Looking forward to an online meeting this Thursday with international speakers. For one, it being advertised made me aware - I may be a retiree soon, but I can still play a role. Secondly, working in statutory services, in my fifties, as a locum senior social worker in my personal reflection meant a sort of reconciliation with the many ills of the world that had previously tended to depress me. Here I could do something, a core thing, for one person- and it changed my world.
The other thing it taught me, on a personal level was my understanding of the phrase 'let's agree to disagree' - a core of what had attracted me to come to Britain - was mine. The Local Authority reps who found me me a bit too radical (even as they could not put their finger on it), not only ignored the professional guide lines for social workers which demand walking that tight rope - authority - advocacy, they genuinely could not relax into having differing views.
The other thing it taught me, on a personal level was my understanding of the phrase 'let's agree to disagree' - a core of what had attracted me to come to Britain - was mine. The Local Authority reps who found me me a bit too radical (even as they could not put their finger on it), not only ignored the professional guide lines for social workers which demand walking that tight rope - authority - advocacy, they genuinely could not relax into having differing views.