World Social Work Day 2019 to be celebrated in Orkney

Orkney's social work service will be celebrated at a World Social Work Day event in Kirkwall this week.

The event, which gets underway tomorrow (Tuesday 19 March), will focus on 'relationships' and features a series of speakers, workshops and an exciting live link up with social work colleagues in the Falkland Islands.

World Social Work Day is the key day in the year that social workers worldwide stand together to celebrate the achievements of the profession and take that message into their communities and workplaces.

The link up with the Falkland Islands will provide an opportunity to hear of social work provision within the island and explore common themes in the delivery of social work services in remote and rural locations.

The four speakers include Sally Shaw who is Chief Officer of Orkney Health and Care and will speak about the challenges and opportunities of relationships in remote and rural communities.

The other three speakers are Jimmy Paul, Fiona Duncan and Iona Colvin.

Jimmy Paul is Co-Chair of the Independent Care Review. His speech 'How relationships can shape future' will share some of his journey and personal experiences. In his other roles, he works at the Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland (CELCIS), and involved in a number of leadership programmes working across Scotland to deliver change and ensure impact.

Fiona is currently Chair of the Independent Care Review which was commissioned by the Scottish Government. Fiona brings significant professional experience and expertise, passion and determination to make change happen for children and young people, and personal experience and insight of the care system. Fiona is also the CEO of the Corra Foundation and has over 20 years’ experience in the voluntary sector.

Iona Colvin will speak on 'The Role of professional Social Work in influencing the integration agenda'. Iona was appointed as the Chief Social Work Adviser to the Scottish Government in April 2017. Iona's role includes advising minsters and policy teams with an interest in, or responsibility for, aspects of social work services and practice. Iona also works with policy teams leading on major programmes including integration of health and social care, adult social care, implementation of self-directed support, Getting it Right for Every Child and community justice reform.