New TV campaign to recruit 5000 social workers

The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and Oscar-nominated actress Samantha Morton today launched a television campaign to recruit more than five thousand social workers.

The advertisements show how social workers change the lives of thousands of children and adults every day, by giving a voice to the most vulnerable in society. The campaign features six well known TV and film actors, each playing the role of a child or adult in need of the support of a social worker and highlights the work social workers do every day.

The new campaign comes on the back of £58m Government investment to help transform the social work profession in the wake of the Baby P scandal.

The campaign aims to recruit not only new social workers, but social workers who may have left the profession and those looking for a career change.

Speaking ahead of the launch, Children's Secretary, Ed Balls, said: "Thousands of children and families desperately need the help and support social workers give in difficult and sometimes dangerous situations. It is a job that makes a difference in ways that most of us can only begin to imagine. It's a job that can save and transform lives.

"Yet the success stories of the nation's social workers are rarely heard and research shows that many people don't even know what social workers really do. This hard-hitting campaign will mean a big step towards raising the profile of their work and showing what social workers deal with every day.

"I want social workers to be a high quality, self-confident profession, with the support and esteem of the public. Social workers around the country have already told us we need to improve the technology they use. They need better training and support - especially for newly qualified graduates.

"Our £58m package of support and recruitment of new and returning social workers is laying the foundations for what I believe will be a radical transformation of the social work profession. Children and families need and deserve the best support and protection. I am backing this next generation of social workers to rise to this challenge."