SWAN is a network of social work practitioners, academics, students and social welfare service users united in their concern that social work activity is being undermined by managerialism and marketisation, by the stigmatisation of service users and by welfare cuts and restrictions.

SWAN promotes a model of social work and social care practice which is rooted in the value of social justice. This model seeks to advocate alongside, and on behalf of, service users and carers. It values both individual relationship-based practice and collective approaches.

It works towards these objectives through regular conferences and campaigning activities, and to strengthen the radical voice within social work practice, education and wider social policy debates.

SWAN works alongside existing social care, service user and carer organisations, including UNISON, to promote strong collective organisation and, wherever possible, to campaign jointly.

Latest News from Bristol SWAN

From SWAN Newsletter #2 Autumn 2010

Phill Wheatley reports on SWAN activities in the South West

SWAN activists from Bristol met with other SWAN Regional groups in Birmingham on 3rd October for the Right to Work demonstration against the cuts. There was also a good turnout for the Saturday 23rd October demonstration organised by the Bristol Anti-Cuts Alliance, where we marched from Castle Green through Bristol to College Green opposite the Council House HQ.

Meetings in Bristol

1) Our next regional (Bristol and South West) SWAN meeting, 7.30pmWednesday 25th Jan @ Bristol County Sports Club, 40 ColstonSt, BS1 5AE. This will be a great opportunity to share experiences anddiscuss where and how SWAN intervenes over the next few months.

2) National SWANconference!!! @ Liverpool Hope University, 30-31st March. Promisesto be the biggest SWAN conference ever, with colleagues from Hungary,Slovenia, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus and Ireland, students from range of differentuniversities, and variety of union sponsorship.

Visit: http://www.hope.ac.uk/swanconf2012 - pleaseregister asap, and publicise through your networks

3) PUBLIC MEETING: How We Can Win:The Way Forward For The Campaign To Defend Jobs, Pensions And Public Services.

7.30pm, Monday 6th Feb @ the CouncilHouse, College Green. Speakers: Mark Serwotka, Jane Taylor (Unite theunion).

At a time when the battle over pensions is stillhanging on a knife edge, and the Con-Dem Government is putting great pressureon Union leaders to accept a shoddy deal despite the historic November 30thstrikes, a key meeting with Mark Serwotka of the Public and Commercial Services(PCS) Union is taking place in Bristol to help build rank and file pressure toresist any imposed sell-out and take the struggle forward: (see attachedflyer/poster)

(JointBADACA and Unite the Resistance public meeting)

Occupy Bristol’s People’s Bristol 2050. First meeting: 2pm, Sat Jan 21st@ Trinity Centre, Old Market, BS2 ONW

Organised as a radical and democratic alternative to Business West’s currentbusiness-led consultation process about Bristol’s future development, Bristol2050 is an attempt to use a participatory process, through a series of openpublic meetings, to plan a sustainable and fair future for our cities’inhabitants.

“We hope that by looking forward 40 years we can provide a platform forthe people of Bristol to come up with some interesting ideas about how we wantour city and society to be organised.” http://bristol2050.org.uk

SWAN Statement on N30 Strikes

The Social Work Action Network (SWAN) welcomes the votes for strike action by public sector workers on November 30th 2011 that were passed with overwhelming majorities. The strike will see up to three million workers in Britain take action to save their pensions.

Social Work Manifesto.

Social work in Britain today has lost direction. We need to find more effective ways of resisting the dominant trends within social work and map ways forward for a new engaged practice…

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History.

SWAN developed from the Social Work Manifesto written in 2004. It launched a popular defence of social work in the aftermath of the Baby Peter tragedy in 2008. It continues to hold successful conferences and campaigns; the 7th national SWAN conference will be held in Liverpool in March 2012.

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Change the course of social work

The next SWAN national conference is the seventh. It takes place in Liverpool at Hope University on Friday 30th and Saturday 31st March 2012. We will regularly update the SWAN website with information about speakers and booking. You can find these pages in the Conference 2012 section. Please also see the Liverpool Hope University Website for further information about booking.

SWAN is proud to announce that the key note address will be given by Professor Danny Dorling from the University of Sheffield. Danny has recently written two books that look at the impact of the recession and the Government’s austerity measures on Britain’s poor communities. 'So you think you know about Britain?' and 'Bankrupt Britain: An Atlas of Social Change' both provide detailed analysis of growing levels of inequality across Britain and build on his earlier work 'Injustice' to argue that a different world and a different set of Government priorities are necessary.