Stories of change

Welcome to Frontline's podcast, where I'll be chatting to social workers and sector experts about the key topics impacting them and the children and families they support. We'll also share reflections and takeaways along the way, so you can continue to learn from other professionals to do your best work with children and families.My name is Hannah and I work at the social work charity Frontline as a principal practice tutor. Since qualifying as a social worker, I've worked both in the voluntary and statutory sector in multiple settings including hospitals, criminal justice social work and child protection teams.For me, social work should be about social justice, and I am constantly finding inspiration from fellow social workers, service users, experts by experience and community activists - this is one of the reasons why I'm very excited to be facilitating discussion on this podcast! In this episode, I talk to four guests about how to drive social change through activism, policy and practice.

Hannah speaks to four guests about empowering children's voices in social work and why this is so needed. Everyone shares different insights on how social workers at all levels can listen to, capture and empower children's voices. We hope you enjoy listening into the conversation and feel inspired to take forward any ideas you may have  in future! 

Hannah speaks to four guests about sparking change in social work and why this is so needed. Everyone shares different insight on how social workers at all levels can lead change, whether it's small or big, in order to better support children and their families. We hope you enjoy listening into the conversation and feel inspired to take forward any ideas you may have  in future! 

Alexa Robinson is working with a team in Middlesbrough and Teesside to launch the first Christmas Dinner initiative in the area, providing a positive Christmas experience for young care leavers. Tom and Alexa discuss the importance of this, recognising that this time of year can be very difficult and emotionally confusing for lots of care experienced young people, as well as reflecting on the privilege many of us have around Christmas. Alexa says that if they are able to create one happy memory for one young person, then the initiative will be a success. This festive episode will uplift and inspire you and serves as a reminder for us all to ensure we are looking after others in our communities. 

Kelly Gittens is an experienced social worker and Frontline fellow who is passionate about working with and encouraging more men into the profession. As a social work academic, his research has an emphasis on fathers and domestic violence, and he often uses film as a medium to tell stories that bring about positive systemic change in the sector. Kelly reflects on the importance of communication and representation when working with men, and also shares powerful examples that illustrate the challenges of intersectionality in social work, particularly relating to race and gender. 

Richard Smith is currently delivering the Future Pathways service, a targeted employability programme for young Londoners that supports them into sustained work, apprenticeships or education, which sits under Catch22's employability division. Richard discusses how to develop meaningful and long-lasting relationships with disadvantaged young people in order to help them achieve what they want in life, despite the adversities they may have faced. He also refers to Catch22's '3 Ps,' and reflects on how the belief that everyone should have good People, a Purpose and a nice Place to live, is integral to the work he does every day.

Tommy Gale is a social worker and Frontline fellow who specialises in cases involving child exploitation and edge of care concerns. He is also the founder of InsideUni, a non-profit social enterprise that aims to provide all students with the information and support networks needed to successfully apply to top universities. The enterprise, founded on the values of inclusive access, has grown hugely since inception with Tommy now working part-time on the project alongside his role as a social worker. The conversation naturally leads to a critical reflection of the influence social workers can have in helping children and young people overcome educational barriers that continue to persist due to wider structural inequalities. 

Basheba Baptiste is a 25-year-old creative producer and the founder of Care to Culture - a non-for-profit that uses the creative arts to support children and young people in the social care and youth justice systems. As a care leaver herself, Basheba's vision is to provide a safe, sustainable community and space where young people can accept their anger and lived experience in a healing way that creates positive change. Drawing on her own story of being in care, Basheba talks to Tom about why her initiative is so needed and the important role Care to Culture plays in helping young people accept emotions and discover their identity.

Welcome back to Stories of Change! In our first episode of series four, we speak to Lisa Hackett, Frontline's chief social worker. With 26 years of experience in the sector in a variety of roles, Lisa recounts stories from over the years that have inspired her and solidified her commitment to creating change for the children and families who face some of the most challenging circumstances in life. Lisa's couldn't be clearer on the significance and value she believes social work and social workers have, but also how little separates them from those they support and work with. Full of positivity and honest reflection, this episode is well worth a listen.

