Katrice’s story
Writing for our 10 year anniversary series, Katrice reflects on the impact social workers have on people’s lives.
The dedication and passion of the staff I work with inspire me every day. They’re resilient, intelligent, and truly committed to tackling injustice.
I joined my community mental health team as a Think Ahead trainee and was thrilled to be able to stay with them after qualifying.
Staff turnover can be an issue in mental health services, but one of the standout aspects of the programme for me was the support I received from my consultant social worker.
Her passion for social work was infectious and incredibly inspiring. I formed really strong working relationships with my colleagues too.
A humbling experience
It was my colleagues who nominated me for the East London NHS Improving Service User Experience Award. That was such a humbling experience. The award was for a joint project I ran with occupational health and a local charity, NOAH, to support people who were rough sleeping.
Two months in the making, we created a self-care day for people, offering them everything from essential products to haircuts, and the much-needed safe space to talk to social workers about their mental health.
Those things can seem small but have such an impact – I took one woman to buy sanitary products and she was in disbelief, no-one had ever thought to do that before.
Making a difference
The beauty of this profession is that it allows you to make a difference on so many levels.
The beauty of this profession is that it allows you to make a difference on so many levels.
If you’re passionate about something, you can make ripples of change with the people you’re working with, in your local area and even on a national level – contributing to the systems and structures that affect people’s lives.
The people I support are a huge motivation. Seeing their progress, even small wins, is incredibly rewarding and reminds me why I do this work.
Every small change contributes to a larger movement towards justice and well-being.
Katrice is one of our Alumni Community members, and completed our training programme in 2023.
To mark our ten year anniversary, we’re sharing personal testimonies from people involved with our charity. From social workers like Katrice, to people with lived experience of mental health services, our NHS and social care partners, and mental health practitioners.
Read more of these on our stories page.