Good social work transforms lives and communities – and yet seldom receives the recognition it deserves.
As a rule, most practitioners are down to earth, self-deprecating and don’t like to make a fuss – and they don’t always realise that what they do is amazing.
Every now and again, though, we get to celebrate, to showcase what social workers do and to say thank you.
IMPACT is delighted to be a trustee of the Social Worker of the Year Awards. (These are based in England, and there are other well-established awards in other nations). Each year, there’s the award ceremony itself in Autumn, then a Parliamentary reception for winners in the following Spring.
In 2026, the reception was hosted by Ian Byrne MP, Chair of the Cross-Party Group for Social Work and spearheading the ‘Right to Food’ campaign. Meeting in the Churchill Room and basking on the banks of the Thames in glorious sunshine, we reflected on the achievements of the 2025 winners, listened to the difference the Awards had made to people’s confidence and practice, and explored further ways to share what social workers do and the difference they make.
As a trustee, we’ve been particularly involved in developing and promoting the award for ‘practitioner-led research’, celebrating the contribution of colleagues who champion research and seek to build more of a research culture in front-line practice. These are crucial but often lonely roles – trying to work across the often separate worlds of research and practice (which should be two sides of the same coin).
In October 2025, practitioners from the Experts in Practice (EXIP) project in Darlington won the gold award (https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/darlington-researchers-win-gold-nihr-sponsored-social-worker-award / https://www.darlington.gov.uk/news/council-win-gold-at-prestigious-social-worker-of-the-year-awards), while Lisa Richey from East Sussex County Council, and supported by the Kent Research Partnership, won the silver award (https://research.kent.ac.uk/chss/kent-research-partnership-celebrates-lisas-silver-award-win-at-the-social-work-awards/).
Sponsored by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, and initially developed with support from IMPACT, this was the second year of this new category – and we’re keen to encourage nominations for 2026.
Later this year, we’ll celebrate 20 years of the Awards, and we’ll be back at Westminster for a particularly special ceremony. However, in the mean time, social workers all over the four nations will keep on keeping on – standing alongside people at some of the most difficult times of their lives, championing social justice and quietly providing essential, life-changing, practical support to people and communities who really need it.
You can already nominate people for the 2026 Awards.
See details of Ian Byrne’s ‘early day motion’ celebrating World Social Work Day and calling for a parliamentary debate to celebrate the contribution of social workers, recognise the challenges they face, and tackle recruitment and retention issues.
Current and recent IMPACT projects have been building more of a research culture in occupational therapy and in Derbyshire County Council.
