Expansion for Prince’s Trust social work training scheme

A programme that gives social work students first-hand experience with vulnerable young people is set to be rolled out across the UK.

The Prince’s Trust Working for Wellbeing pilot scheme gives students the opportunity to complete an up to 80-day work placement on the charity’s 12-week personal development scheme for disadvantaged young people.

The Working for Wellbeing scheme, which is funded by the Zurich Community Trust, aims to improve the emotional wellbeing of the young people on the Prince’s Trust’s Team Programme and help social workers understand mental health issues and how to handle them. So far 44 student wellbeing support workers have been placed on the programme.

Director of policy and innovation at the Prince’s Trust Ginny Lunn said: “The young people we support often have difficult backgrounds or suffer symptoms of long-term unemployment – from depression and anxiety to a debilitating lack of confidence.

“Not only will young people receive more intensive emotional support on Team, but the partnership is also bridging the gap between the hardest-to-reach young people and a new generation of social workers.”

The three-year partnership between the Prince’s Trust and Zurich Community Trust began in August 2009 and is due to finish in July 2012. The Prince’s Trust has received £303,000 in funding, which has included funding mental health training for placement students and Prince’s Trust programme staff.

Jodie Chambers, a 28-year-old social work student who has participated in the scheme, said: “In conjunction with my placement, I attended a two-day mental health and first aid course which teaches social work students and Prince’s Trust staff to recognise the symptoms of mental health problems and how to provide initial help.

“The placement gave me a real confidence boost. I’ve always found presentations really intimidating but after spending some time on Team and developing my leadership skills, I gave a presentation to officials in the probation service about referring young people to the programme.

“Being on Team as a student social worker has developed me both personally and professionally.”

News of the expansion of the Prince’s Trust programme comes as a General Social Care Council report identified a decline in the number of local authority placements being provided to students, prompting the regulatory body to renew calls for higher education institutions and local employers to work effectively together to drive up the quality of practice placements for student social workers.