Lorraine Pascale appointed as Patron of the Social Worker of the Year Awards

Celebrity chef and Fostering Ambassador Lorraine Pascale has been announced as a new Patron of the charity behind the Social Worker of the Year Awards and will present the 2017 awards event in November.

The charity was established in 2006 and aims to improve understanding of the challenging and diverse sector and recognise social workers’ hard work and dedication in helping to transform people’s lives. As part of her role as Patron, the TV cook and former fashion model will host the awards ceremony, which will celebrate the many outstanding achievements of practitioners, social work teams and organisations across the country.

Lorraine spent some of her early life in care between adoptive and foster families. In 2014 she filmed a documentary about her experiences called ‘Fostering and me’, to highlight and encourage the importance and benefits of fostering children. Lorraine became the Government’s first fostering ambassador and continues to campaign for foster children and their families to be given more support.

Lorraine’s cooking shows currently air in over 70 countries worldwide and she has published six cookbooks with sales of over one million in the UK alone. She is currently enjoying a successful career in America.

Speaking ahead of the awards, Lorraine, who has also been appointed as a Patron of the charity, said: “This cause is extremely close to my heart and I know from personal experience how critical and important the work that social workers do is. I am delighted to become a patron for the charity and I look forward to meeting all the finalists at the ceremony.”

Peter Hay CBE, Chair of the Social Worker of the Year Awards, said: “Lorraine is hugely respected in the social work sector and is the perfect champion for all that the awards stand for. We’re thrilled that she has chosen to support the charity, which gives dedicated, committed and passionate social workers the recognition they deserve.”

This year the awards received a record breaking number of nominations and 81 social workers and social work teams in both children’s and adult services have been selected as finalists across 16 different categories. The winners from each category will be announced at the ceremony in London in November.

The full list of finalists can be found here.