support for families and practitioners.

In the final segment of this three-part mini-series in collaboration with North Lincolnshire Council, practitioners Steve and Shabnam explore the Council's community social work approach and how it embeds into the statutory service.

The Social Work Community podcast is where social workers come to discuss the key issues affecting their profession. Whether you are a student or an experienced social worker - whether you are frontline or management, this podcast is for you. You will hear direct from social workers in your community about their successes and their challenges.

Follow us on Instagram to keep up-to-date with the latest news and join the Social Work Community for all things social work.

In the first in a three-part series from North East Lincolnshire Council,  social workers from children's services explore some of the changes that contributed to a significant improvement in the authority's Ofsted rating.

Earlier this year, the council, previously graded inadequate, was rated good overall and outstanding for leadership by inspectors, who found its children's services were "largely unrecognisable" from where they were in 2021.

Recently, North East Lincolnshire Council launched a direct work toolkit to help children make sense of living with in conflict in their families.

In this episode, director of children's services Ann-Marie Matson and Hayley Smith, advanced social worker in the children's assessment and safeguarding service, reflect on the impact the toolkit and other practice changes have had on children and families.

Access the transcript here.

The Social Work Community podcast is where social workers come to discuss the key issues affecting their profession. Whether you are a student or an experienced social worker - whether you are frontline or management, this podcast is for you. You will hear direct from social workers in your community about their successes and their challenges.

Follow us on Instagram to keep up-to-date with the latest news and join the Social Work Community for all things social work.

Ensuring that practitioners have access to wellbeing support, flexible working arrangements and the chance to network with peers are all areas that North Lincolnshire Council is committed to.

In this the second instalment of our three-part miniseries with North Lincolnshire's children and families service, we speak to Heidi Blakey, senior workforce, engagement and development officer in children’s and families at North Lincolnshire Council, and Marco Torres, apprentice social worker in the courts and permanence team.

The pair talk about how the council prioritises wellbeing and helps its workforce to achieve a positive work/life balance.

Find out more about a career at North Lincolnshire Council here.

Access the transcript here.

The Social Work Community podcast is where social workers come to discuss the key issues affecting their profession. Whether you are a student or an experienced social worker - whether you are frontline or management, this podcast is for you. You will hear direct from social workers in your community about their successes and their challenges.

Follow us on Instagram to keep up-to-date with the latest news and join the Social Work Community for all things social work.

Hampshire Hive is a support network funded by Hampshire County Council, that assists fostering families across the county.

In this podcast episode Hampshire Hive foster carers Andrea, and Johnny and Hampshire Hive manager Amy discuss the transferable skills that foster carers can bring from previous professions into supporting children and young people.

Johnny used to do youth work, while Andrea used to be a mental health nurse. They both talk about being able to draw from their life experiences as young people, particularly Johnny who was care experienced. 

This podcast is the third and final episode in a three-part series called Hampshire Hive: Fostering Through a Community of Families.


Fostering in Hampshire
Hampshire Hive is a support network funded by Hampshire County Council, that assists fostering families across the county. To date, the network helps 27 Hampshire Hive groups with 23 foster care support workers and over 500 registered foster carers collectively.


If you would like to find out more about fostering with Hampshire County Council, please visit hants.gov.uk/fostering to download their comprehensive information pack.  You can also sign up for one of their upcoming virtual Q&A sessions attended by both a member of our recruitment team and a Hampshire County Council foster carer.

Please find the transcript here.

The Social Work Community podcast is where social workers come to discuss the key issues affecting their profession. Whether you are a student or an experienced social worker - whether you are frontline or management, this podcast is for you. You will hear direct from social workers in your community about their successes and their challenges.

Follow us on Instagram to keep up-to-date with the latest news and join the Social Work Community for all things social work.

Improving services for children and young people in a large rural county is no easy feat. In the summer of 2025, Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) children's services received a 'good' from Ofsted in three areas and 'outstanding' in two areas. Read the report here.

With a strong relational approach senior leaders have led the children social care workforce with strong and empathetic leadership. Frontline social workers are using systemic practice to support children and families.

In this episode you will hear from Paul Shallcross, service director of children and families and Beccy Pullinger, a social worker in one of the children and family first teams.

Most importantly you will hear from two ambassadors who are care-experienced and employed by GCC. The ambassadors have a number of roles within children's services to help improve polices, procedures and the support offered to young people in the county.

Danteiye (19) and Shane (20) explain how their roles have helped in improving services for children and families in Gloucestershire. The ambassadors also mentor senior leaders so that they can tell them directly how to improve things across the service, and make sure they are listened to.

This episode is in collaboration with GCC children's services.
Read the transcript here.

The Social Work Community podcast is where social workers come to discuss the key issues affecting their profession. Whether you are a student or an experienced social worker - whether you are frontline or management, this podcast is for you. You will hear direct from social workers in your community about their successes and their challenges.

Follow us on Instagram to keep up-to-date with the latest news and join the Social Work Community for all things social work.

This episode is part two of Oxfordshire County Council’s children’s service’s podcast talking about the benefits of having an in-house clinical team.

Clinical pyschologist Dr Emmanuella Vernon is back, talking with Anthony Sayles and Beccy Hawes who are both part of children and families first teams within Oxfordshire.

Anthony and Beccy talk about how they lean on the clinical team for advice on different cases. They explain how having that help and expertise in-house greatly benefits them as practitioners.