From children's residential care home key worker to Assistant Director for Children and Families at North Yorkshire County Council, Martin Kelly OBE has a wealth of experience working in the social work sector. In 2015,  he led the design and development of the 'No Wrong Door' model - a pioneering way of providing support to young people who are within or on the edge of the care system. Martin says, "I became particularly interested in the whole system thinking, and what more could be done for children to avoid care, and to deal with the consequences of care."In this final episode for series 3, Martin shares how No Wrong Door has addressed some of the challenges the care system faces, and talks about the successes the approach has had to date for children and young people. Finally, he shares his advice for those of you who would like to set up your own initiative but don't know where to start.

Raised in Alabama in the United States, Nicole moved to the UK in 1990s. She started her career at a rape crisis centre whilst at university, and has worked in domestic abuse, on the front line and for charities, for over two decades since.With an estimated 2.3 million adults experiencing domestic abuse over the pandemic last year, and one in five children living with domestic abuse, Nicole's work is more important than ever.  In April, the Domestic Abuse Bill passed through Parliament and is now law. In this episode, Nicole explains what we, as social workers, need to know about the Domestic Abuse Act and how the changes will provide further protection for victims, including children. She tells us about what her roles entails, and shares her vision for the wider changes she hope to bring about as the very first Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales.

Wayne Reid is an anti-racism visionary for the British Association of Social Workers (BASW). Over the last year, in light of the murder of George Floyd, and resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, Wayne has taken action to address racism in social work. His experiences as a Black male social worker means he understands some of the challenges that children and families, and practitioners, from different minority groups can face.  In this episode, Wayne shares his thoughts on how we, as social workers, can challenge and hold ourselves, our teams and employers, to account when it comes to being anti-racist. He talks about the work he is most proud of to date, and the wider impact he hopes to make as an anti-racism visionary.

Mary Jackson is Frontline's new Chief Executive. Mary describes her path to the leadership position she is in today as not an obvious one. As a teen growing up in Wellington, New Zealand, she studied photography. However she has always been driven by her strong sense of social justice, influenced by her mum who is a teacher, and sister, a social worker.Mary is an experienced leader and strongly believes that in the world as it is today, social work has never been more important or more necessary. In this episode, hear Mary talk about her journey, her vision for Frontline, and how we can work together as a sector to lead lasting change in social work for children and families.

As a young child, Adam was persuaded to participate in the arts. The experience was life changing for him, and had a big impact on his personal development, confidence and self-esteem. Doors began to open which he never knew existed. Because of this, in 2014, Adam founded Total Insight Theatre -  a charity that uses the arts to tackle important social issues, improving the mental health of young people, and ensuring they have access to creative programmes which help them to develop lifelong skills. In this episode, Adam talks about the importance of the arts, and why arts organisations and statutory services should work more closely together to better support, and provide opportunities for young people.Note: Names mentioned in this episode have been changed to safeguard the young people that Adam works with at Total Insight Theatre.

Mark Riddell is the National Implementation Adviser for Care Leavers at the Department for Education. A care leaver himself, Mark spent years working with a range of organisations to campaign for better support for care leavers before training as a social worker in 1990.  In 2017 he received an MBE in the Queen's New Year Honours list for his outstanding contribution to children in care and care leavers.  In this episode, Mark shares his journey, what inspires him, and his advice on how you can lead change, and better support young people to lead the change they want to see for themselves.

As practitioners and researchers, Jahnine Davis and Nick Marsh found that time and time again, the experiences of minoritised and marginalised children and young people remained absent and unaddressed in research, policy and practice. After years of debates, discussions and a growing feeling of frustration, they founded Listen Up in April 2020.  In this episode, Jahnine and Nick share their journey in setting up the organisation, and the impact they hope to make by amplifying and prioritising lesser heard voices.

Over seven years ago, Frontline Chief Executive, Josh MacAlister, stepped out of the classroom, set up and launched Frontline. As a teacher, he realised how important it was for children to have a safe and stable home life, and the impact that this had on their education. Today, over 100,000 children and their families have received support from social workers through Frontline's programmes. Soon leaving his post at the charity, Josh reflects on the impact he's had and his hopes for the future in this first episode of series 3.

