‘Boot Out Austerity’: social work in a time of austerity

On Wednesday 19 April, Guy Shennan, the current Chair of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), will be speaking at the University.

The talk will be the conclusion to the first day of a walk from BASW headquarters in Birmingham to the BASW conference in Liverpool. The walk aims to raise awareness of the impact of austerity policies and, since BASW is a key national social work organisation, part of the walk will be incorporating visits to food banks and social care provision under threat from the continuing cuts and austerity policies.

BASW is also collecting stories of how austerity cuts have impacted upon people’s lives and they are calling for an end to these policies.

The event will be moderated by Graeme Simpson, from the social work team in the Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing. Guy Shennan will be the keynote speaker and there will be contributions from Bob Williams-Findlay (Disabled People Against the Cuts) and Vicky Price. The evening will end with a round table discussion and questions from the audience.

This is part of the continuing seminar series run in partnership between the University and BASW’s Black Country branch. They are well attended and open to all. They provide an excellent atmosphere for professionals and students to discuss a range of topical matters as well as providing opportunites for inter-professional networking.

More information about the walk can be found here: https://www.basw.co.uk/event/?id=878