NI Social Work Awards 2025
World Social Work Day (Tuesday 18 March) highlights the achievements and invaluable work of social workers and social care professionals by promoting the contributions of the profession to individuals, families, communities and wider society. World Social Work Day also signals the build-up to the Regional Social Work Awards, which will be hosted by the Western Trust on Wednesday 26 March at the Manor House, Enniskillen.
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Nurturing Development Award
Jane McCullough is the Social Work Governance Manager in Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. Her passion for the best outcomes for service users drives her approach to learning and enabling others, and she promotes quality improvement (QI) methodologies to enable others to apply them to their everyday work. Her success hinges on her relationship-building skills and her commitment to keeping service users at the heart of everything. Jane strives to create psychological safety ensuring staff feel comfortable engaging in audit and accountability processes without fear of judgement. One of her most successful innovations is the creative use of scorecards for Statutory Function Reports and audit results, Jane has shared her learning so this approach has now also been embraced by other Trusts. Jane has encouraged innovation with Dragons’ Den-style initiatives, allowing staff to present their improvement ideas and receive constructive feedback. Jane’s warm and nurturing personality, coupled with her reliability and innovative mind, underpin her work to promote learning and development.
Patricia Mulholland is the Fostering Training Co-ordinator in South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, responsible for development, co-ordination and delivery of post approval foster care training. Since taking up post, Patricia has increased the number of foster carers attending training from under 20% to 73%. She has also enabled fostering staff to increase their own knowledge to keep training central to the role of foster carers. Recognising the impact of social media on children, Patricia worked alongside INEQE to create the ‘Fostering in a Digital World’ App which is a resource and training tool for social workers, kinship carers and non-kinship carers. The App has been expanded across the Trusts for foster carers. Patricia’s leadership, dedication and passion has had a positive impact on the success of South Eastern Trust’s foster carer training package which ensures foster carers with the best possible tools to assist them in caring for children successfully into adulthood.
Aim to Change Service, South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, works with young people who have sexually harmed and their families. Their skill base and desire to understand the young person whilst working with the core social work value base, is a model of good practice locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. They are committed to sharing knowledge with colleagues and others, including the young person and their family. This cascades learning and development through interaction with the ATC team and enhances confidence and competence in social work practice. Their work has informed the development of models, which are used globally, and they share resources and learning freely. They always strive to improve their services and seek feedback from the young people they work with and their families. This feedback highlights their positivity and non-judgemental approach. Their empathic and compassionate approach has helped create a safe learning space for young people to change their behaviour. -
Contribution to Social Work Leadership
Angelina McCann is the manager of the Community Mental Health Team for Older People in Western Trust. Through Angelina’s vision for improvement she has reduced waiting times for the Memory Assessment Service from 504 days to 70 days, an improvement of 86%. She has also reduced the number of people waiting for assessment by 85%. These improvements have been acknowledged at senior levels of the Trust and by the Dementia Commissioner. Through collective leadership, Angelina is sharing learning and practice to ensure that there is equity of service provision throughout the organisation. Although Angelina manages staff from different professions, there is no denying that she is passionate about Social Work and has the courage to make tough decisions and act in the face of adversity. She encourages her team to continuously learn and improve to ensure they provide holistic, person-centred care. She is a highly committed, passionate and enthusiastic leader, always striving for better outcomes for service users and carers whilst simultaneously taking great care of her team.
Marian O’Rourke is the Director of Regulations & Standards at NISCC. Her 40+ years of dedicated service to social work and social care has been underpinned by the values of care, compassion and belief in the power of collaboration. Her development of the Professional in Practice (PiP) Framework demonstrates her commitment to innovation, learning, and evaluation within the profession, with over 200 social workers having received awards through this framework. The PiP Framework has not only transformed post-qualification education in Northern Ireland but has also earned international recognition and was celebrated as a ‘global leader’ for excellence at the European Social Services Awards. Marian’s influence extends beyond local borders, with her work in workforce development, education and regulation ensuring Northern Ireland is positioned as a leader in social work on the international stage. Marian’s impact on the social work profession is immeasurable and she has led with compassion, integrity, and a deep commitment to the values of the profession. Marian’s leadership has not only shaped the profession today but has laid the foundation for future leaders to continue her work.
