Salford student wins silver at Social Worker of the Year Awards

Elizabeth Dodd was named runner up Social Work Student of the Year in a ceremony in London last night.

The Social Worker of the Year Awards were established in 2006 to recognise and celebrate the achievements of social workers, promote social work and incentivise individuals and teams in the social work profession to achieve excellence. 

The awards include 16 categories in total across children’s and adult services for individual social workers and social work teams. 

Elizabeth said: “I am absolutely over the moon to have won the silver award! It was so exciting to be invited to London and to attend the ceremony.

“I am extremely passionate and proud of my job and have been so privileged to have worked with so many amazing children, young people and their families.

“Studying to be a social worker through Step up to Social Work at the University of Salford was a brilliant experience. The wealth of knowledge from my tutors and the support they gave was outstanding. Similarly, the support I have received from Stockport Council as both a student social worker, and now as a qualified practitioner, has been amazing. 

“I have been extremely lucky, and I am very grateful for both the journey into social work I have had, and being nominated for such an amazing award!”

Dr Allister Butler, Head of Social Work and Integrated Practice at the University of Salford, said: “The Social Worker of the Year Awards are a fantastic opportunity to give recognition to the amazing and challenging work that our social workers do and promote best practice in the profession. 

“At Salford, we are proud to have excellent industry links which means our students graduate with all the real-world experience that they need to develop a fulfilling and successful career in their chosen field.

“We are extremely proud of Elizabeth’s achievement, which places her up there with the profession’s most innovative and dedicated social workers, teams and organisations. Congratulations Elizabeth!”