Sunderland City Council

Sunderland City Council is delighted to be sponsoring the Team Leader of the Year Award at this year’s national Social Work Awards.

Sunderland City Council is a proud employer of social workers and recognise that we provide an excellent platform for social workers to practice from. We recognise the importance of the role of social workers in supporting people, families and carers; ensure that their rights are upheld and they are able to remain as independent as possible.

In Sunderland, we are innovative in working in partnership with the NHS, other statutory bodies, the community voluntary sector, the local college and higher education institutions, ensuring that social work is an integral part of a wider system approach to helping some of the most vulnerable people in the city.

Central to achieving these ambitions is the recognition that through excellent leadership and management, social work is a key component in the delivery of positive outcomes for individuals. The role of Team Leader is crucial to ensuring that the social work workforce is equipped, managed and encouraged to promote social work values and ethics. Team Leaders encourage continuous professional development that enable social workers at all levels to experience a career pathway that is tailored for them. This includes working directly with student social workers, having the role of mentor and assessor, for those social workers in the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment programme, those social workers who are experienced and those who work as senior practitioners.

Team Leaders in our Adult Social Care Service raise the profile of social work through multi-agency working, representing the social work workforce in a multitude of settings and partnership arrangements.

Team Leaders are at the forefront of looking at new and different ways of delivering a social work service this includes looking at digital solutions, the use of assistive technology to promote health and wellbeing and to maintain independence.

Sunderland City Council is delighted to be part of the Social Work Awards and congratulate all Team Leaders who may be honoured this year. We would express our thanks to all the Team Leaders who work tirelessly to support the workforce to ensure that the social work service is delivered to those most in need.