Erica’s story

Writing for our 10 year anniversary series, Consultant Social Worker Erica reflects on the humbling experience of working with our trainees.

I knew that as their Consultant Social Worker I would be an influence on the trainees and I never forgot that.

They looked to you for everything, and I felt quite humbled through that experience and the responsibility of it. It was exciting but also challenging at times – in some ways I learned as much from them as they did from me.

Support across the programme

Jacqui, Think Ahead’s Lead Practice Specialist, was a huge support right from the start. We worked together well – we’re both Luton girls, so there was a lot of reminiscing!

There was actually great support across the programme – from the university, my organisation and Think Ahead – that I made use of and encouraged the trainees to lean on it too.

A fast-track programme isn’t for everybody, but for a lot of people it is. Some people felt it wasn’t long enough to train as a social worker, but the proof is in the pudding with my experiences of the trainees.

Watching them grow

They developed a good reputation in the Trust for being solid and knowing what they were doing. After a few years people were fighting over having them in their team.

When I watched them develop into good social workers, I knew my job was done.

The best thing was to watch them develop. I’ve kept in contact with many of them and seeing how their careers have gone in different directions or how they’ve progressed as social workers is really satisfying.

When I watched them develop into good social workers, I knew my job was done.

Erica was a Consultant Social Worker on our programme, with our training partner East London NHS Foundation Trust. 

To mark our ten year anniversary, we’re sharing personal testimonies from people involved with our charity.  From mental health practitioners and training partners like Erica, to trainees of ours, people with lived experience of mental health services, and our NHS and social care partners. 

Read more of these on our stories page.