Jacintah McCaffrey is an Assistant Service Manager (ASM) for community social work (CSW) in Learning Disability in Belfast Trust. Jacintah joined the team at a challenging time but her nurturing leadership has improved well-being outcomes for staff, service users and carers. She has built an environment where collaboration and co-production thrive and the voices of adults with learning disability and their carers are heard. She promotes a sense of collective leadership where everyone is given the opportunity to develop and creates psychological safety within which that can take place. She has improved transitions for young people moving to adult services and enabled the team to work in creative, innovative ways to affect change. Jacintah’s work to co-ordinate bespoke training around carer support has led to an increase in completed carers assessments. Her inspiring leadership is always underpinned by her compassion, empathy and patience and a strong commitment to service users. -
Rising Star Award
Chloe Shiels has worked within the Downpatrick Child and Family Team, South Eastern Trust, since qualifying as a social worker. Chloe was nominated for the Rising Star Award due to her commitment and dedication to her role as a social worker and because of the progress she has made in her own professional development over this time. Chloe comes to work every day with enthusiasm, a smile and a genuine desire to make things better for the children and families she works with. Chloe provides an amazing service and goes above and beyond for children and families. She receives compliments from children and carers about her interaction with them and her good practice has been noted by other professionals. She is innovative and always thinking of new ways to engage children, finding small touches that help her develop positive relationships with them.
Lucie Snowdon is a social worker in the Integrated Care Team in the Southern Trust who has just completed her AYE. She shows huge potential at this early stage of her career, demonstrating resilience, positivity and tenacity. Lucie worked with senior colleagues to develop a communication strategy promoting the role of social work, particularly in Older People’s Services. She became the face of the NISCC campaign, working collaboratively with a range of partners and developing videos of ‘A day in the life of’ for social media. Lucie’s involvement with local careers events has resulted in strong recruitment and positive feedback about her work. Lucie supports the AYE Lead by providing guidance and support and acting as mentor to students and AYEs within her own team. As a result of her work the AYE and student forum is stronger than ever as she advocates for herself, her colleagues and her profession.
Grace O’Neill is a social worker in the Family and Childcare Team in the Western Trust who recently completed her AYE. Grace is devoted to advocating for children’s rights, even when this is challenging. She respectfully challenges parents and other professionals to think specifically about the children and to see the child amidst the issues faced by families. Grace has consistently and instinctively created individual space for the children she works with and is tuned-in to what they are feeling about their experiences. Other professionals have commented on her positive relationships with children and it is clear that she sees social work as a vocation, not a job. Grace is a calm and measured practitioner who works with a level of autonomy and quiet confidence. She demonstrates kindness and empathy and always works with a careful balance of caring, compassion, commitment and bravery that young people need in a social worker. -
Spirit of Social Work Award
Karen Beattie is a Residential Social Worker at Lakewood Regional Secure Care Centre, South Eastern Trust. Karen has devoted her career to working with children and young people across multiple services – Youth Justice Agency, Looked After Child team, Fostering, and more recently Secure Care. Karen’s commitment to her role as an advocate and champion for children and young people is commendable and her reputation as an empathic, genuine and nurturing Social Worker is unrivalled. Karen is well respected by colleagues, students other professionals and most importantly, by the young people, many of whom stay in contact with her long after they have left the service. She makes great connections with young people and is a source of containment and stability for them, often in times of extreme crisis. With every young person admitted to Lakewood, Karen embraces her role as caregiver, nurturer, mentor and advocates with kindness, patience and positivity.
Matthew Golding is a Residential Social Worker in Woodlands Children’s Home, Western Trust. Matthew has shown remarkable tenacity despite a very challenging experience. Whilst dealing with his own feelings in his experience, Matthew displays true professionalism and levels of care for young people, their families and also his colleagues within the team. Matthew has supported our young people in many ways by adapting and adjusting his communication style and has been described as a “superhero” reflecting how everyone feels about Matthew.