You can listen to the first part of this podcast with Dr Emmanuella Vernon and a parent who explains how practitioners at Oxfordshire County Council children’s services have helped her move from crisis-point to the point of stability and safety.

If you are interested in a career with Oxfordshire County Council take a look at its Employer Profile and check out any current vacancies.

Read the transcription.

Produced by Sharmeen Ziauddin

The Social Work Community podcast is where social workers come to discuss the key issues affecting their profession. Whether you are a student or an experienced social worker - whether you are frontline or management, this podcast is for you. You will hear direct from social workers in your community about their successes and their challenges.

Follow us on Instagram to keep up-to-date with the latest news and join the Social Work Community for all things social work.

In this special two-part podcast you can listen to ‘Carrie’ (not her real name) explain how practitioners at Oxfordshire County Council children’s services have helped her move from crisis-point to the point of stability and safety.

Carrie experienced physical abuse from her 10-year-old son. As a result she was invited to take part in a special ‘Non Violent Resistance’ course aimed at parents who had similar experiences.

The ‘Non Violent Resistance’ group is led by the clinical team at Oxfordshire County Council which is made up of therpautic practioners such as clinical psycologists and family practitioners.

Dr Emmanuella Vernon, a highly specialist clinical psychologist, helps run the course and explains some of the reasoning behind the group and some of the techniques used.

In part two of this episode you will hear from social workers from Oxfordshire County Council's children's services talking about the benefits of working side by side with a clinical team within social work practice. This episode drops on 17 October.

Are you interested in a career with Oxfordshire County Council? If so take a look at its Employer Profile and check out any current vacancies.

Read the transcription.

Produced by Sharmeen Ziauddin

The Social Work Community podcast is where social workers come to discuss the key issues affecting their profession. Whether you are a student or an experienced social worker - whether you are frontline or management, this podcast is for you. You will hear direct from social workers in your community about their successes and their challenges.

Follow us on Instagram to keep up-to-date with the latest news and join the Social Work Community for all things social work.

In this episode Sharmeen Ziauddin, senior commercial editor, speaks to Nikki Murphy and Lynn Roberts all the way in the Falkland Islands - that's 8,000 miles away. As a British Overseas Territory (BOT), the Falklands' social services is considerably different to local authorities in the UK.

Nikki being the head of social services explains the kind of issues that are prevalent in the Falklands and Lynn (team manager), who grew up there, tells us what it is like living and working in a BOT.

For those who don't know much about BOTs this is an eye-opener and an opportunity to learn how social work is carried out in small and remote communities.

The Social Work Community podcast is where social workers come to discuss the key issues affecting their profession. Whether you are a student or an experienced social worker - whether you are frontline or management, this podcast is for you. You will hear direct from social workers in your community about their successes and their challenges.

Follow us on Instagram to keep up-to-date with the latest news and join the Social Work Community for all things social work.

This new three-part series, is created in collaboration with North Lincolnshire’s Children and Families Service and explores career progression, well-being and social work practice. 

In its most recent 2022 Ofsted inspection, North Lincolnshire Council's Children and Families was rated outstanding in all areas by Ofsted, with inspectors citing an “exemplary” commitment to children as one of its strengths. 

The council’s grow your own approach contributes positively to the service’s succession planning and a focus on supporting social workers in their preferred continuous professional development pathway has resulted in highly motivated, enthusiastic and loyal workforce, the report says.

In this episode on career progression, you’ll hear from two practitioners at different stages in their career. Rachel Smith, who started her career at North Lincolnshire over 20 years ago and is now director of children’s services, and Louise Stretten, who has worked across a number of teams including disability and child protection in her 13 years at the council and is now lead officer in Family Help. They talk about how they have been supported to grow in their careers.

Please find the transcript here.

The Social Work Community podcast is where social workers come to discuss the key issues affecting their profession. Whether you are a student or an experienced social worker - whether you are frontline or management, this podcast is for you. You will hear direct from social workers in your community about their successes and their challenges.

Follow us on Instagram to keep up-to-date with the latest news and join the Social Work Community for all things social work.

Hampshire Hive is a support network funded by Hampshire County Council, that assists fostering families across the county.

In this podcast episode Hampshire Hive foster carers Andrea and Johnny, explore some of the myths often associated with choosing fostering as a career.


Andrea highlights the flexibility fostering offers and talks about how she initially combined her career as a mental health nurse with fostering before deciding to commit full time to the role.


Johnny, one of the first male foster carers in Hampshire County Council’s fostering service, explodes the myth that only women can be foster carers. He shares his experience of being the main foster carer in his household and why it was important to establish a support group for male foster carers.


This podcast is the second episode in a three-part series called Hampshire Hive: Fostering Through a Community of Families.


Fostering in Hampshire
Hampshire Hive is a support network funded by Hampshire County Council, that assists fostering families across the county. To date, the network helps 27 Hampshire Hive groups with 23 foster care support workers and over 500 registered foster carers collectively.


If you would like to find out more about fostering with Hampshire County Council, please visit hants.gov.uk/fostering to download their comprehensive information pack.  You can also sign up for one of their upcoming virtual Q&A sessions attended by both a member of our recruitment team and a Hampshire County Council foster carer.

Please find the transcript here.

The Social Work Community podcast is where social workers come to discuss the key issues affecting their profession. Whether you are a student or an experienced social worker - whether you are frontline or management, this podcast is for you. You will hear direct from social workers in your community about their successes and their challenges.

Follow us on Instagram to keep up-to-date with the latest news and join the Social Work Community for all things social work.