Having befriended a homeless man at his local tube station, Alex Stephany asked himself, “What can I do to empower this man to make the change he wants to see for himself?” In this episode, you'll hear how this relationship led him to found Beam, a crowdfunding platform built to support homeless people into stable and paid work. We hope you'll listen and feel inspired to find innovative ways to spark change in your own community.

In this episode, we spoke to Frontline fellow and Principal Social Worker, Daniel Comach. Having been in the profession for 18 years, Daniel is passionate about changing the system so social work, and social workers, can be the best it and they possibly can. Being family led is at the core of this belief, as is doing more to build stronger relationships with communities. He talks us through an initiative he is working on with other fellows that, by working alongside other partner agencies, he hopes will bring back human relationships and connectedness, and change the way that families engage with and view the service. 

In this episode, we spoke to Darren Laville, founder and CEO of The Epiphany People. Placing families at the heart of all their work, The Epiphany People was set up in 2018 to support families with the emerging challenges of bringing up children in urban communities. After losing his own son to youth violence, Darren uses his own personal experience to support families. Darren explains the importance of authenticity when working with young people and families, tackling injustice and creating system-wide change.

In this episode, we spoke to Katie Cosgrave, Senior Programme Manager at youth leadership charity RECLAIM. Like Frontline, RECLAIM exists to break down barriers in society for children who face disadvantage. Katie is proud to be working class, and is motivated every day to work with young people from similar backgrounds so that they too are proud of their roots. She talks about the importance of challenging young people to overcome imposter syndrome and draw strength from their experiences. Finally, Katie shares some of the challenges faced by working class young people, and how RECLAIM is supporting them to lead change and have their voices heard.

In this episode, we spoke to Liam Hackett, activist, and award-winning founder and CEO of Ditch the Label. After 10 years of ignoring it, Liam, alone in his bedroom, took to the internet to post about his experiences of being verbally and physically bullied. Overnight, hundreds of people came together, united by their experiences, which led to Liam starting to find his voice and confidence. The community continued to grow into its thousands. Liam shares how he grew Ditch the Label into a leading global youth charity. He talks about fear of rejection, and how to overcome this. Finally, Liam shares his top tips for listeners who are interested in starting their own initiative to bring about change for children.

In this episode, we speak to Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang, a former teacher, care leaver, and founder and Director of Lighthouse. Lighthouse is a social enterprise pioneering a new model of children's home. The new approach aims to radically improve outcomes for looked after children by focussing on education. In recognition of his work in this area, Emmanuel was voted one of The Big Issue's Top 100 Changemakers for 2020. With the often negative portrayal of children's homes in the media, he talks about the need to take a dramatically different approach. Finally, Emmanuel shares what he thinks it takes to bring about real change for vulnerable children in society.

In this episode, we speak to bestselling author and mental health campaigner, Rachel Kelly. In her early thirties, Rachel was diagnosed with severe depression after suffering two major depressive episodes. They have since become defining events in her life, and she draws upon these and her life experiences to support others. Beth and Rachel discuss mental health and identity, whether a diagnosis is helpful for recovery, and how to approach difficult conversations about suicide. Finally, Rachel speaks about the benefits of healthy eating and shares her favourite recipe from her book ‘The Happy Kitchen: Good Mood Food'.

In this episode, we speak to former British diplomat and Director of charity Inter Mediate, Jonathan Powell. Beth and Jonathan talk about how leadership is required from two very different perspectives; politics and international conflict, and of social work. They may seem worlds apart, but Jonathan highlights the importance of decision making, relationship building and trust, key for both.

In this episode, we speak to artist and rapper, Ric Flo. Born in Nigeria, Ric grew up in London and Bournemouth and spent time in foster care. Ric uses his experience in the care system to encourage positivity and build confidence in young people. He talks about the workshops he runs to give young people in care the space to use creativity and write lyrics as a means of expression and communication. Finally, he talks about role models, the importance of better representing children in care and not relying of stereotypes.