Lorraine Boyd is a Social Worker in the Integrated Care Team, Northern Trust. She is a valued team member whose work epitomises strong social work values. She is caring and compassionate, hardworking and relentless in her efforts to empower and improve the lives of service users by supporting them, promoting choice and maintaining their independence. Recently, Lorraine was tenacious and persistent in working with MDT colleagues to overcome challenges and ensure that a young service user, who was recovering from a stroke, was able to return to her family home from a nursing home. Lorraine ensured that her choices were supported and ultimately met. Lorraine is a team player who will always be prepared to help out in an emergency. Her care and commitment to the families she works with, her colleagues and the wider multi-disciplinary team makes her stand out. She has helped to shape many social work careers as students, newly qualified staff and colleagues have mirrored and followed the example and standards she has set. -
Co-Production Award
Naoimh McGlone is the Dementia Service Improvement Lead in the Southern Trust. Naoimh is dedicated to ensuring that the voice of people with lived experience is heard and used to improve quality of life for service users. Naoimh led a project called ‘Hear our Voice’ which involved working with people living with dementia as part of a project team, which aimed to raise the profile of dementia, challenge stereotypes and ultimately improve the experience of people living with dementia. Working together they developed a documentary that was entirely co-produced from initial concept, story-boarding, filming, production and editing by the project team. The documentary was launched at Stormont Buildings in September 2024 and has received very positive feedback from a wide range of stakeholders. The documentary has influenced education and been added to undergraduate nursing and social work programmes in QUB and UU and post graduate training provided through Stirling University, Bradford University and QUB.
Claire McGrath is the Principal Practitioner for Ethnic Minorities and New Entrants in the the Northern Trust. Claire works with others to improve outcomes for this service user group who are often isolated and at risk of exploitation. She promotes inclusivity by developing reciprocal relationships and this has delivered positive outcomes. Claire has developed Wellness Hubs that have integrated community services and supports involving churches, councils, health professionals and voluntary and community services. This unique role and Claire’s tenacity, enthusiasm and clear value base has established a shared vision for other providers and has fostered robust reciprocal relationships with all partners. Service users are engaged equally to co-produce, design and influence the pathway of support that they require in their new journey in Northern Ireland. This has empowered them to have a sense of belonging and inclusivity which they report has given them hope and enabled them to thrive within their new communities.
North Community Social Work Team, Belfast Trust, work with people at high level of fire risk due to the combination of their lifestyle choice, physical disabilities and/or cognitive impairment. This team worked with the Northern Ireland Fire Service and those with lived experience, to co-develop the “Safer Together Project”. They created resources to increase the fire safety awareness of social work/social care staff and service users, which included information leaflets, educative materials and training videos. They also participated in an “Older Person’s Day” where over 100 people had the opportunity to learn about fire safety and how to minimise risk. In addition, 80 social work staff were trained in fire safety and prevention which resulted in a 40% increase in referrals for fire safety checks and safer living environments for older people, and over 200 firefighters were trained in dementia awareness. This holistic approach resulted in everyone involved increasing their understanding of fire risk and how to manage it together. -
People's Choice Award
Michelle Duffy is an independent social worker and children’s trauma therapist. Michelle works independently and holistically as a therapeutic social worker, supporting children, young people, and their families. Michelle’s ability to combine lived experience with professional expertise allows her to connect with survivors on a deeply personal level, fostering hope and empowering others to believe in their capacity for healing. This personal connection fuels her passion and ensures that every decision she makes is rooted in empathy, compassion, and an unyielding commitment to creating positive change for the children she serves. Michelle is transparent, honest, and authentic, fostering trust and connection with families. This has made her not only an incredible social worker but also a leader and advocate at the global level. Recently, Michelle was selected to join the Global Survivor Council, the only representative from the UK. Michelle is also engaging with ministers in Northern Ireland, driving conversations about necessary reforms in the social work sector.
