Darlington researchers win gold in NIHR-sponsored social worker award
A group of researchers from Darlington have won a prestigious award at this year’s Social Worker of the Year Awards.
Social workers Amy Waterfield, Amy Townson, Anna Yoxall, Deborah Parker, Linda Austin, Jacquelyn McNulty, Charlotte Swainston, Sharon Crossen, Andrew Robson, and Natalie Bell were announced winners of the Practitioner-Led Research Award alongside therapeutic practitioner Danielle Farley and occupational therapist Louise Colley. They beat five other finalists to be announced winner on Friday 17 October at an awards ceremony in Manchester.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) sponsored the Practitioner-Led Research Award. It recognises those who have made significant strides in practitioner-led research by helping to shape research culture.
The group won the award for their work on the Experts in Practice (EXIP) project – a research-based initiative that supports professional development by giving staff dedicated research time and opportunities to co-produce training, tools, and resources for colleagues and partner agencies.
The award was presented by Peter Thompson, NIHR Director of Programmes and Nicola Melody, NIHR Director of Operations.
Amy Waterfield, Senior Practitioner at Darlington Borough Council said: “It’s absolutely fantastic to win the Practitioner-Led research award. We didn’t expect it when we started the Expert in Practice project in conjunction with Sunderland University and Darlington Borough Council.
“We thought we were just going to be helping ourselves but actually we’ve ended up helping the wider community. Every single person involved in the project just put their heart and soul into developing research and then disseminating that to professionals who can then help the wider public. And that’s just invaluable at this point.”
Lisa Richey who is a Social Worker in Adult Social Care at East Sussex County Council won silver in the same award category.
Professor Waljit Dhillo, Dean of the NIHR Academy said: “Congratulations to the Darlington team on winning gold in this year’s Practitioner-Led Research Award and to Lisa Richey for winning silver. Also well done to all the finalists in this category, it’s a great achievement to get this far.
“By being an award sponsor we hope to inspire more qualified social workers and other social care practitioners to develop a research career and see how this helps to achieve better outcomes for the people they care for. A more research-active social care workforce will lead to increased research-led practice in supporting service users to live more independently for longer and ultimately reduce the pressure on health services.”
The NIHR offers a range of career development opportunities for people working in social care. This can start from helping design a new study and partnering with a research group, to joining an existing study or applying for funding to carry out your research.
Since 2006, it has awarded more than £200 million to social care research projects.
The Social Worker of the Year Awards were established in 2006 with the aim of recognising and celebrating the incredible work of qualified social workers who provide care for vulnerable adults, children and families. This year’s shortlist featured 100 practitioners and organisations across 18 award categories.