This week we speak to disrupter in chief, digital citizen, and Architect of Stories, Pamilerin Beckley, from The Haven – a Wolverhampton based charity, supporting women and children who are vulnerable to domestic abuse and homelessness. With domestic violence on the rise during lockdown, Pamilerin shares how The Haven have embraced all things digital to continue to provide and enhance service delivery, keeping everything centred on the needs of the women. Finally, Pamilerin talks about the importance of empowering the girlchild, and calling out sexism and gender stereotypes. Her energy is contagious – listen and get inspired!

This week we speak to Arshad Mahmood, Director of Planet Mercy UK – a national charity that is working to reduce food poverty and improve youth services, community cohesion and skills for life. In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, Planet Mercy UK led an outreach project which distributed over 8,000 food parcels to families and individuals across Greater Manchester. Born and bred in Oldham and the son of migrant parents, Arshad draws upon his life experiences, as well as his faith, to support others. He shares what inspired him to set up the charity, the challenges he's faced, and what drives him to continue the important work that benefits so many. Enjoy!

This week we speak to Beth Vecchione, social worker, Frontline fellow and founder of Care to Dance – a social enterprise that is using dance to improve the wellbeing of children in care in the North East. Beth speaks about the importance of building a community where young people can form meaningful relationships, grow their confidence, and talk about their futures. During lockdown, Beth and the Care to Dance team have kept the momentum going by sharing TikTok dances, as well as weekly check ins on Instagram. Finally, she talks about the importance of making young people aware of their resilience during this time. Enjoy!

This week we speak to the brilliant Joujou Bola, a writer, poet and mental health social worker on the Think Ahead programme. JJ talks about how the pandemic has impacted mental health, taking a closer look at how it's affected men in particular who tend to have weaker social structures and are less likely to seek support when isolated. JJ hopes that the crisis has opened up eyes to the social inequalities of society and the importance of being able to seek support. Finally he speaks about self-care, and how looking after ourselves is incredibly important. We hope you can take a moment to pause and listen.

This week we speak to the wonderful Kalyani McCarthy from British Red Cross. Kalyani leads on ‘Surviving to Thriving' – a brilliant project that supports young unaccompanied refugees and asylum seekers. She speaks about how isolation over the past weeks has impacted mental health, which for many is already very fragile due to the past experiences that they have faced. Kalyani also speaks about the importance of involving young people and keeping them at the heart of decision making. Finally, she talks about how the simple things can be the most effective, such as sending care packages, and being creative with online sessions. Visit our website to find out more about the work of the British Red Cross and how you can support them. Enjoy!

This week we speak to the brilliant Tom Bucher, a former primary school teacher and Frontline employee. Tom now works for two fantastic charities: Grandparents Plus and Kidscape. He speaks about how the crisis has shone a light on kinship carers, who are often disproportionately poorer than average parents, and at the moment are at higher risk due to Covid-19. Tom talks about how crucial it is to provide support and guidance, and connecting kinship carers at this time. He also addresses cyber-bullying and increased screen time, and the impact it's having on children. Finally, Tom provides insight on how to empower both parents and children now and going forward. Enjoy!

This week we speak to the amazing David Thomas, a headteacher of a state secondary school in Norwich. David is part of a group of teachers who set up and launched Oak National Academy – an online school aiming to free up teacher time so that they can better support the most vulnerable children. To say they've had great success is somewhat of an understatement! David talks about the importance of routine and structure, and how education can be a way of keeping normality in children's lives. He talks about the importance of acknowledging how children feel during a crisis, not only adults, and giving children a sense of agency by encouraging them to do something for others. Finally, he share his experience of bringing an idea to life. David says the most important thing is just getting started. Enjoy!

This week we speak to Aimee Hardaker from Settle. Settle is a wonderful charity that supports young people at risk of homelessness, as they move into their first independent home. Aimee spoke about how, in record time, they have moved their outreach programme to a fully remote service and developed new a new tool to help them better address the needs of their young people; young people who may be living alone during lock down, or finding it difficult to access food, or basic amenities. Finally, Aimee shares her thoughts about how the shift to virtual services may actually open up the number and types of young people that Settle can reach through their programme. Enjoy!