Calling all social work students! We are looking forward to a thoughtfully curated programme of presentations and workshops at our flagship student event.
Designed by students for students - don't miss out on this opportunity to connect, learn and get support to empower your university journey.
Programme includes:
Keynote: Creating Connection within Social Work Practice
Bev Crisp, Trainee Social worker, North Yorkshire Council
Reflections on the value of turning up and being present
Keynote: AI, Community, and Connection: Sustaining Human-Centred Social Work in a Digital Age
Wisdom P Mensah, MA Social Work Student | BASW Student Ambassador, Ann Flynn, Nation Manager: England Social Work Team and Staff Tutor, The Open University and Dr. Sharif Haider, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Wellbeing, Education, & Language Studies (WELs)
Artificial intelligence is already embedded in social work through tools like digital recording, automated summaries, and decision‑support systems. These technologies are reshaping professional judgement quietly and incrementally, while responsibility remains with practitioners. This raises questions about autonomy, ethics, confidence, and relationships at the heart of social work. The session draws on national research to help students, new practitioners, educators, and leaders reflect on how AI is influencing learning cultures and professional identity. It explores where AI can support practice and where it may fragment community. Central is the idea that professional community is the key resource for navigating technological change responsibly.
Keynote: BASW & Social Workers Union - Student Campaigns: Stronger Together
John McGowan, General Secretary, Social Workers Union and George Hannah, Communications & External Relations Officer, SASW
More details coming soon
Keynote: Social work within the NHS or other health focussed organisations, roles and career progression, what you need to know
Lisa Brett, Chair of the BASW Social Work in Health Thematic group
Are you interested in finding out what options are available to you as a newly qualified social worker, beyond roles in the local authorities? If so this session is for you. We will hear about the growing recognition of and presence of social workers within the NHS and health focused roles in the VCSE sector. We will explore the types of roles and implications for career progression.
Workshop: Safeguarding, Capacity and Equitable Access to Systems in Social Work Practice
Mandy-Jayne Lace, Cardiff Metropolitan University, BASW Student Ambassador, Founder and Director, Accessibility Partners, Psychotherapeutically informed trainee social worker in Wales, Specialist teacher and SENCO
Creating Community and Connection through safeguarding, the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, and equitable access to support. A psychotherapeutically informed trainee social worker in Wales explores co production, proportionality and least restrictive practice to support people to build lives they deem worth living. Exploring how social workers create community and connection by ensuring people can access systems equitably, lawfully and in ways that uphold dignity, rights and wellbeing.
Workshop: Safeguarding, Ambiguity and the “Transgender Umbrella”: Reflections for Social Work Practice
Matthew Lewis, MA Social Work student at the University of Hull | BASW Student Ambassador
Exploring how ambiguity in transgender terminology may impact safeguarding decision-making in social work. It will highlight how the broad “transgender umbrella” can create challenges for assessment, communication, and inclusive practice. The session aims to prompt reflection on how practitioners can balance equality, diversity, and risk within complex real-world cases.
Workshop: Co-creating the Nairobi Proposal on Decolonising Social Work Practice Education: From Malmö to Global Action
Tina Odu and Eleanor Hogan (Social Work Practitioners and Project Mentors for student colleagues), alongside European student colleagues and the Project Team
We are honoured to invite you as co-creators into the latest stage of an international participatory journey. This project began with an IASSW-funded scoping review (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00208728241303596) and the EASSW-funded co-production of a 10-episode podcast series (https://www.dialogueswfe.org/) and international workshop in Malmö. Led by Associate Professor Henglien Lisa Chen (University of Sussex), we are now bringing forward the collective work started in Malmö with 47 international students from Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. This interactive BASW session is a critical space to carry on co-creating the ‘Nairobi Proposal’ to decolonise social work practice education, before we take our final push to the SWSD 2026 co-creation workshop in Nairobi.
Dynamic panel discussion: Placements
Be encouraged and inspired, with time to ask questions and discuss your own experiences, gain insights and share helpful advice.
