1. Social Work Today Social work in Britain today has lost direction. This is not new. Many have talked about social work being in crisis for over thirty years now. The starting point for this Manifesto, however, is that the ‘crisis of social work’ can no longer be tolerated. We need to find more effective ways of resisting the dominant trends within social work and map ways forward for a new engaged practice. Read More

by Rich Moth and Dan Morton, December 2009 The UN summit to be held in Copenhagen this month (December 2009) will aim to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto treaty to tackle climate change. These talks have refocused the attention of the world on the issue of global warming. While there has been some discussion in the health and social science communities about the impact of climate change, so far there has been little discussion of the implications for social workers and people that use social work services. This article will outline some of the most significant impacts in this field and suggest strategies to enable social workers both to respond to the new risks and needs that will emerge and contribute to the fight against climate change. Read More

by Stephen Cowden, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Coventry University (June 2011) The recent BBC Panorama programme about the abuse of learning disabled people at the Winterbourne View Hospital run by Castlebeck is a moment in which we need to begin to start talking, yet again, about the way these issues have been facilitated by the privatisation of Adult Social Care. Read More

•The 6th SWAN National Conference 2011: This event has been organised in collaboration with In Defence of Youth Work and will have the theme of  ‘Building Alliances, Defending Services’. The conference will take place on Friday 15th April and Saturday ... Read More

by Rich Moth, April 2011 Last week, action by four disabled residents in the High Court successfully overturned Birmingham City Council's plans to raise their eligibility thresholds to critical. The council will be forced to go back to the drawing board with its adult social care budget plans. You can read more about this victory at the following links: Read More