Care leaver tells social workers to relate better to young people

A care leaver who is co-director of an organisation that helps young people involved in gangs told delegates that social workers are viewed in the same light as the police in some areas.

Peaches Cadogan, who was physically and sexually abused as a child and spent three years in care, said she had “detested” some of her social workers but she had one who “I salute to this day”. Speaking to delegates at BASW’s Annual Conference, Ms Cadogan said: “She was not the norm. She got to know me as an individual,” she said.

Cadogan, a co-director of film and animation company, Reality Bytes, added: “Social workers, I commend you. You do have a lot going on. Caseloads upon caseloads and social workers need motivation just like everyone else.”

She went on to say that children and young people want their social worker to be someone who is “happy – not a nervous wreck”, and that life experience could only help.

“You don’t need to have been abused yourself to be a social worker but you need to know people inside out,” she said.