Fran Ashton wins Gold at Social Worker of the Year Awards 2024

Our Trust is delighted to congratulate Fran Ashton, our Head of Social Work, on winning the Gold award for Mental Health Social Worker of the Year at the Social Worker of the Year Awards 2024.

This award was particularly notable as it was one of only two awards awarded to a Social Worker employed by an NHS Trust, as well as being the only one awarded where it was in partnership with a local authority.

The Social Worker of the Year Awards is the only major national awards event for social work in England, attracting hundreds of entries every year. The 2024 winners were unveiled at a ceremony in London last week. The judges selected 18 gold award winners and 19 silver award winners from the over 90 practitioners, students, teams and organisations shortlisted for this year’s prizes.

Gold award winners are also privileged to be invited to attend a parliamentary reception at the House of Commons, hosted by members of the Department of Health and Social Care. This event is where the next year’s awards are officially launched by representatives from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education and Social Work England. The previous year’s winners of the Gold award are invited to join, along with award sponsors.

Peter Hay CBE, Chair of the Social Work Awards, said: “This year we received hundreds of entries which goes to show how passionate organisations and individuals are to shine a light on the inspirational achievements of an often-overlooked profession.”