SWU Campaign Fund update: renewed funding through 2022-2023

SWU will continue to support our activist members in this new and innovative way.

The Social Workers Union (SWU) is pleased to announce that funding for the SWU Campaign Fund has been renewed through 2022-2023 so that SWU members can continue to set campaign priorities and engage in activism.

The Fund will continue to be managed by Campaign Collective which is a social enterprise that helps charities, social enterprises, public service organisations, and other campaigners benefit from affordable professional communications advice and support. We are proud to provide our activist members with access to this professional support for issues and causes they’re passionate about.

Simon Francis (Campaign Collective) and John McGowan (SWU) hold a copy of the SWU Campaign Fund application form between them

Campaign Collective Founder Member Simon Francis and SWU General Secretary John McGowan hold the first copy of the SWU Campaign Fund application form in 2021

All campaigns supported by the SWU Campaign Fund are conceived of and run by social workers – much like SWU itself, which is the only UK union for, and run by, qualified and registered social workers. Take a look at some of the campaigns that have delivered high impacts over the past year:

Research by the #FoodIsCare awareness campaign led by Dominic Watters (@SingleDadSW on Twitter) uncovered a scale of food poverty and insecurity not seen before and this research is now with the Department for Education.
The student-led MASW Social Work Bursary Campaign, which was supported by SWU and BASW Cymru, led to the bursary for undergraduate and postgraduate social work students in Wales being increased by over 50% from September 2022.
The campaign to encourage Part-Time and Flexible Work opportunities for social workers found in their research that more than 80% of job ads are for full-time roles and this is contributing to a recruitment crisis in the sector.
A campaign to support Good Employer Practices hosted a webinar that explored key topics such as part-time work, tackling racial discrimination, neurodiversity, tackling burnout, and supporting people during the menopause. You can watch the “Stepping stones towards decent working conditions” webinar here.
A campaign developed and launched guidelines for media reporting of social workers in consultation with the UK‘s approved press regulator IMPRESS. SWU and BASW have urged editors of national newspapers and major regional publishing groups to adopt the guidelines.

David Grimm (right) and Lucy Challoner (left) who are leading the @swstudentsunite campaign hold the jointly signed letter on 28 October 2022. The letter calls for better bursaries for Scottish social work students.

Lucy Challoner and David Grimm who are leading the @swstudentsunite campaign hold the jointly signed letter on 28 October 2022. The letter calls for better bursaries for Scottish social work students.

Following the success of the social work student bursary campaign in Wales, social work students in Scotland are now campaigning for better bursary support with the backing of SWU and SASW. Follow the campaign’s Twitter account @SWstudentsunite to keep informed of developments.

A photo of staff from SWU, IPSO, and Campaign Collective standing in front of the "IPSO" sign at the IPSO office in London

In the photo, from left to right, are: Rosemary Douce, Standards Officer, IPSO; Jane Debois, Head of Standards & Regulation, IPSO; Simon Francis, Founder Member, Campaign Collective; and John McGowan, General Secretary, SWU

We are also thrilled to announce that we are taking the next step in gaining recognition from the press on the guidelines for media reporting of social workers. SWU recently met with the regulator of most press and associated digital media in the UK – the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) – and we look forward to continue building on good relationships. IPSO pledged to help social workers understand their rights under its own existing code and, in addition, IPSO and SWU have agreed to work together to understand how the IPSO Editors’ Code of Practice and guidance on reporting court cases inform the new guidelines.

Any SWU member who would like to run their own campaign is encouraged to submit ideas for funding by filling out the SWU Campaign Fund Application Form and returning it via email. More details along with the application form can be found on the SWU Campaign Fund webpage.