This week, Sefton Council brought together social workers, staff and partners for a special marketplace event at Bootle Town Hall.

The marketplace was held to celebrate World Social Work Day, which fell on Tuesday 21^st March this year.

Learning opportunity

Over 100 social workers, partners and staff attended the event. Unlike a traditional marketplace, that offers food and goods, Tuesday’s event was a chance for attendees to sample useful knowledge from different sources.

Among the 32 groups hosting stalls were Sefton Council’s fostering service, social work academy, and occupational therapy team, as well as local charity Sefton Women’s and Children’s Aid (SWACA) and Sefton’s Building Attachment and Bonds Service (BABS).

Help and support

The event was described as a great success by those attending, with one person stating that it was “great to find out about all the different services” and another adding that they “didn’t realise there was so much help” for social workers and residents across the Borough.

Cllr Mhairi Doyle, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care said: “Social workers are the backbone of our social care in Sefton.

We wanted to take this opportunity both to celebrate their good work as well as to share ideas to help us grow together.

“Children’s Services are working on a number of fantastic projects and we value our strong ties with Adult Social Care. This marketplace was the ideal way to showcase these.

“I’m delighted that we had a fantastic attendance and I hope everyone who came got something positive out of it.”

Cllr Paul Cummins, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care said: “Sharing best practice is such an important part of social care.

“I am glad that we could do this in a way that allowed us to celebrate the hard work and dedication shown by our staff and our partners.

“I was really pleased to meet lots of people who had a real passion for the work that they are doing, and I enjoyed the afternoon.”

To find out more about Children’s and Adult Social Care in Sefton, visit https://www.sefton.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/