Huddersfield celebrates World Social Work Day
Tue, 24 Mar 2015 10:37:00 GMT
Stories from Social Work – “...social workers have to find the skills to help people tell their stories and to listen to them...”
STORYTELLING is a vital element of social work... and it was central to an innovative event at the University of Huddersfield. A sequence of authors, who have explored social work-related subjects in print, held discussions with professionals and students, while a Caribbean artist who tells her stories using visual imagery made a special appearance via a Skype link.
The event – attended by some 70 people and organised by senior lecturer Ben Raikes – was a celebration of World Social Work Day. The idea of basing the day around storytelling developed during talks with Jenny Molloy, an author whose autobiographical books include Hackney Child, describing her experiences of the care system. She has formed a close working relationship with the Division of Social Work at the University.
The concept of a day, entitled Stories from Social Work, took shape, said the University’s Head of Social Work, Ruth Neville. “Stories are so important in the field because one of the key things that social workers have to do is to find the skills to help people tell their stories and to listen to them,” said Ms Neville, who added that social work students at the University were required as one of their assignments, to create their own digital story recounting a significant experience while on work placement.
In the video the University's drama students perform excerpts of Jenny Molloy's novel Hackney Child, along with other solo case studies previously put together for alcohol awareness week.
Telling stories
Jenny Molloy’s contacts helped to secure an impressive roster of authors for the event.
They included Freya Barrington whose best-selling Known to Social Services – written from experience – follows a social worker whose work on a grim housing estate confronts her with a range of problems.
Also in attendance was Ben Holden, who compiled the well-received anthology, Poems That Make Grown Men Cry, plus Jane Evans, whose book How Are You Feeling Today, Baby Bear? helps children who have lived with domestic violence to share and explore their experiences. Wayne Clay spoke about his autobiography Painting the Rainbow, an account of his experience of mental health problems.
There was also a contribution from Siobhan Beckwith, who leads a project named Mothers Living Apart From Their Children that is based within the Kirklees Women Centre in Huddersfield. She provided the introduction and commentary for a book entitled In Our Hearts – Stories and Wisdom of Mothers Living Apart from Their Children. Four women from the centre who contributed to this book shared their poems.
Skype technology enabled Trinidad-based artist Jaime Lee Loy to contribute to the “Stories from Social Work” event. She spoke about the issue of domestic violence and the healing power of art. The link with Huddersfield arose when the University’s Professor Adele Jones – who has conducted important research into child abuse in the Caribbean and chose one of Jaime Lee’s images for the cover of her latest book.
“She gave a talk on Skype and there were a lot of images that we could display,” said Ruth Neville. “It was a great way of giving a global dimension to our stories.”
