SWAN in London

SWAN London has been taking stock over the summer months of how to grow as a regional group and to make the most of its resources. The group will continue its seminar series with an unique ability to create a radical London forum for practitioners, service users and students - the next event is due for Jan/Feb 2012 on social care and privatisation - we just have to find more than the present £40 in the bank to make it happen!

SWAN London has joined forces with other campaigns and events over the summer. SWAN London representatives spoke at the protest over Elaine McDonald's treatment by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (a woman whose night time care was cut, which left her wearing pads overnight, despite being fully continent). You can see more here: http://tinyurl.com/645rluq. SWAN London will have a stall at the Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) conference on 29th October 2011 - see flyer below.

Lee Jasper (BARAC) speaks at SWAN London meeting SWAN London also lent its name to a joint letter to put pressure on BMJ/RCN recruitment fairs to ban Atos Origin, the private company responsible for discriminatory assessments of benefit claimants on Employment and Support Allowance: http://tinyurl.com/5w32x4p A. SWAN London representative also spoke on social work and campaigning at a national student conference organised by BASW in June and addressed the new student cohort at London South Bank University.

If you want to contact the London group you can do so here. The group has also launched a blog at: http://swanlondon.wordpress.com/

The impact of austerity on real lives: a report from SWAN London

Writing for his own blog and for the Social Work Action Network (SWAN), a SWAN London member writes at length on his experiences of current social work / welfare related campaigns in the capital and of being SWAN member.

NB: Please join SWAN London at the Kilburn March for the Counihan Family – meet at Kilburn Square, London on Saturday 6^th October at 2.30pm. Download the flyer at the bottom of this article. Please also sign the petition here. Read more about the Daniel Roque Hall campaign here and sign the petition here.

On 14th August 2012 Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group (KUWG) scored a major "coup" in calling a public meeting in South Kilburn which was to discuss the REAL impact of cuts and austerity on REAL people leading ordinary but REAL lives.

Spirit of Christmas cheer evades Atos

Today (Friday 16th December 2011) members of Social Work Action Network London joined other groups to protest against the Victorian Christmas being inflicted on hundreds of thousands of sick and disabled people this Christmas by Atos – a Paris-based IT company.

N30 London SWAN Strike Report

Workers, service users, educators and students together

My day started at my borough’s civic centre at 8am. It was a really lively optimistic picket, which went a long way to improving my confidence and hopes for trade unionism among the social workers and social care staff employed by the borough. Staff from one of our day centres, which was successfully shutdown on the day, joined us and so did their service user employees. The picket time was put to use by having important organising discussions among trade union reps, within which I talked about attending a Adult and Children’s social care reps meeting to discuss SWAN London!