Plus a digital creative exhibition to browse online during the lunch hour
Programme
| Time | Session | Speaker |
| 10:00 | Welcome | Jonny Adamson, Communications & External Relations Officer, BASW |
| 10:10 | Keynote: Creating Connection within Social Work Practice | Bev Crisp, Trainee Social worker, North Yorkshire Council |
| 10:30 | Keynote: AI, Community, and Connection: Sustaining Human-Centred Social Work in a Digital Age | Wisdom P Mensah, MA Social Work Student | BASW Student Ambassador, Ann Flynn, Nation Manager: England Social Work Team and Staff Tutor, The Open University and Dr. Sharif Haider, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Wellbeing, Education, & Language Studies (WELs) |
| 11:10 | Break | |
| 11:20 | Workshops:
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| 12:20 | Lunch | ***Browse our creative exhibition*** |
| 13:20 | Panel Discussion: Placements | Dimson Uchendu, BASW Student Ambassador), Jody Brown & Zanam Batchford, Social worker for Framework HA. (County), Practice Educator. Level 2. |
| 13:50 | Keynote: Social work within the NHS or other health focussed organisations, roles and career progression, what you need to know | Lisa Brett, Chair of the BASW Social Work in Health Thematic group |
| 14:20 | Keynote: BASW & Social Workers Union - Student Campaigns: Stronger Together | John McGowan, General Secretary, Social Workers Union and George Hannah, Communications & External Relations Officer, SASW |
| 14:50 | Wrap up | Jonny Adamson, Communications & External Relations Officer, BASW |
Biographies
Ann Flynn
Nation Manager: England Social Work Team and Staff Tutor
The Open University
I am a senior lecturer with The Open University and manage the regional social work team supporting students in their placements. I have worked for the university since 2004, initially as an associate lecturer in social work. In 2015 I became a local social work lead, liaising with the partner agencies we work with who sponsor students onto one of the four social work programmes offered at the university.
My professional background is in social work, with experience in childcare, child protection, and several years as an Approved Social Worker in mental health and as a practice educator. I had also previously qualified as a nurse. My professional work experiences have informed my current research interests into inter-professional practice as well as use of AI in social work and simulation-based learning across professional settings’
Dr. Sharif Haider
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Wellbeing, Education, & Language Studies (WELs)
Open University, Milton Keynes
Dr. Sharif Haider worked in both Children and Adult services, started as a front-line practitioner and gradually became a strategic leader of English health and local authority. Sharif is a qualified approved mental health professional (AMHP) and a best interest assessor (BIA). Additionally, he functions as a coach, counsellor, and psychotherapist. He is a member of the fitness-to-practise panel for Social Care Wales. He is an external examiner and external academic reviewer. Sharif is also a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His research concentrates on digital health, social work and pedagogy, global mental health, and street-connected children. He has contributed to numerous academic and professional journals. He serves as Director of Research and Knowledge at Global Street Connect. He is also a founder and director of the Trustee of Research Alliance Network.
Wisdom P. Mensah
MA Social Work student and BASW Student Ambassador
Wisdom's research focuses on artificial intelligence, professional judgement, and governance in contemporary social work. His dissertation examines how social workers are being prepared through education, organisational systems, and professional culture — for the accelerating integration of AI and digital technologies into practice.
With a background spanning social care practice, systems thinking, and institutional strategy, Wisdom explores the ethical, relational, and governance implications of technological transformation. His work considers how professional communities can sustain human-centred practice, moral confidence, and accountable judgement in environments increasingly shaped by digital systems.
Through research, policy engagement, and professional dialogue, he contributes to emerging national conversations on AI governance, workforce preparedness, and the future of relational professions in a digital age
Eleanor Hogan
Newly Qualified Social Worker
Eleanor Hogan is a newly qualified Social Worker in a mental health team. She completed her Social Work Apprenticeship with the University of East Anglia, graduating in January 2026.
Eleanor began her career in social care in 2017, supporting older adults living with dementia in a nursing home setting.
Eleanor holds a degree in Health and Social Care from The Open University and was previously a BASW Student Ambassador.