Nichola Farren is a Social Worker in the Family & Child Care Team in Limavady. Nichola is dedicated to fairness, just and rights-based social work. She embodies a unique blend of kindness and intelligence, approaching her work with a genuine desire to make a difference in children’s lives. Nichola is not afraid to act as a disrupter to the status quo to advocate for children and young people. Her ability to connect is extraordinary, particularly with those children with complex health and communication needs. Nichola is the social worker who takes the time to listen and find ways to communicate so that children’s voices are heard at every level. For this, she has earned huge respect amongst parents, colleagues, with foster carers, within MDT teams, and within residential care services. Most importantly, Nichola is loved by the children, and she brings their voice into the room on every occasion. Nichola is truly a social worker for the people and touches the lives of others with such positive impact.
Christine Brace, is a Senior Social Work Practitioner in the Primary Care Multi-Disciplinary Service, Western Trust. She is the perfect combination of warmth, humility and humour. As a bottomless well of positivity, Christine is a symbol of hope for many who find themselves in challenging circumstances and she helps them achieve change and go on to support others. Christine works from a position of curiosity, seeking to understand, engage and assist the people she serves. She recognises the strengths and qualities in people, even when they cannot see it for themselves. With a focus on relationship building at their pace, Christine utilises her networks, creates opportunity for connection, and empowers service users by sharing her knowledge and guidance. She essentially pours into their cup to enable them to pour into the cup of others. Christine recognises unmet need in the community and uses a co-production approach to create opportunities for mutual support and learning, developing very valuable community resources along the way. -
Sunshine Award
Norma Cairns is the Service Manager in the Learning, Development & Governance SW Team in Western Trust. Norma cares – for animals, the environment, loved ones, colleagues, and for everyone’s plants! She cared for children in residential care, and now cares for social workers in WHSCT in her LDG role. Norma keeps people’s energies up, and has a passion for high quality, ethical, social work practice. This year, she launched a domestic abuse training framework, developed a guide for recommended training for social workers, and supported her team in achieving new levels of creativity. Whether she’s helping someone navigate a complex ethical dilemma or encouraging the team to tackle a challenging task, Norma manages to turn every situation into an opportunity for learning – always with a smile, a calm voice and an analogy. She has a gift for transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary but always with a lesson subtly woven in, reinforcing team values and keeping development on track. Norma’s presence in the team makes everyone feel a little lighter, a little more at ease, and a lot more inspired.
Hayley Smith is a Senior Practitioner in James Street Family Resource Centre in South Eastern Trust. This demanding role requires a range of interpersonal skills to navigate interactions with children and families and with professional colleagues. During recent organisational changes, Hayley’s positive attitude was instrumental in achieving a good outcome as she supported, motivated and encouraged her colleagues through the process. She is instrumental in organising and galvanising staff for regular social nights out together, keen to provide opportunities to connect and to forget about work for a while. Hayley is described as the ‘Duracell Bunny’ of the team whose infectious laughter lifts everyone’s spirits but her positivity extends beyond work. When a child’s placement suddenly ended, Hayley and her husband offered her a home – there can be no greater example of bringing sunshine to a child’s life than by offering them a home. Hayley’s positive influence and contagious enthusiasm for life isn’t construed or manufactured – it is natural and innate. She is the bubbly, bouncy ball of sunshine that all offices need.
East Community Social Work Team, Belfast Trust, are dedicated to their service users and carers but also to each other. They are a high performing team amidst the ongoing pressures that community social work face daily and they motivate each other with smiles and encouragement. They are creative and positive, embracing change, such as Encompass, with optimism. When this team had staff who were affected by recent racist attacks they demonstrated their united front and support for one another at this difficult time. They organised an event to celebrate ‘Black History Month’ to change the narrative from these racist attacks to one of celebration for their diverse social work workforce. This team is united and engaged in their team purpose and take satisfaction in improving service delivery to meet the needs of their service users and carers. They celebrate the success of all team achievements, including completion of AYE or professional development – usually involving cake! They demonstrate collective leadership and inspire each other within the team and beyond.