Social Work Stories

This is a new area of our site dedicated to capturing and sharing poingnant moments in our Social Work lives. We started telling our stories at our 2017 National Conference in Cardiff, we warmly invite you to contribute your stories to this collection. Liz gets us started with a memory from early on in her career...

Clare Winnicott Essay Awards 2018

The winners of the 2018 Clare Winnicott Essay Awards were announced at our National Conference in October. Andrew Davies was awarded the prize in the Practitioner category for his essay "Assessing Change using Psychoanalytic Theory in Children and Families Social Work". Louise Sims' essay "Making and breaking families: A short essay on loss, hope and staying connected" was awarded the prize in the Student category.

GAPS National Conference 2018

This conference engaged with our theme "SOCIAL WORK AT THE EDGE" through the work of our two keynote speakers; Jane Lindsay and Sasha Roseneil. In addition to the keynote presentations, there was time for group discussion, a stimulating participatory theatre element led by Sociodramatist Valerie Monti Holland, and a delicious hot meal.

Are you still hearing from us?

Changes to data protection legislation mean that we need you to let us know if you want to hear from us. Even if we have emailed you in the past, unless you have re-subscribed to our mailing list we may no longer be contacting you. Please re-subscribe so we can let you know about workshops, conferences and other GAPS activities.

Video Presentations from 2017 Conference

Videos of the full presentations given by Ruth Allen and Brigid Featherstone are available in our News section.

The aim of GAPS

Gaps promotes therapeutic and relationship-based practice, and the importance of psychodynamic and systemic thinking in social work. These perspectives are central to the editorial policy of the Journal of Social Work Practice, which is owned by GAPS.

How is GAPS funded?

From our ownership of the Journal of Social Work Practice, GAPS receives a modest annual income which we use to fund activities for front-line social work practitioners and managers – such as one-day workshops and seminars, as well as our annual essay award for social work practitioners and students.

GAPS Workshops

We regularly run workshops around the UK which are free for registered social workers to attend. The workshops focus on subjects in line with GAPS' aims. Recently they have covered subjects such as relationship based practice, the 'use of self' and the impact of managerialism on practice. This year we have been delighted by the response to our workshops in Wales.