Eleanor is passionate about promoting compassionate, person-centred mental health practice and supporting open conversations about the realities of social work.
She remains committed to ongoing learning, collaboration, and strengthening the future of the social work profession.
Tina Odu
Newly Qualified Social Worker
Tina Odu is a Newly Qualified Social Worker who recently completed a social work apprenticeship at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK and served as a BASW Student Ambassador. She has over seven years of experience supporting children and families across a range of settings, including child safeguarding, family support, refugee services and adult mental health. In 2018, she moved from Nigeria to the UK to pursue a master’s degree in international development at UEA where she began volunteering to support with refugee integration within her community. Tina is passionate about social justice and dedicated to amplifying the voices and experiences of marginalised groups around the world through advocacy, participatory research, and education.
Dimson Uchendu
MA Social Work Student, University of Worcester and BASW Student Ambassador
Dimson Uchendu is a final-year MA Social Work student and a BASW Student Ambassador with experience supporting vulnerable young people and adults across voluntary and community settings in both the UK and Nigeria. He holds a first degree in philosophy, which continues to inform his approach to practice.
His first placement was within a community-based homelessness prevention service. Following the placement, he was retained in a part-time role as a Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) Worker, providing crisis intervention and dynamic risk assessment for individuals experiencing street homelessness.
He is currently completing his dissertation, which explores how social workers understand and manage their digital footprint within increasingly blurred boundaries between professional and private life.
Karin Heber
Professional Officer, Scottish Association of Social Workers
Karin Heber is a registered social worker and social pedagogue. She currentlyworks as a Professional Officer with the Scottish Association of Social Workers,SASW. She is working towards better working conditions for social workers andmaking sure that the voice of social work is heard and taken into account in thecreation of relevant policies and legislation. She also delivers training andprovides support for social workers and students in Scotland. Karin has workedboth in Germany and Scotland in different roles from social worker to managerin residential, third sector and statutory settings in Children and Families andMental Health. She has worked as a lecturer at university and as anIndependent Social Work Consultant.
Mandy-Jayne (MJ) Lace
Social Work Student | Disability Inclusion Strategist | Founder, Accessibility Partners
Mandy-Jayne (MJ) Lace is a social work student, disability inclusion strategist, and founder of Accessibility Partners, a consultancy supporting disabled people to access employment, self-employment, and independent living through inclusive systems design.
Her work sits at the intersection of social work practice, disability rights, and systemic reform. Drawing on lived experience alongside professional practice, MJ focuses on how policy, employment systems, and public services can become more responsive, equitable, and human-centred for disabled people.
Alongside her studies, MJ works directly with individuals navigating complex systems such as Access to Work, social security, and employment support. Through this work she has developed practical approaches that combine advocacy, systems navigation, and strengths-based coaching to enable disabled people to participate fully in work and community life.
MJ’s wider interests include inclusive employment policy, assistive technology (and AI), accessible entrepreneurship, and the future of disability leadership within social work and public services. Her emerging academic work explores how social workers and allied professionals can strengthen relational practice while engaging confidently with rapidly changing systems, technologies, and governance frameworks.
Through speaking, research, and collaborative initiatives, MJ contributes to national and international conversations on inclusion, human rights, and the role of social work in shaping fairer societies.
Her work is guided by a simple principle:
When systems change, lives change.
Matthew Lewis
I am a first-year MA Social Work student at the University of Hull, with a developing focus on safeguarding, mental health, and contemporary debates surrounding gender identity in children and young people.
I currently serve as a BASW Student Ambassador and Student Representative, where I contribute to student engagement and support the development of the next generation of social workers. Alongside my studies, I volunteer as an Adult Volunteer with the Sea Cadets, mentoring young people and helping to build confidence, resilience, and aspiration.
I bring over 30 years of lived experience as a post-transition trans man, which informs my interest in the evolving landscape of gender identity and its implications for social work practice. I am particularly interested in how these issues intersect with safeguarding and ethical decision-making.
I plan to pursue PhD research exploring gender identity within social work, with the aim of contributing to evidence-based, balanced, and child-centred practice.