Overall Social Worker of the Year

           RECOGNISE INSPIRING SOCIAL WORK

Zoe Williamson

ORGANISATION: Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust / Northumberland County Council

AWARD(S): Overall Social Worker of the Year

 

Zoe Williamson possesses an aptitude for navigating the challenges and complexities of mental health social work that far belies the five years she has worked in the profession.

 

Zoe’s career started out in Northumberland Council’s children’s services in 2013. This role provided her with a solid foundation for moving into mental health social work and the significant experience and confidence she gained in developing relationships with children has really come to life in her current role within the NHS Trust’s mental health team.

 

Zoe’s supervisors credit her with achieving “remarkable success” with some hard-to-reach young people, bringing about change that other professionals – and in some cases service users and carers themselves – did not see as possible. She is valued by those she supports as an extremely professional, kind social worker, who will “never let you down”.

 

Zoe is now nearing the completion of the Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) qualification, and is expected to be an “absolute asset” to the local AMHP service. The judge’s took great pleasure in reading about the fantastic social work she has delivered to date, which they felt made her a stand-out choice for this year’s Social Worker of the Year.

WHAT THE TRUSTEES SAID ABOUT ZOE:

This was a stunning nomination. Zoe is described by people who have used her support as kind, honest, trustworthy and with a heart of gold whilst remaining professional and rights-focused throughout and integral towards contributing to a person’s recovery. For a social worker, that really is the aim and the highest accolade we can ever achieve.

Rob Mitchell, Principal Social Worker, Bradford Metropolitan District Council

Everything social workers should do is about improving the lives of those we support. The ringing endorsements of Zoe, from some of those she has supported, says it all.

Joanna Nicolas, Independent Child Protection Consultant

Zoe seems to have it all. The resilience to respond confidently and effectively in crisis and the patience and compassion to build relationships and effect change. These are exceptional attributes for a social worker in a front line role.

Ana Popovici, Deputy Director of Children’s Services, London Borough of Hillingdon

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